Tank at Washington state nuclear site may be leaking radioactive waste

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Tank at Washington state nuclear site may be leaking radioactive waste

By Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE | Fri Jun 21, 2013 6:40pm EDT

(Reuters) - A storage tank holding radioactive waste at a decommissioned nuclear weapons site in Washington state may be leaking but poses no immediate threat to public safety, state and federal officials said on Friday.

The underground tank is one of 28 double-walled containers into which waste from older, single-shell tanks was pumped during a decades-long cleanup at Hanford Nuclear Reservation, according to Lori Gamache, a U.S. Energy Department spokeswoman.

In October, officials determined waste was leaking in the primary tank but had not breached its outer shell. Then on Thursday, workers found increased radioactivity levels in pumps used to remove water and sediment from the tank's "leak detection pit," Gamache said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/21/us-usa-nuclear-leak-idUSBRE95K18720130621

[wtmusic]

1. z-z-z

poses no immediate threat to public health or safety...nor has, for the last 40 times this has been reported in the MSM...

z-z-z

[madokie]

3. What that means is one level of containment has been breached

One more to go.
Hardly something to not be concerned about.
Unless of course it goes against what one was in support of, then maybe its something to ZZZZZZ about

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Hanford is a big, stinking mess.

...and the #1 reason why nuclear power should be abandoned. You just cannot get rid of the shit. It remains long after its "garbage can" has rotted away.

[pscot]

4. They've been cleaning up Hanford for 40 years

Private corporations like Westinghouse have collected a trillion of taxpayer money, and It's still toxic mess.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. K&R! Just read another article on this earlier today, frightening stuff

Double-walled tank at Hanford may be leaking

An underground tank holding some of the worst radioactive waste at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site might be leaking into the soil.

The U.S. Energy Department said workers at Washington state’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation detected higher radioactivity levels under tank AY-102 during a routine inspection Thursday.

Spokeswoman Lori Gamache said the department has notified Washington officials and is investigating the leak further. An engineering analysis team will conduct additional sampling and video inspection to determine the source of the contamination, she said.

State and federal officials have long said leaking tanks at Hanford do not pose an immediate threat to the environment or public health. The largest waterway in the Pacific Northwest — the Columbia River — is still at least 5 miles away and the closest communities are several miles downstream.

However, if this dangerous waste escapes the tank into the soil, it raises concerns about it traveling to the groundwater and someday potentially reaching the river.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jun/21/double-walled-tank-hanford-may-be-leaking/

[RobertEarl]

6. Other Hanford threads here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023066434

Seems the budget is over $2 billion?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1293867