Mark Reinhardt- Boise Idaho
The Washington State Department of Ecology had announced within the Last Month that the State has ordered the United States Government to pump the Hanford Nuclear Storage Site Tanks. As the department described;
“Tank AY-102 was confirmed to be leaking into the tank’s secondary containment in October 2012. Since then, Ecology has been working with USDOE and their contractor to determine options for addressing the leaking tank. However, after months of discussions, it is clear that the federal government is not willing to address the regulatory requirements to remove the waste in a timely manner. “
A presentation on the reservation issued by the Department within the last year had described the situation;
"Recent Tank Issues
Single-shell tank review findings:
6 leaking, 14 more under
investigation for declining
levels
52 under investigation for
precipitation entering (intrusion)
Double-shell tank leaking
between shells (annulus)
The State believes additional
tank space will be required to
support continued retrievals, prepare for feeding the Waste
Treatment Plant, and for emergency retrieval space.
The department in that presentation had mentioned that there were no immeadiate concerns in association with the tanks."
However, it also stated;
“None of this mitigates the State’s
concerns. The discovery of leaking tanks underscores the importance of
retrieving and treating this tank waste as quickly as possible to
mitigate the chances for further releases to the environment.”
The main agency in charge of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is the United States Department of Energy. According to the Hanford.Gov website, it describes the sites history;
“The Hanford Site sits on 586-square-miles of shrub-steppe desert in southeastern Washington State. Beginning in 1943, the site was used to produce plutonium for the bomb that brought an end to World War II. After a short lull, production was ramped up in 1947 to meet the challenges of the “Cold War” and continued until 1987 when the last reactor ceased operation. Weapons production processes left solid and liquid wastes that posed a risk to the local environment including the Columbia River. In 1989, the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Washington State Department of Ecology entered into a legally binding accord, the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA), to clean up the Hanford Site.”
The area surrounding the site was home to many Native American Tribes in previous centuries. The department said of Non-compliance with the Administrative Order,
“Failure to comply with this order could result in fines for the federal government.”
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