Our Northwest Energy

Washington's Only Nuclear Power Plant Criticized For Six Unplanned Shut-downs

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, has been coming increased federal scrutiny lately. Washington's only commercial nuclear power plant has had six unplanned shutdowns in the last two years. The National Regulatory Commission held a hearing about the plant's performance [last night] Tuesday.

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New Nuclear Power Plant Clears Hurdle

A new nuclear power plant proposed near the Idaho-Oregon border cleared its first hurdle [today] Monday. But, groundbreaking is still years away because many more local and federal approvals are needed. [Correspondent Tom Banse reports.]

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Eugene Residents Weigh in on Hanford Clean Up

The US Department of Energy is planning how and to what extent to clean up Hanford's leaking storage tanks, treat radioactive waste and deal with a contaminated reactor. The current preferred alternatives don't call for a full clean up of the site.

Twenty community members testified. Many, like Marilyn Cohen, also spoke out against having any further waste shipped to Hanford for storage and processing.

“If you can't clean up what you you've got and it's going to be leaching into the water for the next 10,000, 20,000 years, what are we talking about as Americans about putting more into the soil.”

The crowd also voice concerns about the potential for transporting that waste along the highly populated I-5 corridor through Eugene and Springfield. The earliest that could happen is 2022, when a moratorium on further shipments expires.

The DOE cites costs, technological limitations and worker safety as reasons for not doing a complete clean up. [The final public hearing will be held on March 8th in Seattle.]

Al Gore Predicts No Treaty from Copenhagen

SEATTLE, WA - Former Vice-President Al Gore says nuclear power and clean coal may have role in the world's energy future, but a limited one. Gore was in Seattle yesterday to promote his latest book.One problem with nuclear power he says, is that it could lede to more nuclear weapons.

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Beyond Yucca: Experts Question Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, Now That Yucca Mountain Is Not An Option

RICHLAND, Wash. - The Obama Administration says it plans to appoint a blue ribbon panel soon to determine the fate of the nation's radioactive waste. For years now the waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has been destined for a deep hole in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. But as he promised in his campaign, President Obama stripped funding for Yucca. Now, Hanford officials are wondering where all the high-level waste in Washington State will go. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports.

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Feds Test Robot Arm to Remove Radioactive Sludge at Hanford

(Photo: Hanford officials are testing a new robotic arm to clean up radioactive sludge stored at Hanford near the Columbia River in southcentral Washington.)

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation still has 53 million gallons of radioactive sludge sitting in leak-prone underground tanks. Now, the federal government is testing a new robotic arm that officials say will clean out those tanks more quickly.

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Hanford’s Vit Plant Construction Halted For Two Days

A power outage has kept 1,400 workers off the job for two days at Hanford’s massive vitrification plant in southeastern Washington. The factory, called the “Vit Plant” by locals, is currently the federal government’s largest construction project in the nation.

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Hanford’s Massive Vitrification Plant Nears Halfway Point

At the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington, officials are building a massive factory that will eventually bake radioactive sludge into more stable glass logs. That project is expected to reach the halfway point this week. The structure itself is as big as a pro football stadium smashed together with a skyscraper. And the federal government is over budget and about 12 years behind schedule on the project.

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Federal Stimulus Dollars used to Tear Down Old Hanford Site Buildings

Hanford Nuclear Reservation officials are showing off the new projects that are on the fast track because of federal stimulus dollars. These demolition jobs have long been on the cleanup wish list, but were pushed off in favor of other, more pressing radioactive waste cleanup.

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How to Clean One Radioactive Waste Tank

  
(Hanford workers struggle to empty waste from tank C-110. There are 177 tanks full of radioactive sludge at the nuclear site in southcentral Washington. Photo courtesy of Washington River Protection Solutions.)

RICHLAND, WA - At the Hanford Reservation in southcentral Washington, 53-million-gallons of radioactive waste sits in underground tanks. That’s enough to fill 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The government’s been trying to clean up that mess, but it’s slow going. This year, President Obama’s federal stimulus package includes $2 billion to speed up the pace of cleanup at Hanford. But getting rid of nuclear waste is incredibly complicated. Correspondent Anna King uses a series of food analogies to examine the complexities of just one of those tanks of waste: It’s called C-110. (Full Story)