Our Sustainable Northwest

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)

Federal Court Backs WA in Nuclear Waste Storage Suit Against DOE

RICHLAND, WA - The Federal Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that Washington State doesn’t have to store other states’ dangerous radioactive waste forever. It also ruled that the state has the right to enforce cleanup deadlines for certain kinds of waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near the Tri-Cities.

Correspondent Anna King reports.

Hanford May Lose Yucca Mountain as Its Disposal Site

RICHLAND, WA - For two decades the plan at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was to send the worst radioactive waste to a storage facility deep inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now the Obama administration appears to be changing that plan. The president’s recently released budget would cut money for most everything at Yucca. That news has Hanford officials scrambling to come up with a plan B.

Correspondent Anna King has more.

               

60 Minutes Hanford Coverage (2006)

Lethal and Leaking Part One:

Lethal and Leaking Part Two:

Federal Report Critical of 5 Hanford Cleanup Projects

RICHLAND, WA - A report to Congress is highly critical of five major federal cleanup projects at the Hanford site. Correspondent Anna King explains.

New Management Takes Over at Hanford Tank Farms

Posted Tuesday, September 30, 2008 RICHLAND, WA - At the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington, 53 million gallons of radioactive goo are stored in unstable underground tanks near the Columbia River. This week, a new government contractor is taking over the job of managing that waste. Anna King explains.

Proposed Reservoir Could Leach Radioactive Waste

September 19, 2007

Two federal reports show the controversial and expensive Black Rock Reservoir proposed in the Yakima Valley could leach under the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and let radioactive waste ooze into the Columbia River.

Spokane Public Radio's Amanda Loder reports.