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 Waters to Open for Ocean Energy Leasing

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Starting next week, the federal Department of Interior will begin to accept proposals to lease deep offshore ocean waters for renewable energy projects. The agency is holding public workshops in Seattle tomorrow and in Portland on Thursday to explain its rules. Correspondent Tom Banse has more.

At Home Solar Power Generation

(Flickr photo, "Solar Windblades" by Tom Swift46) 

Host introduction: This week on Our Northwest's Building Green series, we consider adding solar to our new or existing homes. Mary Hawkins spoke with Mike Nelson, director of the Northwest Solar Center about state and national incentives to install solar systems, and about solar generation as a revenue source for the average homeowner. Listen here.