YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says six underground radioactive waste tanks at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site are leaking.
Inslee made the announcement Friday afternoon after meeting with federal officials in Washington, D.C. Last week it was revealed that one of the 177 tanks at south-central Washington’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation was leaking liquids. Inslee called the latest news “disturbing.”
The tanks already are long past their intended 20-year life span. They hold millions of gallons of a highly radioactive stew left from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Department of Energy said earlier that liquid levels were decreasing in one of the tanks at the site. Monitoring wells near the tank have not detected higher radiation levels.
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (88)
svedka
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:59pmthis must be why homeland security is training for the zombie apocalypse.
Report this comment
powedj
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:43pmI have a solution: Pipe the radioactive stew over the Cascades and release it in Puget Sound. That should send the liberals in western Washington, mainly the Puget Sound area in a tizzy. Many of them came from California and brought there Communist ideas with them. Oh wait: I live here. Oh, never mind.
Report this comment
so3
Feb. 22, 2013 at 10:59pmDude I live in the Puget Sound, don’t be an azz…
Report this comment
Abigail Adams
Feb. 23, 2013 at 5:22amI live here, too. How about we send it to California with those who moved from there
Report this comment
Red Meat
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:32pmThis is no new news. They’ve been leaking for decades. Hanford is literally in the middle of no where.
It’s just Inslee’s way of getting more of that sweet sweet federal $$. He’s a colossal a-hole.
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:39pmIt’s still a big deal. Even though Hanford is relatively isolated, waste leaks into the groundwater which makes its way to the Columbia River which Hanford is nestled right up against.
Report this comment
Red Meat
Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:28pmYou are quite clueless. There has been NO leakage into the Columbia. They’ve been monitoring it for over 40 years. Democrat?
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:34pmNo, not a Democrat. And not a Democrat. And did I mention that I’m not a Democrat? Also might add that I’ve been connected to the Hanford site for 30 years through family and career. Also didn’t say that contamination has made its way to the river yet but that is not to say that it could not eventually happen.
Report this comment
EvanBerrett
Feb. 23, 2013 at 12:15amKUPO is right, it’s a possibility. If funding is provided however, real work can be done to prevent this, radioactive material can be handled effectively with vitrification (see http://evanberrett.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/can-nuclear-waste-be-tamed/) and Nuclear can be great, safe power. Here and now though, there are some concerns. – Richland, WA native, father has worked at Hanford for 20+ years
Report this comment
TonyRUS
Feb. 24, 2013 at 11:27amYeah, Red. Kupo doesn’t let the facts get in the way of his fears. Faithrul subscriber of Rush’s Bad Living magazine, are you? I know, lets stop making nuclear power and weapons. Good idea, right Kupo?
Report this comment
wilbstal
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:32pmI am Elated this Connunist Stae gets punished, I knew it was coming. Wash state has passed many Un constituional laws. Good for all of them Maybe the Gun owners can over throw the ass hole state and set it staright again
Report this comment
EvanBerrett
Feb. 23, 2013 at 12:01amBefore you jump the gun, Nuclear Power is something conservatives should vote for. Additionally…Hanford is on the East side of the state, SE to be exact which is very dominantly Republican. The Democrat demographic is mostly in the West side of the state. – From a former 19-year resident or Richland, Washington, a mile away from Hanford.
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 23, 2013 at 1:17amOh c’mon Evan, be honest now. Even at its closest point Hanford is a good ten miles from Richland :-)
Report this comment
Uechi
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:30pmCould we ship the leaking material to the White House for Easter?
Report this comment
wilbstal
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:30pmGod is punishing Washington folks for how they vote. This will happen all over cause folks ask for this for what they do to free folks and passing Liberal Communist laws against freedome and rights. Im happy for all of you
Report this comment
Murran13
Feb. 23, 2013 at 2:17amHey, this is NOT punishment for how we vote, thank you very much. Those of us who live around the Hanford site are mostly conservative. It’s the liberals over on the west side who ruin it for all of us! :)
Report this comment
Nuclear Bumpkin
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:29pmYou know, whenever these things happen, everyone runs around like decapitated chickens for a few weeks before someone finally decides to dump wet concrete over the thing. How about we skip straight to the concrete this time? Or were they dumb enough to build over an aquifer?
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:41pmWere you a Navy nuke, by chance?
Report this comment
Nuclear Bumpkin
Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:31pmYep. EMN.
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 9:37pmCool, me too. Well, not an EM though. I was an MM. USS Abraham Lincoln.
Report this comment
SciPro
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:21pmHmmm … That’s ‘not’ good news .. If Kansas gets hit with a nuclear or any other bomb because of it’s missile silos, (a target site) for sure, that waste would just exacerbate the fallout, in case of war. A black thought to be sure, thinking those thoughts after the deed is done, is plain stupid… I wish more people would consider possibilities of what may happen in our future .. for stuff just like that. Get hazardous wastes deep underground, so that they cannot be hazardous …. It’s a ticking time bomb, any way you slice it .. Hey Kansasians, it’s time to raise a little cain … make your voice heard .. get out-of your comfort zone, and be up and doing, don’t let your representatives have any peace!
Report this comment
EvanBerrett
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:55pmI’m actually from that area, Richland Washington, and my dad works at that Hanford Nuclear Power Plant (which is actually now called Energy Northwest). The truth is, that site is home to major research projects dedicated to trying to find ways to safely dispose of the waste. They are trying to develop the process known as vitrification, which essentially turns it into glass safely stored for longer than the half-life of the hazardous materials. Problem is, the project keeps getting funded, de-funded, funded, de-funded, etc etc. Therefore it can’t be finished thanks to a stigma against Radiation and Nuclear Power which is just a never-ending cycle. People are afraid of it, so it goes unfunded. Unfunded it can’t get fixed. Can’t get fixed, issues like this arise, and people get afraid again.
I actually wrote a blog post about this found here: http://evanberrett.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/can-nuclear-waste-be-tamed/ There I give links about the process of vitrification.
You can also find articles about all kinds of other stuff that goes unmentioned.
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:15pmGood post. I am also from that area (I grew up in Kennewick) and am a 2nd generation worker at the Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant, which is actually not involved with Energy Northwest. I worked there as a decontamination and demolition work project planner under CH2M Hill while my father worked as an electrical design engineer under Battelle and Westinghouse.
I also don’t think that these leaky tanks have anything to do with Energy Northwest either, though I may be mistaken. It sounds like these are from the tank farms which are under the purview of CH2M Hill.
Report this comment
pjn0524
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:27pmBorn and raised in Richland. My dad was a transplant from the Remington Arms factory in Utah in late 1942-43 time frame. Nuclear power is not something to be afraid of, nor is the waste if it’s properly handled. Anybody remember Gable Mountain? All of this would be a moot point if that project had been allowed to progress and not canceled by left-leaning politicians out of Olympia. I will check out the blog post previously mentioned. Oh, and I worked at Hanford myself for 20+ years, mainly at the 222-S Labs and the WSCF labs.
Report this comment
PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:30pm@EVANBERRETT – What ever happened with storage at Yucca Mountain. That was supposed to be the destination for storage of all radioactive waste…all that $ spent to get that ready?
(Harry Reid should be the recipient ..into his yard)
Report this comment
DEFCON4
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:38pm@ Evan Berrett,
Thanks for the pertinent information, as well as, your blog post on ‘vitrification’.
If you get the chance (maybe you already have) get “Providing the Principle”-
A history of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory-
1949 – 1999 by Susan M. Stacy.
I found it a quite compelling and an insightful read for the novice or expert.
Report this comment
EvanBerrett
Feb. 22, 2013 at 11:58pm@Kupo I would agree. It was an ad hoc storage system done with inadequate research. Energy Northwest was not created by then, and as far as I know, the tanks were already being used by the time WPPSS was initiated making the Columbia generating station.
@PJNO524 Great example. Many misconceptions are floating around about radiation and Nuclear Power when in fact there are far more positive effects. I give great examples in the blog post I referred to above, including sources and further descriptions. Radiation and Nuclear Power can be dangerous, but overwhelmingly it is safe when managed right. Chernobyl and Fukishima are NOT good examples of that.
@Pigswillneverfly Yucca Mountain could still happen, but politics are getting in the way. If the vitrification could actually be performed on all the waste, and then transported, then Yucca Mountain could be a site for that waste which would of course break apart, but only after its half life thanks to the vitrification process that no one seems to know about. Politicians just like to imagine vats of radioactive sludge and therefore don’t make educated decisions.
@Defcon4, thanks for the suggestion, I’ll definitely look it up.
Report this comment
Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:40pmObama said, If automatic spending cuts happen because of the sequester, radioactive waste tanks will leak.
Report this comment
whatthecrazy
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:45pmlol
Report this comment
msjoe43
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:01pmthat’s funny.
Report this comment
AbrahamsSheepdog
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:17pmOh he speaks in opposite so everything he’s talked about is a lie or a twist or both. Almost no one ever sees his twist witch is highly disturbing. If he talks about something that is an agenda in it’s self.
Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:32pmWashington is a Commie-Liberal state – Who Cares ? Let them die !
Report this comment
lildrummerboy
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:15pmI live in washington and seriously dislike your comment. Not all of us here are bleeding heart leftists ya wise-acre. But its nice to see your human side. Good job.
Report this comment
Kupo
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:18pmActually the Hanford nuclear site is in eastern Washington which is far more conservative than the more populous western side. Good job being a complete idiot though.
Report this comment
pjn0524
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:29pmModify that comment to say the PUGET SOUND is a commie-loving area, and you’d be right. Eastern Washington is quite conservative. Take a look at an electoral map and you’ll see much more red than blue on our side of the state.
Report this comment
JGraham III
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:47pmCorrection! King County/Snohomish County Thurston County/Pierce County are the socialist havens of Washington State. Seattle (and the metro area surrounding it) is the tail that wags the dog. All of Washington State less those areas is largely conservative/republican in its political outlook. The east side of the state is as red-state as it gets in the Great Northwest. The problem we face every election is that 80% of King County votes socialist/democrat and the rest of the state votes moderate- conservatively. The end result is that the democrats dominate national level elections because of this disparity. Our new governor is yet another typical democrat/socialist that has little to none going for him in the common sense department.
Report this comment
My Two Cents
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:26pmObamacare is a radioactive stew.
Report this comment
CatB
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:24pmObama will be politicizing this in 3,2,1 ……
Report this comment
MiCurmudgeon
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:23pmIn the late 60′s I was up there to determine the feasibility of “cleaning” these tanks. Nothing came of the visit and they have been sitting there corroding since. Typical bovernment reaction…..put it off and leave it for someone else later. CYA !!!
Report this comment
Rayblue
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:21pmUranus is looking better all the time.
Report this comment
whatthecrazy
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:44pmWow thanks,didn’t know you could see it from there.:)
Report this comment
showmerancher
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:21pmWell, they were going to store these in salt mines (particularly well suited for radioactive storage) in Kansas, but Harry Reid wanted none of that (he saw too much pork going to a Red state), and for many times more cost got the Yucca mountain storage facility for Nevada, along with $12 Billion in funds to have his state’s unions build it. When it was almost done, Obama shut it down in 2010. (Because the Dems didn’t want the nuclear waste in their state, just the taxpayer’s money to waste to build it.) So it sits empty. It was supposed to be the repository for nuclear waste from dozens of sites like the one in the story. There are currently more than 65,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste sitting in rusting tanks and barrels near nuclear sites in 33 locations spread across the country in immediate need of transfer and storage in a permanent location.
However, nothing has been done, and the nuclear watchdog organizations say it will likely be at least 20 more years before another such a permanent storage facility can be on-line, and by which time the amount of waste requiring storage will have increased by approximately 50%. In the mean time, does your water glow in the dark???
Report this comment
pjn0524
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:31pmThe Basalt Waste Isolation Project/Gable Mountain at Hanford was also in the running for long-term disposal, but due to the lack of testicular fortitude from our representatives and the whining from environmentalists, it was shut down. Otherwise, all this would be a moot point. (Lifelong Eastern Washingtonian, born and raised in Richland now living in Kennewick, former Hanford worker.)
Report this comment
4stmichael
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:18pmRoDogg
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 5:55pm
20 year life span to hold material that stays active for thousands of years??
Only the government!
===
ya, no kidding
it’s not because they are ignorant, 4th graders could have done the math;
it’s not because they are mentally incompetent ..oh wait
Report this comment
whatthecrazy
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:11pmSoon we won’t need light bulbs at night as we will glow in the dark.That should make obammy happy.
Report this comment
The Big Mick
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:10pmGOT the Solution.
ROUND UP ALL Illegal Aliens!
Send them to this site to collect the radioactive stuff.
Rebury the RadioActive Stuff on the Mexian Border.
Win,Win Win, Drop Dead, Win.
Works for me.
Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:33pmsounds like a Plan !
Report this comment
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:09pmAnyone sensing an administration made ‘event’ and ‘crisis’ coming?
Report this comment
lildrummerboy
Feb. 22, 2013 at 7:16pmnever waste a crisis
Report this comment
Polarized America
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:08pmThe tanks already are long past their intended 20-year life span. They hold millions of gallons of a highly radioactive stew left from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.
shhhhhhhhh….don’t say anything and maybe it will go away
Report this comment
hatchetjob
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:08pmLet it burn!!!
Report this comment
Elena2010
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:58pmuh-oh…
Report this comment
barber2
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:58pmThe Obama administration will love this. Another crisis .
Report this comment
Small World
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:07pmUnfortunately this is a crisis. What to do ….what to do?????????
Report this comment
RoDogg
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:55pm20 year life span to hold material that stays active for thousands of years??
Only the government!
Report this comment
4stmichael
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:21pmya, no kidding
And you know it’s not because they are stupid because 4th graders could have done the math.
And you know it’s not because they orchestrated another man made crisis …oh wait!
Report this comment
gyro
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:51pmWasnt there a super fund to fix all this years ago ? Were did that money go ?
Report this comment
RoDogg
Feb. 22, 2013 at 5:54pmUnions …. bwah ha ha ha
Report this comment
Chuck Stein
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:19pmI think that superfund is for private toxic wastes. This one is clearly government owned. I remember reading (about 20 years ago) in the WSJ that some guys were working on using jimson weed to concentrate the radioactive waste. Looks like that never got used (or never actually worked).
Report this comment
GuruMeditation
Feb. 22, 2013 at 6:21pmto the same black hole your social security money went.
Report this comment