Saturday, April 14, 2012

Hanford Nuclear Plant to be target of major weekend demonstrations

[caption id="attachment_3526" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Nuclear plume at Hanford"][/caption]

This weekend people will be arriving in Richland, Washington, a town just on the outskirts of the Hanford Nuclear Plant, in protest of the nuclear waste that could cause a serious explosion and create a disaster much greater than Japan's earthquake, environmentalists maintain.

Individuals from the Portland Occupy community, religious groups, ordinary citizens and members of the media are traveling on Sunday for an afternoon protest in the central area of Richland.

The Tri-Cities, Pasco, Kennewick and Richland, are the major populated areas most directly effected by the Hanford Nuclear plant and waste dump that is reported by many scientists to be the most toxic place on earth.

GHN's Journal of Humanitarian Affairs will be on hand this weekend to cover the events.  This author lived in both Pasco and Richland during the early 1960's when most people were innocent of the environmental risks caused by nuclear waste.

Years later nuclear energy, which is touted by many as a solution to the energy crisis, remains part of a major debate on how to develop alternatives for gas and oil.  It also remains worrisome to the many West Coast residents, from Oregon to Canada, who could be impacted by a major accident at the Hanford Plant.