Hanford Reactor site leaking toxic waste, long-term risk to NW U.S.

[caption id="attachment_14981" align="alignright" width="480"] Hanford plant - wikimedia commons[/caption]

GHN — In the spring of 2012, a large group of activists gathered in Richland to demonstrate against the nuclear plant at Hanford and express their concern about the environmental threats posed by the toxic waste in containers from the now non-active nuclear reactors that are said to be leaking into the soil in the Tri-Cities area of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland.  Today's news brought an announcement from the Department of Energy regarding a leak that has provoked Governor Jay Inslee to plan an immediate trip to Washington DC to stress his concern about the long-term risk created by these leaks.

Some scientists refer to Hanford as "the most toxic waste dump in the world" because of the toxic waste that is maintained in containers said to be deteriorating in capacity to contain it, thus posing a serious threat to the environment and people of the region. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee says that, "The leak raises concerns about the integrity of other storage facilities at the highly contaminated site".

The fact is that a leak of any kind in an area where radioactive waste presents a serious threat to the environment of much of the Pacific Northwest, is a serious matter, according to Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.

As reported by Green Heritage News Network in February 2012, an additional concern is that even though the project for cocooning the reactors with new containers is said to be ahead of schedule, there could be an earthquake of major proportions caused by damage to the earth's crust, according to some scientists, as occurred in Japan in 2011. Hanford at one time was said to have produced 25 percent of the world's plutonium.

Money for the continuation of the project has to be funded by Congress. Congress is presently facing an impasse over the allocation of funds for various projects in the United States. Governor Inslee wants to underline the urgency of monitoring closely the work being done at the plant to contain the toxic waste. Two scientists were said to have been threatened with termination, and in the case of one of them who was fired, told not to discuss their concerns about the lack of necessary oversight in the construction of the containers.

One critical issue is the fact that the leaking has been ongoing and poses a potential long-term threat to the Pacific Northwest because of the Columbia River's span into Oregon and Washington. There remains concern about the drinking water and the soil for farming and other human activities.

This news is being carried front page in Northwest newspapers but was not mentioned in the national news from NBC on Friday evening and given a brief news bite on CNN during the day. It is, however, a major source of concern for many of the world scientists involved in reducing contamination and the threat of toxic waste to the environment and the population of the Pacific Northwest