Gov Inslee of Washington State addresses perils of nuclear leak at Hanford

[caption id="attachment_17884" align="alignright" width="469"] Activists rally against Hanford Nuclear plant April 2012[/caption]

Carol Forsloff —Due to the major significance of the leak of toxic waste from the Hanford Nuclear Plant in Central Washington, this magazine will provide ongoing details of the event. The following is the official statement from the Governor the State of Washington, Jay Inslee, addressing the issues by way of an official press release:

Governor Inslee's statement on news of Hanford leak

The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that one of the single-shell tanks storing radioactive waste at Hanford is leaking liquids in the range of 150 to 300 gallons per year. The leaking tank was built in the 1940's and was stabilized in February 1995, when all pumpable liquids were removed by agreement with the State. The tank currently contains approximately 447,000 gallons of sludge, a mixture of solids and liquids with a mud-like consistency. This is the first tank which has been documented to be losing liquids since interim stabilization was completed in 2005. There are a total of 177 tanks at the Hanford site, 149 of which are single shell tanks.

Statement from Gov. Jay Inslee:

Secretary Chu called me this morning with the news of a newly leaking single shell tank at Hanford.

I am alarmed and deeply concerned by this news. This was a problem we thought was under control, years ago, when the liquids were pumped from the tanks and the sludge was stabilized. We can't just leave 149 single-shell tanks with high-level radioactive liquid and sludge siting in the ground, for decades after their design life.

Let me be clear: Washington State has a zero tolerance policy on radioactive leakage. We will not tolerate any leaks of this material to the environment.

Fortunately, there is no immediate public health risk. The newly discovered leak may not hit the groundwater for many years, and we have a groundwater treatment system in place that provides a last defense for the river. However, the fact that this tank is one of the farthest from the river is not an excuse for delay. It is a call to act now.

I am appreciative of Secretary Chu's personal attention to this matter, and know he will deploy all technically-possible solutions to address the leaking tank. I will meet with the Secretary next week in DC, to hear about the Department's progress on stopping the leak and preventing any further tank leaks at Hanford.

This news is a sharp reminder, a wakeup call, that we can't be complacent, or waiver in any way, on our nation's commitment to clean up Hanford. I know this is a time of tight budgets, but with an active leak of high-level radioactive material into the environment, money can't be an excuse for inaction.

Congress and the federal government must provide the funding needed to address the leaking tank, to verify the condition of the remaining tanks, to build additional interim storage or take other necessary steps to prevent further releases, and to get the long-term solution, the waste treatment plant, completed without further delays.

It is their moral and legal obligation to the citizens of the Northwest and I will do everything in my power to make sure they live up to that.

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