Nuclear Waste Tunnel Collapse in Washington State

[Venant]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7db2d8975f90

Hundreds of workers at the Hanford nuclear waste site in Washington state have been ordered to “take cover” after a portion of a tunnel contaminated with radioactive materials appeared to collapse.

The U.S. Department of Energy said it activated its emergency operations protocol after reports of a “cave-in” at the 200 East Area in Hanford, a sprawling complex about 200 miles from Seattle where the government has been working to clean up radioactive materials left over from the country’s nuclear weapons program.

The Energy Department said in a statement that officials were “responding to reports of a cave-in of a 20 foot section of a tunnel that is hundreds of feet long that is used to store contaminated materials.” The tunnel is next to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, also known as PUREX.

Officials said that there was “no indication of a release of contamination at this point” but that emergency crews were still testing the area for contamination.

I guess it's something to keep an eye on, especially if you are in the Seattle area. I've heard reports of a sinkhole forming, I suppose the concern is that radioactive dust might escape and spread.

[Kujako]

Save us, Rick Perry.

That would be all we need... a radioactive super perry.

[Venant]

The history of this place is pretty interesting, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki was pretty much built at this site. Some of the material here is actually waste that was generated by the Manhattan project as well as other early atomic/nuclear weapon development. Due to this, it is considered the most contaminated nuclear site in North America.

[WintersLegion]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7db2d8975f90



I guess it's something to keep an eye on, especially if you are in the Seattle area. I've heard reports of a sinkhole forming, I suppose the concern is that radioactive dust might escape and spread.

Hanford is closer to me than it is to Seattle. It's about 59 miles to where I live it's 189 miles to Seattle.

[Stormspark]

The history of this place is pretty interesting, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki was pretty much built at this site. Some of the material here is actually waste that was generated by the Manhattan project as well as other early atomic/nuclear weapon development. Due to this, it is considered the most contaminated nuclear site in North America.

The main problem there is the underground radioactive waste storage tanks. The tanks are filled with radioactive sludge (created from producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, NOT reactors) that is starting to leak out. Even the double shelled tanks are starting to leak now. The stuff was put there with the hope that "maybe in 10-20 years someone will have a better idea"...only noone did. It started out as nitric acid with a ton of dissolved radioactive metals in it, mixed with kerosene, but they had to neutralize the acids to keep it from eating thorugh the tanks once they realized the stuff wouldn't just "go away" in 10 years. To neutralize acids, you use a base. Acid + base = water + salt. Only it's extremely radioactive salt. Huge piles of salt and half dissolved salt sludge.

There's a huge underground "plume" under the tank farms where it has leaked. If that plume hits the Columbia River (which it has a strong chance of doing in the next 20 years), it will render large sections of the pacific northwest uninhabitable.

http://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/tankfarms
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-0...ar-storage-sit

There is a place in the world worse than Hanford though. Lake Karachay. Basically the Russian version of Hanford. The Russians didn't even build underground tanks, they just dumped all the radioactive waste in a lake. The dumping has been stopped for decades...but now, even decades later, the lake is radioactive enough to kill someone who just stands near the shore for an hour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollut..._Lake_Karachay
http://grist.org/article/meet-the-la...ould-kill-you/

The only way to safely dispose of radioactive material without it being a problem in the future is via a space elevator. Basically get it off the planet, dump it in a crater on the moon or something where it can't cause any harm.

[Kellhound]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7db2d8975f90



I guess it's something to keep an eye on, especially if you are in the Seattle area. I've heard reports of a sinkhole forming, I suppose the concern is that radioactive dust might escape and spread.

Winds are in the wrong direction and there is a small mountain range in between. Portland would have more to worry about than Seattle.

[cubby]

I'm fairly close to this, not so close that i'm really worried about it.

I do believe if our government and corporations could be trusted to regulate and keep nuclear waste in check it would provide a great way to cut America off from Coal/Gas problem, but similar to coal/gas it's proven neither can be trusted. New Nuclear plants are great at recycling spent fuel and minimize the amount of waste created, but there is still waste and it requires long stringent regulations that will need to enforced for centuries or take a massive project no government body or tax payer is willing to pay for. The Hanford got started with the Manhattan project and it shows. The entire facility looks run down, and they are attempting to apply another band-aid to fix the problem so another 50 years down the road a whole new generation can do the same thing.

The interesting part, on two levels, is that nuclear energy is very safe. And the government, of all people, make perhaps the best nuclear reactors - the Navy specifically. And the amount of waste fuel is usually misunderstood - the total amount created in history will fit inside a football stadium. Which is a lot, granted, but not nearly what I thought it was before deciding to become more informed.

Good nuclear energy combined with renewables and solid battery management are the future.

[GennGreymane]

What are we gonnnnn do @Venant?

[Wyrt]

Don't worry, nuclear is safe.