Leak worsens at Hanford nuclear site

KGW-TV : Problems persist at the Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear production complex in Washington State. Since the last reactor was shut down in the late 1980s, work at the site has focused on cleanup and disposal of the high-level radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks. However, the site has been plagued by leaks, the most recent of which was discovered on 17 April when alarms were triggered. Despite most of the liquid waste having been transferred in 2008 to double-shell tanks for added security, a leak had developed in tank AY-102 as early as 2011. The government contractor in charge of the tanks was slow to act, however, and had only recently begun to pump out the tank’s contents. It is believed that the pumping exacerbated the leak, and as of Sunday morning, 8.4 inches of radioactive and chemically toxic waste was found to have seeped into the two-foot-wide space between the inner and outer walls. Not only does the leak endanger the safety of the cleanup crew, but it also calls into question the viability of the other double-shell tanks.