Tagged: Hanford

Scientists and engineers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington are investigating a possible leak between two walls of a double-shelled nuclear radioactive waste tank there. In September, a robotic rover will explore the tank in question to see where this radioactive material might be coming from, and if the vessel is stable.

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation’s so-called “black cells” are getting another look from a new high-level group of experts. The announcement today from the U.S. Department of Energy comes just as the southeast Washington nuclear site implements new safety standards for non-radioactive risks.

Washington environmental regulators are hoping that crews at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation will clean out three more aging tanks of radioactive waste by the end of summer. A federal judge has ordered that ten tanks in an area known as “C-Farm” have to be closed by September of 2014.

A new federal report says managers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation respond appropriately to most concerns brought up by employees. But the study says sometimes officials at the southeast Washington site don’t explain well enough to employees how they resolve each concern. The report also says initial interviews with concerned employees were often incomplete or too abbreviated to do a proper investigation later.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell made a visit to Richland, Washington Friday to highlight how creating a B Reactor National Historical Park would create jobs and spur tourism in southeast Washington. The B Reactor at Hanford was the world’s first full-scale plutonium production facility. Correspondent Anna King has more.

Senator Maria Cantwell believes despite its dark history, Hanford has an important lesson to share.

“There is a scientific story here about scientific accomplishment,” she says.