(Continued from Part One)
Treatment of whistleblowers was a major topic at the recent Hanford public meeting. There have been reports of a "culture of fear" among Hanford workers which made people reluctant to raise safety issues. In the past, whistleblowers have been demoted and even fired. Of course, a Hanford rep said that that was a thing of the past and he had personally talked to anyone who had a complaint or concern when he started work there a few years ago.
The Vitrification Plant was also a focus of the presentations and discussion period. The plant is intended to convert nuclear waste from the underground tanks into glass logs for permanent storage. The plant is behind schedule and over budget. Construction had to stop because of major technical issues like corrosion of pipes and possible build up of hydrogen gas in the pipes. Extra processing stages are being designed and built to deal with the problem. The Hanford reps were optimistic that this time they would be able to solve all the problems and get the plant working to convert nuclear waste into glass logs for permanent storage. They hope to be starting operations in a few years. I was not as confident as they were given that there are still major design problems and technical challenges to overcome.
There was a pie chart that showed how the five billion Federal dollars are being divided up among Federal nuclear installations around the country. Because Hanford is one of the most radioactively polluted sites in the U.S., it receives about a billion dollars from the U.S. government. That sounds like a lot but the Hanford rep said that about half of that money was used just to "keep the lights on" and pay salaries. I asked whether he was confident that that Federal money would continue to be available. I mentioned that a U.S. program to secure dangerous nuclear materials was being scaled back in the new Federal budget and expressed concern that if there were future financial crises in the U.S., the cleanup money might be reduced or even cut off.
Hanford constructed something called the Central Waste Complex in the middle of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation where drums of waste were stored, some of them outside, exposed to the elements. This was done without a Washington State Permit and so it is an illegal storage area. Even in a legal storage area for such waste, the drums are only supposed to be stored that way for a year. Some of the drums in the Complex have been there eighteen years. The State and DoE are arguing about what must be done.
There has been a great deal of work done at Hanford to clean up the legacy of decades of nuclear weapons development. There are a lot of very capable and dedicated people working there. I believe them when they say that they work hard every day at Hanford to clean up the horrible pollution there and turn the land back into a place that can be used for recreation. They were obviously well prepared for the meeting to reassure the public that everything that can and should be done is being done to clean up the Hanford mess. Unfortunately, given the Hanford track record of illegal activity, delaying action, fighting Washington State orders, lying, endangering workers and incompetence, I am not quite as optimistic as the Hanford reps were at the meeting. We can only hope that Hanford has turned the corner and that the cleanup will proceed safely and efficiently from now on.
Hanford Central Waste Complex:
