Radioactive Waste 35 - Plutonium Escapes from Hanford
I have posted a number of articles about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The radioactive waste left over from the development of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is still causing a lot of problems. Waste buried in single wall tanks has been leaking into the ground water and the Columbia River. Some waste was moved to double walled tanks which we were assured would not leak but now one of those tanks is leaking. Attempts to build a plant to turn waste into glass logs for disposal has been halted because of design problems. Now comes a report about another way in which radioactivity has been escaping Hanford.
On June 19, 2013, two glove boxes that were used by Hanford workers to handle plutonium were shipped a short distance from the Reservation to Permafix, a private contractor that disassembles material from Hanford and repackages it for disposal. Workers at the contractor detected radiation on the outside of one of the glove boxes. Representative of Permafix said that at no time was there any danger to the workers at their facility or the general public. They said that no radiation escaped from the truck loading bay where the glove boxes were delivered. Permafix reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Washington State Department of Health (WSDOH as required by regulations.
DOE stated that it was not responsible for radiation found at private contractors and refused to become involved. The Washington State Department of Ecology (WSDOE) said that the case falls under the jurisdiction of the WADOH and they would not get involved. The Department of Health staffers who were dispatched to investigate found that there was radiation where it should not be. They found radiation on the equipment used to unload the glove boxes and on a forklift that was used to move the boxes. They found that the workers handling the glove boxes were not wearing protective gear. WSDOH criticized Permafix for opening Hanford shipping containers outside of their facility and then moving radioactive objects and materials into their facility without “secondary containment.” It is not understood how the radiation escaped from the glove boxes and the plastic wrapping that was applied at Hanford.
Hanford Challenge, the watchdog group who obtained documents about the incident said that there was a threat to the public and the environment and that DOE had to take a more active role in monitoring their contractors. They demanded greater transparency and more stringent control on such shipments and the handling of the material being shipped.
Investigation by King 5 Television in Seattle revealed that the DOE and its contractors were using parade permits to move radioactive shipments through Richmond, Washington. Parade permits have much less stringent requirements for safety measure than other types of transportation permits. It is obviously improper to move such shipment with parade permits and it is not clear how that was authorized and justified by DOE.
Richland, Washington near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation:
