* Hanford Nuclear Reservation is "the nation's most polluted nuclear waste site". [Source: Andy Dworkin, "Feds stop two cleanup projects at Hanford", The Oregonian, May 10, 2003]
* For 40 years, the 586-square-mile reservation in south-central Washington made plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons, beginning with the top-secret Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. ... The equivalent of about 75,000 55-gallon barrels of radioactive waste are buried at Hanford. The material can take thousands of years or more to decay to safe levels. The state and federal governments recently agreed on a long-term cleanup schedule. ... Cleanup costs are expected to total $50 billion to $60 billion, with the work to be finished by 2035. [Source: Shannon Dininny (The Associated Press), "A dumping ground? Report raises concerns", Seattle Times, March 10, 2004]
* Hanford was one of the Manhattan Project sites beginning in 1943, and was once home to as many
as nine plutonium reactors until they were shut down in 1989.
[Source: Dave Raffo (Senior Editor, Byte and Switch), "A Different Take on Nuclear Storage", November 22, 2005]
- - - - - - - - - -
March 1, 2013
* [site-Hanford-sequestration] Hanford workers stuck in limbo as sequestration starts today, Tri-City Herald (thanx Nevada state ANP)
* [site-Hanford] Why the Leaking Underground Tanks at Hanford Have Nothing to Do With Used Nuclear Fuel at US Nuclear Power Plants, Eric McErlain, NEI Nuclear Notes (thanx Nevada state ANP)
* [site-Hanford] More barriers option for leaking Hanford tanks, Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald (thanx Nevada state ANP)
- - - - -
January 20, 2013
* [site-Hanford] New federal report critical of Hanford plant work, Associated Press
* GAO report released Friday questions whether the Hanford waste treatment plant can be built and operated successfully. "By just about any definition, DOE's (waste treatment plant) project at Hanford has not been a well-planned, well-managed, or well-executed major capital construction project," the report states. "Daunting technical challenges that will take significant effort and years to resolve, combined with a near tripling of project costs and a decade of schedule delays, raise troubling questions as to whether this project can be constructed and operated successfully." Design of the $12.3 billion plant is 85 percent complete while construction is more than 50 percent complete.
* Hanford is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site. The Waste Treatment Plant is designed to convert millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste into glasslike logs for permanent storage. That waste is currently stored in 177 aging, underground tanks, many of which have leaked into the groundwater, threatening the neighboring Columbia River.
* The plant's design includes new technology that will need to operate for decades "with perfect reliability," the GAO report said, because high radiation levels won't allow access for maintenance and repair. The Oregonian reports that the GAO recommended against resuming construction until key milestones are met, including verifying critical technologies.
* [site-Hanford] Government Accountability Office questions whether Hanford treatment plant can succeed, Scott Learn, The Oregonian, January 18, 2013 8:10 pm
* The Government Accountability Office today released a blistering report on the $13.4 billion waste treatment plant being built at the Hanford nuclear reservation, questioning whether the project can succeed and saying billions of dollars of cost increases and long delays "are almost certain to occur."
* DOE estimates the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is more than 55 percent complete, though the design is only 80 percent complete. Civilian nuclear industry guidelines call for designs to be at least 90 percent complete before construction begins, the GAO report noted.
* Hanford is the nation's largest radioactive cleanup site.
* Since 2009, DOE awarded roughly $24.2 million in performance bonuses to Bechtel for meeting cost and schedule targets and resolving technical challenges. But the targets are now at "serious risk" of being missed, the report says, and the challenges "were not resolved after all." The plant is due to be opened by 2019. Unresolved technical issues include corrosion of treatment plant parts, the report says, and potential buildup of flammable hydrogen gas Òin excess of safety limits.Ó
* In its response to the report, DOE said it would allow limited construction activities, such as completing structural walls at the high-level treatment plant, while "taking into account the remaining open technical issues." The accountability office said that approach "appears reasonable," but said DOE should monitor to make sure construction doesn't go beyond the approved list "until the technical and management issues are satisfactorily resolved." DOE also said it would work to improve contractor performance evaluations, and would review incentive payments made since January 2009.
* [site-Hanford] HANFORD WASTE TREATMENT PLANT: DOE Needs to Take Action to Resolve Technical and Management Challenges, U.S. General Accounting Office, GAO-13-38, Jan 18, 2013
June 24, 2012
* [site-Hanford] Highly radioactive underwater capsules at Hanford are moved, Annette Cary, Tacoma News Tribune (via Nevada state ANP)
March 21, 2008
* Hanford - how an 85-gal leak from a hose threatens the rest of the cleanup
February 28, 2008
* Hanford cleanup - current pace = 140 more yrs, contaminated Columbia River, sez Gov. Gregoire
February 8, 2008
Hanford Waste Treatment Plant - NRC is reviewing DOE's safety and environmental regulatory processes
In the report accompanying the FY2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill, Congress tasked NRC with reviewing the regulatory processes of the DOE for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. NRC is required to submit report containing assessment and recommendations by the end of June. NRC has planned to limit its review to safety and environmental programs and activities. NRC will not review security, material control and accounting (MC&A), emergency planning, management of plant output, or decommissioning. NRC's review will be an evaluation, relative to NRC's regulatory framework, of DOE regulations, requirements, orders and guidance. The review is NOT a detailed design or license review, nor is it a detailed audit of implementation of DOE's requirements, nor is it an assessment of security or vulneraility.
[Source: Patti Silva (NRC branch chief, Div of Fuel Cycle and Safeguards), "U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Role in the Review of the DOE Regulatory Processes for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant", presentation slides prepared for public meeting in Hanford Washington, to be held February 13, 2008 -- ACN ML080370291]
February 5, 2008
This is from the front page of today's Tri-City Herald, of Richland, Washington.
See full text of this story via the web version of this article.
October 30, 2007
Hanford area - dozens of suspected arson fires this year
Fire season 2007 had local crews following one of the busiest fire seasons in years, with fires charring hundreds of thousands of acres in the Mid-Columbia. Fire departments told Action News they battled more blazes this summer than they usually respond to all year. By August, crews started raising concerns about suspicious fires, calling for an arson alert to investigate more than 70 fires suspected to be arson. ... [B]y mid-summer, hundreds of thousands of wild land acres had gone up in smoke: 6,000 in Benton City, 10,000 Finley, 30,000 at the Hanford Reach. ... Then another set of fires at Hanford Reach, this time charring 76,000 acres in just days. The fire tore across highways, firebreaks and within a mile of the Hanford nuclear plant. ... But it seemed, when crews snuffed one fire out, another sparked. Firefighters were convinced, they were fighting more than just mother nature: they were fighting firebugs. Benton and Franklin county firefighters created a an arson task force to battle more than 70 suspicious fires. ...
[Source: Chelsea Kopta, "A Look Back at Fire Season 2007", KEPR TV-19 (Pasco, WA), Oct 29, 2007 7:24 pm PDT]
December 14, 2006
*
Parts of Hanford funding in doubt
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
October 25, 2006
*
Hanford workers finish sludge cleanup of basin near Columbia
Seattle Post Intelligencer
*
K East Basin cleanup complete
Annette Cary, Hanford News
*
DOE awards $5.6 million grant to PNNL
Hanford News
*
Audit: Cleanup cost may double
Annette Cary, Hanford News
*
Richland school named after town condemned for Hanford
Sara Schilling, Tri City Herald (WA)
Richland's new elementary school will be named after the historic townsite condemned to make way for the Hanford nuclear reservation. ...
*
Waste treatment firm may be sold
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Nuvotec and Pacific EcoSolutions of Richland may be bought by Perma-Fix Environmental Services
* [2006-03-30] Tank workers may be respirator-free
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-30] Hanford Tank C-201 sucked dry
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-30] Pasco meeting offers Hanford cleanup input
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-30] Activist groups calling for study of Hanford Reach contamination
Les Blumenthal, Hanford News
* [2006-03-30] Steady Hanford budget proposed
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-30] Plan in place for Hanford Reach interpretive center
Elena Olmstead, Hanford News
* [2006-03-29] Conservation, Hanford watchdog groups urge study of Hanford Reach
Shannon Dininny, Seattle Post Intelligencer
* [2006-03-27] Public has chance to help treat Hanford headache
Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian
* [2006-03-25] Experts list 28 problems to fix at Hanford waste plant
Seattle Post Intelligencer
* [2006-03-23] Residents go to bat for B Reactor
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-22] Public sounds off on study
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-22] Construction boon to Tri-Cities
Jeff St. John, Hanford News
* [2006-03-21] DOE mulls Hanford cleanup options
Hanford News
* [2006-03-18] Bechtel National faces $198,000 fine
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-18] Energy Department fines Bechtel for violations at Hanford plant
Shannon Dininny, Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] Study to take look at preserving B Reactor; Congress wants to know what sites from Manhattan Project to preserve, role of park service
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] State urges funding for vitrification plant
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] PFS seeks federal involvement in waste transportation
Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] Energy Department says it has no plans to move nuke waste to Utah
Jennifer Talhelm, Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] Project head details delays, costs for nuclear waste dump
Erica Werner, Hanford News
* [2006-03-16] GAO report puts DOE to task
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-15] Feds challenge ruling on Hanford waste shipments
The Olympian
* [2006-03-15] New U.S. challenge to Hanford waste ban
Seattle Post Intelligencer
* [2006-03-14] Feds Challenge Ban On Waste Shipments To Hanford
KOMO
* [2006-03-14] Ban on waste shipments challenged
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-14] CH2M Hill Hanford honored for tank system project
Hanford News
* [2006-03-14] TRIDEC leaders give upbeat report
Jeff St. John, Hanford News
* [2006-03-14] NOTICES Meetings: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory BoardÑ Hanford Site, WA, 13112 [E6Ð3592]
Energy Department
* [2006-03-11] Panel suggests NRC takeover at Hanford
Les Blumenthal, Hanford News
* [2006-03-11] Battelle CEO visits Tri-Cities; Says Battelle committed to keeping DOE contract
John Trumbo, Hanford News
* [2006-03-11] Framatome ANP, Cogema announce name changes
Hanford News
* [2006-03-09] Lawmaker rejects vit plant's budget; Congressman claims $690 million annual budget not in effect
Les Blumenthal, Hanford News
* [2006-03-09] Steam may be used to rid last of sodium from FFTF
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-09] PGE prepares to take down nuclear plant cooling tower
Sarah Skidmore, Hanford News
* [2006-03-08] Cantwell to Bush: Don't cut budget at expense of sick workers
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-08] Tri-Cities sees rise in jobs in January
Jeff St. John, Hanford News
* [2006-03-08] State seeks to join Hanford suit
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-07] State seeks to join Hanford suit
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-07] DOE seeks ideas for razing reactor
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-07] Ex-Energy chief Abraham appointed to Areva board
Hanford News
* [2006-03-07] Audit: Better coordination needed on research in radiation detection
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-03] Witnesses decry program changes
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-03] Small firm gets Hanford contract
Annette Cary, Hanford News
* [2006-03-01] Tri-Cities has segregation in its history too
Annette Cary, Hanford News
November 22, 2005
*
A Different Take on Nuclear Storage
Dave Raffo, Byteandswitch.com (NY)
Bechtel National's choice for storing CAD drawings and other records pertaining to the Hanford cleanup project's hundreds of contractors and partners was a BlueArc Titan system with CommVault QiNetixbackup software. The system has 70 Terabytes of storage. Bechtel considered Fibre Channel's networked storage system that included hardware and backup software integrated into one package, but "We felt the cost of Fibre Channel was too much given the infrastructure investment we already had with an IP network," said Michael Maier, IS and technology manager for the Waste Treatment Plant Project. ÒWe believed IP-based storage would be the best.
August 23, 2005
DOE has no plan to meet 2006 deadline for removing plutonium from Hanford
The US has approximately 50 tons of plutonium no longer needed for weapons production. Most is at Hanford. As an interim measure, for security and cost reasons, DOE is considering consolidating all 50 tons at Savannah River until it can be stored permanently in a nuclear waste repository. Under an accelerated cleanup plan, plutonium must be shipped out of the Hanford site by the end of 2006. However, DOE has not yet completed a plan to process the plutonium into a form suitable for permanent storage and can't ship it, according to Government Accountability Office report to Congress last month which was publicly released Friday. For example, about 20 percent of Hanford's plutonium is in the form of unused 12-foot fuel rods from the Fast Flux Text Facility, a one-of-a-kind reactor at the site. The fuel rods are not scheduled to be disassembled under Hanford's cleanup plan, but storage at Savannah River would require the plutonium to be stored in 10-inch containers. "DOE is facing these storage challenges because of its failure to adequately plan for plutonium consolidation and disposition," the report said. Continued plutonium storage at Hanford will cost about $85 million annually. In its response, DOE argued it is developing its comprehensive plan for consolidation. A new committee was created to do that, DOE said. "This strategic plan will encompass the comprehensive strategy called for in your first recommendation," wrote Charles Anderson, DOE's principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management, in a June letter to the GAO.
[Source: Associated Press, "GAO says Hanford cleanup may be slowed", Seattle Post Intelligencer, August 23, 2005]
* 2005-05-21: High court hears I-297 arguments * 2005-05-21: Jury rules against most downwinders; 2 thyroid cancer victims awarded more than $500,000 in lawsuit * 2005-05-21: Crews drill FFTF core, destroying reactor * 2005-05-21: Idaho could be home to nuclear materials * 2005-05-20: Jury awards $545,000 to two Hanford-area cancer victims * 2005-05-20: Hanford likely caused cancer downwind, jury decides * 2005-05-20: Up to 1,000 Hanford workers to be laid off * 2005-05-19: Jury rules against most Hanford downwinders in lawsuit * 2005-05-19: Jury rules for only two Hanford downwinders * 2005-05-19: Downwinders Pay a Secret Price--In the rush to keep pace during the Cold War, residents near Hanford were knowingly exposed to harmful radiation * 2005-05-19: Statement of Plaintiffs' Lead Counsel Regarding Jury Verdict in Hanford Nuclear Reservation Litigation * 2005-05-19: Supreme Court hears arguments on intent of I-297 * 2005-05-19: Industry poor option for Hanford 300 Area * 2005-05-19: White House names Hanford cleanup czar * 2005-05-19: Hanford downwinder jury still deliberating * 2005-05-19: Jobs lagging over Hanford layoffs * 2005-05-18: Hanford likely to boost budget * 2005-05-16: Cases Against Nuclear Plant Finally Heard * 2005-05-14: DOE gets OK to ship wastes to Hanford A ruling yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald opens the way for DOE to send most, but not all, of the plutonium-contaminated waste left at Battelle's Columbus, Ohio, site to Hanford. The ruling also extends for 90 days a ban on shipments of low-level radioactive waste, including waste mixed with hazardous chemicals. McDonald also continued a ban on plutonium-contaminated waste mixed with hazardous chemicals as issues related to Initiative 297 are settled. The initiative, which passed in November, is intended to bar DOE from sending more waste to Hanford until waste already there is cleaned up.
* 2005-05-14: Jury to decide first downwinder case After 14 years of delays and appeals in a court case brought by downwinders, the first six plaintiffs went to trial this month. Judge William Fremming Nielsen is hoping that by deciding the claims of a few bellwether plaintiffs, attorneys will have enough information to settle more of the claims. Nearly two days of closing arguments in the complicated and contentious case concluded Friday, and Nielsen sent the 12-member jury home to start fresh with deliberations next week. It must decide if the thyroid disease caused by each of the six plaintiffs more likely than not was caused by Hanford and then award any damages, including damages for pain and suffering. Medical damages have already been determined, ranging from $21,133 to $522,056 for individual plaintiffs, should the jury find radioactive iodine caused the illnesses.
* 2005-05-14: Hanford required to take limited waste, judge rules * 2005-05-13: Closing arguments heard on Hanford * 2005-05-13: Panel agrees to restore Hanford budget * 2005-05-12: RFID Helps Hanford Manage Waste * 2005-05-11: Defense rests in Hanford downwinders case * 2005-05-11: State OKs limited shipments of waste * 2005-05-11: Hastings to stick by Hanford fight * 2005-05-07: Power plant to go down for refueling * 2005-05-03: CH2M Hill Hanford to study health * 2005-05-02: Core drilling kills last hope to revive Hanford research reactor April 16, 2005
* CDC says it's 'committed' to learning nuclear effects Kathy Harben, a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, responded to comments by Dr. Joseph L. Lyon, reported in Thursday's Deseret Morning News. After the CDC pulled funding for an extensive fallout-health effects study he and colleagues have been pursuing, Dr. Lyon wondered if someone was trying to cover up fallout harm. The study, which has cost about $8 million so far, has examined about one-third of the 4,000 subjects, seeking evidence of thyroid abnormalities. A subsection of the study also was planned to check for possible deaths from reasons other than thyroid disease that could be tied to fallout. According to Lyon, it was the only study in this country actually examining individuals who were exposed to radiation, looking for health effects. The main group in the study attended Washington County schools in 1965, and when Lyon and colleagues checked them years after fallout from the Nevada Test Site had ended, they found thyroid tumors at 3.4 times the expected rate. The follow-up study was launched because thyroid disease can materialize years after exposure to radiation. Some of the 4,000 make up a control group of Arizona residents. Lyon commented after reading a letter from CDC director Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, whose points were covered in the article Thursday. Ms. Harben read the article and said Gerberding had made a good analysis of the CDC's reasoning. "That is a very good summary for the basis for the CDC's decision not to continue funding," she said. "Besides that, the CDC remains committed to evaluating the exposure and possible effects related to past radiation released from nuclear weapons production facilities," she said. "We continue to study the health effects of these types of environmental radiation exposures through the Hanford (Washington) thyroid disease study, the Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project, the Savannah River (Georgia and South Carolina) Dose Reconstruction Project, the Los Alamos (New Mexico) Dose Reconstruction Project and the Idaho National Laboratories (Idaho) Dose Reconstruction Project." Harben added, "We do expect that findings from these studies will provide valuable information on the health effects of past radiation exposures."
* Bechtel to cut 700 more jobs; layoffs at vit plant hit 1,000 in past month To meet legal deadlines and to get waste out of underground tanks sooner, construction on the Hanford vitrification plant started as design work continued. Building is about 35 percent complete, and the design is about 70 percent complete. Work has substantially slowed at the two massive buildings at the plant that will handle highly radioactive waste -- the Pretreatment Facility and the High-Level Waste Vitrification Facility. In December, results of a new study indicated that design standards at the two buildings handling high-level radioactive waste might not be adequate to withstand a worst-case earthquake. The design standard must be increased 38 percent for earthquake safety at the buildings that will handle high-level radioactive waste. Engineers have started reviewing and validating the thousands of calculations already completed on the design. Bechtel had expected to lay off about 800 engineers steadily through 2005 as a substantial portion of the design work was completed. Instead, many of those engineers will keep their jobs to work on the more robust design calculations. The design changes are expected to be greatest at the upper levels of the buildings, which would move more in an earthquake, limiting the improvements that may be needed on construction already completed. The walls are about half way up on the largest building, the Pretreatment Facility, where waste will be separated into high-level and low-activity waste streams for treatment. The building will have a footprint the size of four football fields and stand about 120 feet high. DOE also has decided that the design work needs to be completed further ahead of construction as the plant has faced other challenges. Getting materials and equipment produced to nuclear-grade standards has been a challenge since manufacturing experience has diminished after the United States stopped building new nuclear plants. The slowdown in construction will allow more time for the purchase and delivery of commodities, such as piping and pipe hangers. Work will continue on schedule on the third large building at the plant, the Low-Activity Waste Vitrification Facility, and at the Analytical Laboratory and scores of support facilities. The cost of the plant will be more than the $5.8 billion planned for construction and testing now, DOE has warned.
* Hanford contractor announces layoffs at waste treatment plant Bechtel National had announced layoffs of about 300 workers in the past two weeks. An additional 350 workers were laid off yesterday, reducing the total number of construction workers at the site by almost half. The company employed about 1,400 construction workers as of March 1. Another 350 employees not handling construction work also were to receive 60-day layoff notices. Bechtel employs about 2,400 such employees at the site. "We will periodically review our staffing plan, but I am hopeful that no further reductions in the waste-treatment-plant work force will be necessary," Project Director Jim Henschel told Bechtel employees.
* Professor joins study of radioactive waste Don Steeples, Kansas University professor of geophysics and vice provost for scholarly support, will be one of 20 scholars participating in a study, commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences, examining radioactive waste stored at three federal nuclear facilities. The group will examine the Bush administration's plan to pump out most nuclear material from a site in Savannah River, S.C., and move it to a facility near Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Officials plan to seal the remaining sludge inside the tanks and leave them in place at the Savannah River site. The group also will examine a plan to manage leftover waste at sites in Idaho and Washington state.
* 2005-03-28: States announce more Hanford budget meetings * 2005-03-26: Being known to DOE helped team get Hanford contract * 2005-03-25: Nuclear Cleanup Team for Hanford's River Corridor Chosen * 2005-03-25: Centenarian celebrates a life tied to Hanford * 2005-03-23: Hanford health project seeks former 'downwinders' * 2005-03-23: Department of Energy Awards Hanford River Corridor Contract To Washington Closure, LLC * 2005-03-22: Hanford contractor to lay off 200 employees * 2005-03-22: Fluor Hanford to lay off up to 200 * 2005-03-17: Hanford initiative bound for high court * 2005-03-15: Nuclear Safety Violations Will Cost Hanford Contractor $300,000 * 2005-03-12: Senate OKs bill to clarify Initiative 297 * 2005-03-11: Contractor for Hanford Waste Cleanup Fined * 2005-03-11: Hanford company is fined $316,250 * 2005-03-11: Bush gets glimpse at PNNL work; Scientists speak in Ohio on energy-related projects * 2005-03-10: Company fined for Hanford tank farm worker contaminations * 2005-03-10: DOE Cites CH2M Hill Hanford for Violating Nuclear Safety Rules * 2005-03-09: Hanford lab dispute ends, operator can resume work * 2005-03-09: Federal report rebukes DOE * 2005-03-09: Medical screening to stay for ex-Hanford employees * 2005-03-09: Battelle backs out of Los Alamos bid * 2005-03-03: Studies suggest keeping waste at Hanford * 2005-03-03: Fluor plans layoffs; Company gives no specifics * 2005-03-02: Scientists urge feds to keep sending waste to Hanford * 2005-03-02: Benton County letter asks DOE about FFTF drill plans * 2005-03-02: Interest keen in compensation program * 2005-03-01: Interest keen in compensation program December 14, 2004
* Hot waste returns * 'bulk vitrification' December 13, 2004
* Fate of Hanford nuclear waste in flux * Hanford initiative spurs legal rematch * New Hanford battle begins, triggered by voter-passed initiative March 10, 2004
* Hanford - injunction against waste from out-of-state until State's lawsuit resolved
* Hanford - State referendum expected this fall to block out-of-state waste until cleanup complete
* Hanford - State decries continued disposal of waste in unlined trenches
* Hanford - State concerned at implications of labelling ground water as irreversibly contaminated
September 10, 2003
Examples of post-9/11 security changes at Hanford
Security for Hanford workers entering the site can change week to week and month to month, based on international conditions. One constant, however, is that visitation has been 'extremely limited', according to DOE spokesperson Andrea Powell. No more public road tours are offered on Saturdays.
[Source: Chris Mulick et al (Tri-City Herald staff writers), "Security constant since Sept. 11", Tri-City Herald, September 10, 2003]
May 10, 2003
Stop-work order at Hanford -- State of Washington aghast that DOE actually did what state required. "You should have asked what we really meant to say"
The State of Washington issued an order on April 30 via its Department of Ecology. It was 14 pages long, and the federal Department of Energy had a variety of technical and legal staffers evaluate it for implication for the Hanford cleanup project. One sentence in the order requires that "DOE shall immediately stop creating a backlog of untreated mixed wastes." So DOE yesterday told its Hanford contractors to stop any work that creates new mixed waste. That's a lot of work being stopped. Ecology Dept spokesperson Sheryl Hutchison told reporter for local newspaper that the sentence was supposed to mean that the state wants DOE to treat any mixed waste as it is produced at Hanford, and that DOE should add new ways to treat mixed wastes. Governor Gary Locke thinks DOE is being unreasonable: "This rationale would be like your mother telling you not to let dirty dishes pile up in the sink, and you respond by not cleaning any dishes at all."
[Source: John Stang (Herald staff writer) "DOE halts major cleanup at Hanford", Tri-City Herald, May 10, 2003]
What's at the root of the troubled relationship between SOW and DOE? Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Lisa Stiffler puts it like this: "There are fears that the federal government wants to make the Eastern Washington site a national dump... Energy wants to send 170 barrels of waste to Hanford from other cleanup sites so they can be closed. In return, Ecology wants a written plan setting timetables for the removal of Hanford and offsite waste... In December, Ecology officials agreed to temporarily accept garbage contaminated with long-lived radioactive elements such as plutonium if DOE officials would agree by March 1 to a plan for the cleanup and removal of some 78,000 barrels of buried waste at Hanford. When that deadline was missed, Ecology filed a lawsuit to halt the import of the so-called transuranic waste. State officials then ordered DOE to create a plan for cleaning up the debris buried at Hanford in dirt trenches. The federal agency countered with a lawsuit appealing the order. Ecology issued a second order April 30 saying DOE had broken state laws by burying garbage tainted with radioactive materials and dangerous chemicals in dirt trenches that have leaked. DOE responded with the stop-work order." [Source: Lisa Stiffler, "DOE-Ecology dispute holds up Hanford cleanup", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 10, 2003]
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Hanford News
Hanford News
Hanford News
Nicholas K. Geranios, Seattle Post Intelligencer
Warren Cornwall, Seattle Times
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Nicholas K. Geranios, Seattle Post Intelligencer
Warren Cornwall, Seattle Times
Rebecca Clarren, TidePool
PR Newswire
Rebecca Cook, Seattle Post Intelligencer
Tri-City Herald
Hanford News
Hanford News
Jeff St. John, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Tomas Alex Tizon, Los Angeles Times
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA)
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA)
Nicholas K. Geranios, Seattle Times
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Mary Catherine O'Connor, RFID Journal
Jim Camden, Spokesman Review
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Jeff St. John, Hanford News
Chris Mulick, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Joe Bauman, Deseret News
Annette Cary, Hanford News (subscription)
Shannon Dininny, AP/Hanford News (subscription)
Lawrence Journal World (Kansas)
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
ENS
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian
DOE
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Josh Cable, Occupational Hazards
Chris Mulick, Hanford News
The Guardian
Hal Bernton, Seattle Times
John Trumbo, Hanford News
Seattle Post Intelligencer
DOE
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Hanford News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Longview Daily News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Hanford News
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
The dose rate limit on drums accepted at WIPP is 200 mrem/hr. A drum was sent from Hanford with contact beta-gamma dose rate of exactly that. But during paperwork review after shipmet had left Hanford, somebody mentioned that the neutron survey technique used could not detect neutron dose rates of up to 0.2 mrem/hr. So the Hanford folks could not be sure that they had actually stayed within the WIPP limit. The shipment was stopped en route near Fort Collins. The truck turned around and headed back to Hanford. [nuclear.comMENT: How embarrassing. Millions of dollars of planning, and a load has to be turned around for lack of an administrative limit on packages with no detectable neutron dose. Well, you can bet there's an administrative limit with some room for not just this, but shifting of package contents during transport too, soon.]
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
On Monday, the state of Washington agreed to allow up to 300,000 gallons of radioactive tank waste to be vitrified at Hanford, as a test of a new process called "bulk vitrification". The state permit allows a full-scale pilot plant in central Hanford to operate for up to 400 days.
Alex Fryer, Seattle Times
Shannon Dininny, AP/Seattle Times
Shannon Dininny, AP/Seattle Post Intelligencer