Hanford officials prepare to pump nuke waste back into tank

Hanford Nuclear Reservation officials are preparing to pump thousands of gallons of leaked radioactive waste back into a 46-year-old storage tank that contains toxic leftovers from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

The Washington state Department of Ecology says none of the waste appears to have been released into the environment when it leaked Sunday, and there is no known danger to the public.

More than 3,000 gallons of radioactive waste leaked from the inner tank of a giant double-walled tank known as AY-102 into the space between the two walls.

Officials for the federal contractor are making preparations to pump the leaked waste back into the main tank later Tuesday.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons.