More Hanford Waste Found In Ground Water Doe Suspects 67 Tanks Of Leaking; Report Also Finds Worker Morale Down
More of Hanford’s nuclear waste storage tanks have leaked radioactive wastes into ground water, the U.S. Department of Energy confirmed.
Wastes from the B, BX and BY tank farms have reached the ground water, Hanford manager John Wagoner said Thursday at a press conference.
The conclusions come from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studies.
Hanford has 54 million gallons of radioactive wastes in 177 underground tanks divided among 18 clusters - or “tank farms” - in the center of the reservation. Of those tanks, 67 are suspected of leaking.
Thursday’s announcement means wastes from eight of those 18 tank farms are believed to have leaked into the ground water 210 feet to 310 feet beneath the surface.
That contaminated ground water is slowly seeping toward the Columbia River, with the shortest travel time estimated to be about 20 years.
The wastes are byproducts of four decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.
In November, the DOE confirmed wastes from five tank farms have reached ground water. At that time, DOE officials said they expected to reach similar conclusions at the B, BX and BY tank farms.
At least 200 square miles of Hanford’s ground water are contaminated, with about 100 square miles worth of contaminants at levels that exceed federal drinking water standards.
Most of that contamination comes from more than 300 billion gallons of wastes and liquids from trenches, pipes, cribs and other dump sites.
Although that volume is huge, the contaminants contain relatively low concentrations of radioactive substances compared with the tank wastes.
But with at least 1 million gallons of tank wastes reaching the ground water, that means much more highly radioactive substances are confirmed to be in the aquifer.
For decades, the DOE had contended no tank wastes had reached the ground water. In the early 1990s, the agency gradually shifted to saying it was not sure. Last November’s announcement ended any doubt.
Also Thursday, the DOE said morale, trust and communication problems are plaguing employees at Hanford’s tank farms.
The report was unveiled by Wagoner and Suzanne Rudzinski, the review team leader from the DOE’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“You’ve got a complex problem. There’s been a lot of pressure to meet deadlines on budget. … What has happened is the people end of relations has been shortchanged,” Rudzinski said.
xxxx WASTE FIGURES Hanford has 54 million gallons of radioactive wastes in 177 underground tanks divided among 18 clusters, or “tank farms.” Of those tanks, 67 are suspected of leaking.