Workers evacuated after leak of radioactive waste

RICHLAND – The U.S. Department of Energy evacuated about 50 workers from an area of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation Friday afternoon after discovering a liquid radioactive waste leak.

The leak was discovered in an aboveground waste transfer line at the tank farm in the 200 West area of the south-central Washington site, where contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc. has been unearthing long-buried containers of waste. The leak measured about 15 to 18 feet in diameter.

Environmental monitoring picked up the traces of radioactivity Friday morning, and at about 11 a.m. workers were ordered to remain in place as a precaution. By 3:30 p.m. they were being moved out of the area, said department spokeswoman Kim Ballinger.

Authorities said they believed the leak started and stopped sometime Thursday night.