Work Begins on Hanford Waste Site

historic Hanford High School

Only a half a century has passed since Hanford produced weapons-grade plutonium for the US war effort; nevertheless, work has finally begun on cleaning up the underground storage tanks that hold millons of gallons of highly radioactive waste. The US Energy Department made the announcement that processing of cesium had begun last week. The system cost $130 million. Once the waste is treated it will be sent to another plant on site that will convert it to glass like beads for long term storage. The half life of Cs135 is a mind altering 2.3 million years. As US Person has pointed out, nuclear waste never really goes away, it just morphs into another format. The isolation plant has been under construction since 2002 and is scheduled to start working next year. The cesium removal and isolation system is similar to one operated at Savannah River, South Carolina, which also produced plutonium. 

Hanford has about 56 million gallons of highly radioactive waste temporarily stored in 177 underground tanks that are nearing the end of their useful life. The waste is the result of five decades of operation producing weapons grade plutonium for the US arsenal. The price tag for this arsenal has been astronomical. The complete clean up of Handford will cost somewhere around $300 billion to $640 billion, but no one really knows the eventual cost. The 580 acre site abuts the Columbia River and there is concern that leaking tanks will allow radioactive contamination to reach the river. The DOE is spending about $2.5 billion a year on cleaning contaminated buildings, soil, and groundwater as well as the waste removal and processing. Annual budgets will have to be increased substantailly to allow complete remediation of the national sacrifice zone by 2078.  Meanwhile. Hanford broke an all-time temperature high for the state of Washington on June 29, 2021 of 120 ℉.