Underground Nuclear Waste Tank Leaks In Washington State
May 1st, 2021Via: Washington State Department of Ecology:
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday an underground radioactive and dangerous chemical waste storage tank at the Hanford Site in Southeast Washington is leaking.
The Washington state Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, oversees Energy’s cleanup of Hanford.
“It’s a serious matter whenever a Hanford tank leaks its radioactive and dangerous chemical waste,” Ecology Director Laura Watson said. “Based on the information we have right now, the leak poses no immediate increased risk to workers or the public, but it adds to the ongoing environmental threat at Hanford.”
Tank B-109, which is at least 75 years old, is estimated to be leaking 3.5 gallons a day, or nearly 1,300 gallons per year.
Ecology has been concerned with this tank and tracking it for more than a year, when a formal leak assessment first began. B-109 is leaking into an area where other tanks have already leaked 200,000 gallons into the soil.
B-109 is miles away from the Columbia River, and the water table is 210-240 feet below the tank.
An estimated 1,700 gallons have leaked into the soil from B-109 dating back to March 2019.
Hanford tanks contain widely varying volumes of mixed waste (waste with both radioactive components and dangerous chemicals), each with a unique blend of constituents.
“This leak is adding to the estimated one million gallons of tank waste already in the soil across the Hanford site,” Watson said. “This highlights the critical need for resources to address Hanford’s aging tanks, which will continue to fail and leak over time.”
