Nearly 2,000 capsules containing radioactive wastefulness at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation need to be relocated . That ’s because the web site was built in an area that ’s prone to earthquakes . How could this happen ?
The readiness , located in in southeast Washington State , was the world ’s largest manufacturer of atomic number 94 during the Cold War . Today , it is America ’s most contaminated nuclear site , and the focus of an ongoing cleanup that is be taxpayers some $ 2 billion per class .
The 1,936 capsules check radioactive cesium and atomic number 38 that was antecedently forget in cloak-and-dagger tanks , and then after move into “ wet storage”—a 13 - foot - bass pool of water that help cool the caustic - proof container , which account for 32 percent of the radiation at Hanford .
And , now , according tothis Inspector General reportfrom the US Department of Energy , the capsule in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility ( WESF ) need to be moved yet again :
The March 2011 tsunami and subsequent events at the Fukushima Dai - Ichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma and Futaba , Japan highlighted the exposure to atomic facilities from possible seismal and instinctive disasters that are more dangerous than the facility ’ original intent , or “ beyond design threats . ” One potential scourge is a severe earthquake that may ensue in loss of superpower and/or red of pee in the WESF pool .
Making matters worse — yes , as common , there ’s a “ bad ” — the report notes that the storage readiness has been in table service for nine years beyond its design life . The old age is begin to show : the concrete in the WESF consortium cells has begin to deteriorate due to year of radiation exposure .
So , it ’s now incumbent upon the Energy Department to determine a new temporary storage facility . I say “ irregular ” because we still do n’t have a lasting atomic wastefulness secretary . But , no worries , the government has correct a goal to open such a facility … in 2048 .
Nuclear WastenukesScience
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