On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin takes a look at the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Hanford Nuclear site in Washington State, as yet another example of a ‘Sacrifice Zone’ where the most vulnerable among us are most at risk.
Tag Archives | Hanford
Troubled Factory Could Leak Radioactive Waste into Columbia River
Picture: Prolineserver (CC)
Nothing to see here, no serious problems, say Bechtel spokespersons…
An investigation by the U.S. Energy Department has found that San Francisco engineering firm Bechtel may have committed a wide range of safety and health violations at a plant it is building to treat high-level radioactive waste at Hanford, Wash., according to agency documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The Energy Department halted construction at the plant earlier this year in the wake of allegations that the treatment complex had fundamental design and construction flaws.
The Hanford plant is being built to treat an estimated 56 million gallons of radioactive waste created from about half a century of nuclear weapons production. The waste is stored in underground tanks. At least some of those tanks are leaking radioactive sludge, posing a threat to the nearby Columbia River and making the $12.3-billion treatment plant one of the most urgent environmental projects in the nation.
