US nuclear clean-up carries major risks

As a resident of Portland, about 100 miles down stream from Hanford, I find this pretty exciting. The New Scientist reports a 50-50 chance of an accident as the government cleans up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

There is a 50% chance of a major accident while the US government attempts to clean up its dirtiest nuclear site over the next three decades, a new study concludes. Even without an accident, the groundwater, a nearby river and fish could end up badly contaminated.

A decision to fast-track the rehabilitation of the vast Hanford nuclear complex in Washington State poses dangers and could lead to "costly and time-consuming mistakes", says Bob Alvarez, formerly a senior environmental adviser to the Clinton administration. His study is due to be published in the September issue of Princeton University's peer-reviewed journal, Science and Global Security.

And of course the decision to "fast-track" was a purely political one.

Allyn Boldt, who was a senior chemical engineer at Hanford for 25 years, fears that any problems at the site will jeopardise the expansion of nuclear power he believes is necessary to meet the world's future energy needs. "The clean-up decisions at Hanford are being made by administrators driven by political and career considerations."

The Portland Metropolitan area, which has over 2 million residents, is on the west end of the Columbia River Gorge about 100 miles from Hanford. More often than not the wind blows down the Gorge from the reservation.

.....a risk estimate from US Nuclear Regulatory Commission implies that there is a 50-50 chance of a major radiation or chemical accident at Hanford over 28 years of operation. The worst hazard is from a steam explosion at one of the melters used to mix radioactive waste with molten glass.

"DOE's experience with glass melters does not inspire confidence," Alvarez observes. "Since 1991 there have been at least eight melter-related accidents and failures at DOE sites, including two steam explosions."

It should be noted that the Columbia River is already the most radioactive river in the world.