Seattle – Throughout most of the twentieth century, the sprawling complex in the southeastern desert of Washington has turned to most of the plutonium used in the nuclear nation’s arsenal, from the first atomic bomb to the arms race that feed the Cold War.
Now, after decades of planning and Billion dollars From investment, the site transforms nuclear and chemical waste in Hanford nuclear reservation into a safer material: glass.
On Wednesday, state organizers issued the final statement that Hanford needs workers to remove more waste from Often the underground tanks leakMix it in a crucible with additions, and heat it above 2000 ° F (1000 ° C). The mixture then cools in stainless steel ponds and hardens into glass – still radioactive, but more stable to maintain storage, and less prone to leakage to the soil or near the Colombia River.
The long -awaited development is a basic step in Cleaning the most polluted nuclear waste site in the country. Building on the Hanford Factory for processing and freezing began in 2002.
“We are in the event of a really important moment in Hanford’s history,” said Casey Six Emil, Director of the Ministry of Environment in Washington State, in a video interview.
The reservation is approaching about 600 square miles (1500 square kilometers) near the meeting of two of the most important rivers northwest of the Pacific, snake and Colombia, in the area It is important for the original American tribes For thousands of years.
He chose the war time planning the region because it was isolated and was accessible to cold water and photovoltaic energy. In early 1943, the United States government seized on the ground a secret project, which resulted in the displacement of nearly 2000 residents, including farmers.
After that, tens of thousands of workers responded to newspaper advertisements throughout the country and promised good jobs to support the allied efforts to defeat Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II, and a new city has emerged in the desert.
Most of the workers had no idea that they participated in building the first Pltonium production reactor in the world until the United States dropped nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and President Harry S. announced. Truman is the presence of the Manhattan project to the world.
Hanford will grow into nine nuclear reactors that come out of plutonium for the nuclear arsenal of the nation. The last of which was closed in 1987. Washington, the US Energy Ministry, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Environmental Protection Agency arrived at the site cleaning.
Seven of the nine reactors “Charity” has been completed To prevent pollution from escaping until radiation levels decrease enough to allow dismantling, near the end of the century.
There are also 177 giant underground tanks carrying about 56 million gallons (212 million liters) of highly chemical and chemical waste. These tanks have been over 25 years old. More than a third of the leaks in the past, and three are currently leaking.
During her years of blutonium for nuclear weapons, Hanford threw liquid waste directly into the Colombia River and into ineffective containment ponds, pollution of the surrounding groundwater and pollution of the food chain of the wildlife that depends on it, according to a governmental evaluation in 2013.
Now Hanford is Focus on cleaningWith an annual budget of about 3 billion dollars.
Radio waste packaging in the glass – called “evaluation” – has been identified since at least the eighties as an effective way to neutralize it. There are plans for guides in Hanford: Approval now to treat nuclear waste with a low level after frequent delay, and a high -level attachment to high -level waste still under construction.
More than $ 30 billion has been spent on plants so far. The US Department of Energy, which supervises Hanford, faced a final date on October 15 to convert some of its stored waste into glass, according to a cleaning schedule and approval decree that includes the Environmental Protection Agency and Washington State.
It will include the first waste mixed with glass Radiological treatment radiotherapy and vertrentiumAccording to a statement from the Ministry of Energy.
The Energy Ministry launched Roger Jarrel, the main supervisor of Hanford cleaning, earlier this month, raising concerns about the Trump administration’s commitment. Democratic Senator Patti Murray said that energy minister Chris Wright told her that he was looking forward to stopping the processes.
Which prompted anger from Washington state officials. State Governor Bob Ferguson joined a press conference by tribal leaders and employment representatives, to take legal action.
But Wright insisted that the department had not changed anything, and on September 17, he made a signature paper that allows glazing to move forward in the wake of approvals by government organizers.
“Although there are challenges, we are committed to starting operations by October 15, 2025,” Wright said in a statement in a statement. “As always, we give priority to the health and safety of both the workforce and society and we are working to meet our nation’s need to get rid of nuclear waste safely and efficiently.”
On Wednesday, with the issuance of the approval of the state, Ferguson urged the Ministry of Energy to follow up.
“Our mandate has started the waste treatment plant,” Ferguson said in a statement. “Now the federal government needs to rise to the level of its responsibilities and clean what they left behind.”
In a statement before the government was closed, the Ministry of Energy said it would be able to continue all its operations for a day to five days. After that, the section The work will stop unless Operations are linked to “the integrity of human life and the protection of property.”