Tagged: Hanford

An independent oversight team from the Department of Energy is visiting the Hanford Nuclear Reservation this week. Richland Correspondent Anna King explains why.

The agency is called the Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security or H.S.S. It’s responsible for enforcing the Energy department’s self regulation of nuclear safety, worker health and safety and information security.

Washington state Ecology is rolling out a new draft permit for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington. The document is 16,476 pages long. Public meetings are scheduled across the Northwest including one in Seattle Tuesday night and another in Portland Wednesday. This new permit will determine how Hanford waste is treated, stored and disposed of for the next 10 years. Dieter Bohrmann is an Ecology spokesman. He says this document reflects that Hanford is unique both in its size and scope.

Dieter Bohrmann: “I think if there were any way we could have simplified it, and cut 10,000 pages out of it – yeah. You know, but even with that, it was still going to be a large document regardless.”

A Hanford whistleblower lawsuit is underway in federal court in Yakima. A former high-level manager on a nuclear treatment project is asking for a jury trial, but the judge hearing the case said Thursday that’s unlikely. Correspondent Anna King was there.

The Department of Energy says it’s considering whether to require a Hanford contractor to pay back a $15 million bonus. A new federal report says the bonus was for mixing tanks that managers have since been unable to prove are up to nuclear standards. Correspondent Anna King reports.

When you think of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, its radioactive legacy usually comes to mind. But, as correspondent Courtney Flatt reports, there’s more to clean up than just the site’s nuclear waste.

The Department of Energy wants to cut back commuter traffic at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site.

Nearly 10,000 workers travel to and from Hanford on a daily basis. That’s a lot of traffic, and most of those cars hold just one person.

A draft environmental plan for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation puts off a decision on how to treat a big portion of nuclear tank waste at the southeast Washington site. We’re talking about what to do with radioactive gunk called low-activity waste. The delay of that decision is nettling Washington’s Ecology department. Correspondent Anna King reports.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Occupy Portland activists took to the road this weekend. About 100 protesters showed up in sunny downtown Richland Sunday afternoon. They were there to rally against nuclear power and in favor of cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Correspondent Anna King was there.

On a large stage Native Americans and Occupy coordinators like Mirium German voiced their concerns.

“Hanford is an environmental tragedy waiting to happen,” German said.