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Tunnel Collapse at Hanford Nuclear Dump--Harbinger of the Collapse of the Entire Industry?
May 11, 2017
The collapse of a tunnel at the massive nuclear waste dump at Hanford,
Washington, 200 miles east of Seattle, has sent shock waves through a nuclear power industry already in the process of a global collapse.
Hundreds of workers were told to "take cover," and to refrain from eating or drinking anything while in the area. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, "everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release." But Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists emphasized that "collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release....this a potentially serious event."
Robert Alvarez, a former DOE official, told the Post in an email that "the tunnels now store contaminated train cars and a considerable amount of highly radioactive, ignitable wastes including possible organic vapors." Inspection of the tunnels has not been possible, he said, because radiation levels are too high.
We may never know the full extent of the damage from this latest incident at Hanford, which has been plagued by serious problems for years. Many critical nuclear industry oversight positions remain unfilled by the Trump Administration.
The 580-square-mile Hanford facility dates back to the 1940s production of the first atomic bombs, and is the nation's major repository for high-level radioactive wastes from seven decades of nuclear weapons production. Since 1989, the Department of Energy has spent billions cleaning up nine reactors and other radioactive facilities there. One commercial reactor, the Columbia Generating Station, still operates at Hanford.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Two reactors under construction at Vogtle, Georgia, may be on the brink of cancellation. Some $13 billion in cost overruns sparked a Westinghouse bankruptcy, and primary owner Southern Company is looking for billions more to finish a project already years behind schedule and billions over budget. Huge rate increases within Georgia have seriously poisoned the climate for more state money.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Southern representatives recently asked the White House for help, (and termed the response "A-Plus"). But Vogtle was begun with some $8.35 billion in guaranteed federal loans from Barack Obama. Whether the feds will shell out another $4.3 billion is another story, as is the question of whether that would actually be enough to do the job, and how long it would really take.
In neighboring South Carolina, SCANA Corp. may pull the plug on its massive double-reactor V.C. Summer project, which is also billions over budget and a contributor to the Westinghouse bankruptcy. Should both Summer and Vogtle go down, there will be zero new reactors under construction in the U.S. for the first time since the 1950s. It would mark the definitive end of the "Peaceful Atom" as a source of future new large-scale power capacity in the United States.
Keep reading...Show less
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Harvey Wasserman
Harvey Wasserman is an activist and author. His first book "Harvey Wasserman's History of the United States" was published in 1972. Harvey edits www.nukefree.org.
The collapse of a tunnel at the massive nuclear waste dump at Hanford,
Washington, 200 miles east of Seattle, has sent shock waves through a nuclear power industry already in the process of a global collapse.
Hundreds of workers were told to "take cover," and to refrain from eating or drinking anything while in the area. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, "everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release." But Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists emphasized that "collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release....this a potentially serious event."
Robert Alvarez, a former DOE official, told the Post in an email that "the tunnels now store contaminated train cars and a considerable amount of highly radioactive, ignitable wastes including possible organic vapors." Inspection of the tunnels has not been possible, he said, because radiation levels are too high.
We may never know the full extent of the damage from this latest incident at Hanford, which has been plagued by serious problems for years. Many critical nuclear industry oversight positions remain unfilled by the Trump Administration.
The 580-square-mile Hanford facility dates back to the 1940s production of the first atomic bombs, and is the nation's major repository for high-level radioactive wastes from seven decades of nuclear weapons production. Since 1989, the Department of Energy has spent billions cleaning up nine reactors and other radioactive facilities there. One commercial reactor, the Columbia Generating Station, still operates at Hanford.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Two reactors under construction at Vogtle, Georgia, may be on the brink of cancellation. Some $13 billion in cost overruns sparked a Westinghouse bankruptcy, and primary owner Southern Company is looking for billions more to finish a project already years behind schedule and billions over budget. Huge rate increases within Georgia have seriously poisoned the climate for more state money.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Southern representatives recently asked the White House for help, (and termed the response "A-Plus"). But Vogtle was begun with some $8.35 billion in guaranteed federal loans from Barack Obama. Whether the feds will shell out another $4.3 billion is another story, as is the question of whether that would actually be enough to do the job, and how long it would really take.
In neighboring South Carolina, SCANA Corp. may pull the plug on its massive double-reactor V.C. Summer project, which is also billions over budget and a contributor to the Westinghouse bankruptcy. Should both Summer and Vogtle go down, there will be zero new reactors under construction in the U.S. for the first time since the 1950s. It would mark the definitive end of the "Peaceful Atom" as a source of future new large-scale power capacity in the United States.
Keep reading...Show less
Harvey Wasserman
Harvey Wasserman is an activist and author. His first book "Harvey Wasserman's History of the United States" was published in 1972. Harvey edits www.nukefree.org.
The collapse of a tunnel at the massive nuclear waste dump at Hanford,
Washington, 200 miles east of Seattle, has sent shock waves through a nuclear power industry already in the process of a global collapse.
Hundreds of workers were told to "take cover," and to refrain from eating or drinking anything while in the area. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry said, "everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release." But Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists emphasized that "collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release....this a potentially serious event."
Robert Alvarez, a former DOE official, told the Post in an email that "the tunnels now store contaminated train cars and a considerable amount of highly radioactive, ignitable wastes including possible organic vapors." Inspection of the tunnels has not been possible, he said, because radiation levels are too high.
We may never know the full extent of the damage from this latest incident at Hanford, which has been plagued by serious problems for years. Many critical nuclear industry oversight positions remain unfilled by the Trump Administration.
The 580-square-mile Hanford facility dates back to the 1940s production of the first atomic bombs, and is the nation's major repository for high-level radioactive wastes from seven decades of nuclear weapons production. Since 1989, the Department of Energy has spent billions cleaning up nine reactors and other radioactive facilities there. One commercial reactor, the Columbia Generating Station, still operates at Hanford.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Two reactors under construction at Vogtle, Georgia, may be on the brink of cancellation. Some $13 billion in cost overruns sparked a Westinghouse bankruptcy, and primary owner Southern Company is looking for billions more to finish a project already years behind schedule and billions over budget. Huge rate increases within Georgia have seriously poisoned the climate for more state money.
The tunnel collapse happens at a time when the nuclear power industry appears to be in an accelerating death spiral.
Southern representatives recently asked the White House for help, (and termed the response "A-Plus"). But Vogtle was begun with some $8.35 billion in guaranteed federal loans from Barack Obama. Whether the feds will shell out another $4.3 billion is another story, as is the question of whether that would actually be enough to do the job, and how long it would really take.
In neighboring South Carolina, SCANA Corp. may pull the plug on its massive double-reactor V.C. Summer project, which is also billions over budget and a contributor to the Westinghouse bankruptcy. Should both Summer and Vogtle go down, there will be zero new reactors under construction in the U.S. for the first time since the 1950s. It would mark the definitive end of the "Peaceful Atom" as a source of future new large-scale power capacity in the United States.
Keep reading...Show less
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