Hanford Reaching Robert Jacobs, PhD Hiroshima Peace Institute & Hiroshima City University
Hanford Nuclear Reservation
Hanford Nuclear Reservation
Hanford Nuclear Reservation Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP)
The “Green Run” • Conducted in December 1949 • Designed to increase detection of Soviet plutonium processing • Iodine-131 filters turned off on PFP • EPA map of distribution of iodine-131 in Washington and Oregon
Hanford Nuclear Waste Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition Begins November 2016
Hanford Nuclear Waste Spent Nuclear Fuel Rods
Hanford Nuclear Waste Waste Buried In Trenches EPA Has Identified 1,500 - 1,200 Toxic and Radioactive Dump Sites
Hanford Nuclear Waste
Hanford Tank Farms • 177 tanks contain 53 million gallons of chemical and radiological waste (149 single-shelled) • 67 tanks have leaked 1 million gallons into groundwater • Some are rated at 100% of the lower flammable limit for hydrogen • Radionuclides in the tanks pose a threat to human health from 300-200,000 years
Hanford Vitrification Plant • Initial plan was halted by work of whistleblowers who alerted DOE Secretary • Current plan is the vitrification of the high level waste • Vit Plant is first of its kind technology and is currently under construction • Once completed humans cannot enter • Risks include: leaks, nuclear criticalities, explosions, fires, large environmental releases
Current Onsite Health Problems • Chemical vapor exposures at Tank Farms • 150 workers hospitalized since Jan 2015 • 73 in April and May 2016 • KING5 has been running powerful interviews • Adoption of respirators has mitigated this problem in 2017
Radiological Decay of High Level Waste
Wildfires at Hanford
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