Workers start filling collapsed plutonium plant tunnel in Washington

A hole where an underground tunnel collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland Wash

Kelley Robertson | 12 May, 2017, 00:40

An emergency has been declared at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington state after a portion of a tunnel that that contains rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a frequent Hanford critic, said the cave-in shows that the temporary solutions the Energy Department has used for decades are starting to fail. "It's the latest in a series of alarms that the safety and health of Hanford workers and our citizens are at risk", Bellon said. It was discovered Tuesday as part of a routine inspection. Non-essential workers who live north of the site's Wye Barricade entrance were asked to stay home Wednesday.

Plutonium production at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation stopped in 1980 and cleaning up radioactive materials has been the Energy Department's top priority for years.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

Officials detected no release of radiation and say there were no workers inside the tunnel.

The tunnel is one of two at the site containing radioactive waste from the time the facility produced plutonium for America's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki which ended WWII.

The 60-year-old tunnel - constructed of wood and concrete - is next to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, a former chemical processing plant, according to the Hanford Joint Information Center. "After extensive testing the site remains confident at this point that there has been no indication of worker exposure or an airborne radiological release".

"Officials continue to monitor the air and are working on how they will fix the hole in the tunnel roof", the Hanford Emergency Information site announced.

Ecology is requiring the federal Department of Energy, through an enforcement order, to immediately assess the integrity of the tunnels, one of which partially collapsed on Tuesday, and take swift corrective action.

Aamir Khan's Dangal becomes the highest-grossing Indian movie in China
With this, the movie is on its way to becoming Bollywood's highest-earning film in China. "Dangal" has broken Aamir's "PK" record of minting Rs 100 crore in China.

A site-area emergency is limited to Hanford boundaries but could affect staff beyond the immediate facility.

Eight rail cars are in the tunnel that collapsed, but it feeds into a longer tunnel that contains 28 loaded rail cars. Inside the tunnel are railcars that contain risky radioactive equipment used during the Cold War.

"The issue is whether or not there's sufficient wind to start sucking materials out of that tunnel and into the environment", said Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog organization.

The governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, says there are "many questions" about how the collapse happened, reports member station Oregon Public Broadcasting.

"Moving forward, we're asking the federal government to take a more serious look at the risks that are happening". There is a massive volume of nuclear waste stored at the Hanford site, about the size of the USA state of Rhode Island, and not all of the storage sites are inspected daily, Heeter said. The most unsafe are 56 million gallons of waste stored in 177 aging underground storage tanks, some of which have leaked.

"Hanford sits next to the Columbia River". "There are various projects in this site and occasionally there is spread of contamination".

At its peak, the site consisted of nine nuclear reactors and four reprocessing plants, created to turn uranium into plutonium. That same year, six tanks at the site were found to be leaking radioactive waste. If something goes wrong, the cells could be damaged.

"The stored waste has to be treated in special rooms called black cells, which are too radioactive for humans to enter".

Middlesbrough captain Ben Gibson: We deserve to go down. Everyone's responsible

Conte: Chelsea Took 'Big Step' To EPL Title, Bring On West Brom

12 May 2017

Middlesbrough captain Ben Gibson: We deserve to go down. Everyone's responsible
The Baggies are aiming to deny Chelsea the victory which would see Antonio Conte's side win the Premier League on Friday. The Blues endured a nightmare start to their championship defence last term, losing nine of their first 16 games.

Buffett cuts stake in IBM and shares slide
Berkshire said its insurance businesses swung to a $267 million underwriting loss from a year-earlier profit of $213 million. Buffett is the celebrity that everyone wants to get close to at the meeting.

Texas stokes immigration debate with 'sanctuary cities' ban
She said before Abbott signed it that she would conform to the ban if it became law. His administration is trying to cut off federal funding for sanctuary cities.
12 May 2017

United States unemployment falls to 10-year low
Perhaps even more interesting, racial disparities continue to thrive, even with the-albeit slowly-falling unemployment rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistic releases jobs figures for each month on the first Friday of the month that follows.

Trump preparing certified letter attesting to no Russia ties
Yates called McGahn first thing that morning to tell him she had "a very sensitive matter" that had to be discussed face to face. Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H.

Erdogan slams treatment of Palestinians; Israel issues angry response
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of "massacres" against the Palestinians and chided the global community for its silence.
11 May 2017

Trump fires FBI Director James Comey
He said he was " mildly nauseous " at the thought of having swayed the election but also said he would do the same again. Sessions advised Trump's campaign before being picked by the president to lead the Justice Department.

Gianluigi Buffon determined to lift Champions League title
This time, it could be Juve's year, especially after it eased past the Catalan team 3-0 on aggregate in the quarterfinals. Check out the remarkable feat of defending in the video embedded below.

10 May 2017

Inspired Alves leads Juventus into Champions League final
The German midfielder is likely to be straight back into the starting lineup, with Claudio Marchisio expected to make way for him. Juventus are heading for their sixth successive Serie A title and produced an utterly clinical display in the first leg.
Stars Wars fans say, 'May the 4th be with you'
Anyway, combining Star Wars with Lego, still the GREATEST TOY EVER, is bound to get people excited. But still a welcome addition to Star Wars Day .

11 May 2017

Ainge's leadership in spotlight as Celtics chase 18th title
With all these players together Monday night, fans wanted them to discuss Allen and why they were upset. Pierce continued by saying "now it's uncomfortable" and that he hasn't talked to Allen in years.

Arsene Wenger Cool On Potential Appointment
Arsene Wenger claims he would "love" to keep Lucas Perez at Arsenal this summer - provided he is still in charge of the club. His team plays away at Southampton on Wednesday needing a win to stay in contention for a top-four finish.

Conte: Chelsea Took 'Big Step' To EPL Title, Bring On West Brom Bad night, a really bad season, the lowest point of my career by a long way and everyone else in the dressing room. In this mood it is hard to see the league title coming from anywhere other than at West Brom on Friday night.

McFarling Journal 4/26/17: Earnhardt, Hendrick on where NASCAR goes from here The announcement of Dale Earnhardt Jr .'s retirement following the 2017 season sent shock waves through the NASCAR community. Dale Jr., who will turn 43 in October, made his first career Cup Series start on May 30, 1999, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

National monuments: Stand up for them It directs the Department of Interior to examine all lands designated as national monuments since 1996. Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is also on the list.

President Trump Fired FBI Director James Comey, but now Democrats are Upset Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said "Trump's decision to fire Comey ...should send a chill down the spine of every American". But the president did assert that Comey informed him "on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation".

Trump moves to get more conservatives on federal bench Of course, some critics of the Gorsuch nomination insisted that part of the problem was how the judge came to Trump's attention. The White House did not immediately make available the full list of judges Trump picked to serve on federal courts.

Justice Dept. Won't Bring Charges in Alton Sterling Death Louisiana prosecutors have vowed to launch their own investigation to determine whether state charges are applicable. As Sterling lies fatally wounded, the other officer removes something from Sterling's right pocket.

'American Idol' to make comeback on ABC TV in 2018 A return for " Idol " had been rumored for months, and Fremantle reportedly entertained offers from NBC and Fox. I had no idea that it was being talked about to come here until late last week. "I say "yes" and bow to you".

French Presidential Hopeful Macron Has 2 Candidates for Prime Minister's Office Over the weekend, Ms Le Pen was endorsed by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a conservative candidate who lost in the first round of voting. She has also intensified her campaign to convince working-class left-wingers to rally to her cause, or at least abstain.

Oil prices edge up in anticipation of extended crude output cut OPEC's efforts to tighten the market and prop up prices have been undermined by a relentless rise in US production, especially from shale oil drillers.

Rise in rents across Limerick creating an 'unsustainable situation' It was one of counties with the fastest rising rents, just behind Louth which saw an increase of 18.3 per cent in the past year. This huge discrepancy puts a huge financial strain on low income families who are in rented accommodation.

Latest rumors suggest September 2017 launch and design leak The iPhone 8 will reportedly introduce a 5.8-in., edgeless OLED display with minimal bezels said to measure in at just 4mm. Although he believes that this delay won't undermine the actual demand as long as the iPhone 8 lives up to the hype.

Matt Harvey apologizes to Mets, explains why he didn't show up Saturday Harvey posted a 4-10 mark with a 4.86 ERA in 14 starts last season before undergoing surgery to fix thoracic outlet syndrome. He was good again in 2015 but it's been a real struggle since helping to carry the Mets to the 2015 World Series.

U.S. plans to directly arm Syria Kuds against Islamic State The announcement comes one week before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit Washington and meet Trump. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

Saudi Arabia hopes to extend oil cuts to end-2017 or longer Now, Saudi Arabia's oil minister has said that they're trying to extend the cut even further, perhaps even moving into 2018. The EIA forecast that USA oil demand for 2017 will grow 290,000 bpd, up from its previous forecast for 250,000 bpd growth.

Sinclair Broadcast Group acquires Tribune Media Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Monday that it will acquire Tribune Media in a deal valued at $3.9 billion. Sinclair Broadcast Group , one of the nation's largest local TV station operators, wants to get even bigger.

Workers start filling collapsed plutonium plant tunnel in Washington

Recommended