Hanford report shows repeated stoppages
Work to clean out nuclear waste from underground tanks and to build a plant to treat the waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation was stopped 31 times over nine years to address safety or construction quality issues, according to a new report.
The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site, with cleanup expected to top $50 billion.
The report advised the Department of Energy, which manages Hanford cleanup, to establish criteria for when contractors should track the causes and costs of work stoppages. However, the report says those criteria should recognize ...
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Radioactive waste is leaking underground and contaminating the Columbia River. Anything that stops cleanup is bad news.