Environmental Law

Hanford: Single-Shell Tank S-112 Emptied

By Paul Hirsch

"Hanford workers have finished emptying radioactive waste from an underground tank that posed one of the greatest risks to the Columbia River, according to CH2M Hill Hanford Group. When work started to retrieve solid waste from Tank S-112 in fall 2003, it held 614,000 gallons. That's enough to fill a basketball court 25 feet deep or more than double the amount that was in all six of the other tanks that have been emptied to date. CH2M Hill believes it has removed 99.6 percent to 99.8 percent of the waste in Tank S-112. The legally binding Tri-Party Agreement requires at least 99 percent of waste to be retrieved or as much as can be retrieved with available technology."

Full post as published by Environmental Law in Washington State on April 07, 2007 (boomark / email).