Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 6
A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 9 april 2018
Workers' radiation exposure halts nuke plant demolition
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS tion was also found outside
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — plant offices and inside two
Seven decades after mak- dozen vehicles, the report
ing key portions of the said.
atomic bomb dropped on Seven workers' homes were
Nagasaki, Japan, work- checked for radioactive
ers at the Hanford Nuclear contamination, with none
Reservation are being ex- found, the report said.
posed to radiation as they The report concluded Han-
tear down buildings that ford officials placed too
helped create the nation's much reliance on air-mon-
nuclear arsenal. itoring systems that failed
Dozens of workers demol- to pick up the spread of ra-
ishing a plutonium process- dioactive particles.
ing plant from the 1940s Managers of the private
have inhaled or ingested contractor performing the
radioactive particles in the demolition work for the fed-
past year, and even car- eral government were also
ried some of that radiation This May 13, 2017, photo shows a portion of the Plutonium Finishing Plant on the Hanford Nuclear caught between maintain-
into their vehicles, accord- Reservation near Richland, Wash. ing safety and trying to
ing to the U.S. Department Associated Press make progress toward proj-
of Energy. ect deadlines, according
The incidents have prompt- of the sprawling Plutonium also shaken confidence "It's one of the more seri- to the report.
ed the federal government, Finishing Plant until a safe in a massive cleanup of ous events to happen in Risk escalated as walls of
along with state regula- plan can be developed. Hanford, the nation's most the age of cleanup at the plutonium plant were
tors, to halt the demolition The contamination has polluted nuclear weapons Hanford," Carpenter said. knocked down and the
production site. The work "There have been other rubble was stored in piles.
costs the federal treasury incidents, but none rose Fixatives sprayed on the
around $2 billion a year. to the level of plutonium rubble to keep radioac-
Hanford is near the city of contamination of this many tive particles from blowing
Richland, about 200 miles people and private vehi- away may not have been
(320 kilometers) southeast cles and being found miles effective, the report said.
of Seattle. and miles away." In addition, the state Health
"This is a very disturbing set A union representing some Department found very
of incidents," said Tom Car- Hanford workers said it was small amounts of airborne
penter, head of the Seat- closely monitoring the situ- radioactive contamination
tle-based watchdog group ation. near Highway 240 in the
Hanford Challenge. "We've got our eyes on (the past year that could have
The Energy Department, Energy Department) and come from the plant de-
which owns Hanford, has will do what we've got to molition 10 miles (16 kilome-
launched an indepen- do to keep workers safe," ters) away.
dent investigation into the said Paul Ruggles, vice- The amount of radiation
spread of radiation at the president of the Hanford involved was low — even
plant. The investigation will Atomic Metal Trades Coun- lower than naturally oc-
be conducted by an agen- cil. curring levels of radiation
cy office that is not con- Workers have the ability to people are exposed to in
nected to work at Hanford. immediately shut a project everyday life. But the proj-
Radioactive particles are down, and will not hesitate ect was not supposed to
known to have contami- to do so if their safety is expose workers to any ad-
nated 42 workers, which threatened, Ruggles said. ditional radiation.
led to the shutdown of de- Hanford officials issued a The amounts of radiation
molition, the agency has report in late March that that have escaped are
said. said a total of 42 Hanford considered too small by
Carpenter said widespread workers inhaled or ingested state experts to pose a
worker contamination has radioactive particles from health risk. All the contami-
been rare at Hanford in re- demolition of the Plutonium nation was found on lands
cent decades. Plutonium Finishing Plant when they that are closed to the pub-
production ended in the were exposed during con- lic. Carpenter expected
1980s and the site in 1989 tamination events in June there would be more inci-
switched its focus to clean- and December of last year. dents of radiation escaping
up of nuclear wastes. Radioactive contamina- into the environment.q
