Hanford: Protect our Communities from Nuclear Waste

What: On May 30, the U.S. Department of Energy (Energy), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) announced a set of public meetings (in Richland, WA, Olympia, WA, & Hood River, OR) and opened a 90-day public comment period regarding changes to Hanford cleanup. A four year closed door negotiation resulted in a “holistic” settlement agreement (the settlement) between the agencies. The negotiations did not include Tribal Nations, nor the public. 

The settlement’s proposed changes to clean up will alter treatment, storage, and disposal plans for highly toxic and radioactive waste currently stored in aging tanks and the soil beneath them. Hanford’s tank waste is a byproduct of a decades-long military operation at Hanford, which produced two-thirds of the nation’s plutonium for the nuclear weapons stockpile. The most radioactive, toxic waste from this process is stored in Hanford’s 177 underground storage tanks, legally classified as high-level waste. Under the law high-level waste must be turned into glass and buried in a deep geological repository. The settlement seemingly changes this plan.

There have been major changes to the Hanford cleanup and timeline. This includes: a new proposal for high-level tank waste treatment, the shipment of tank waste to other communities in Utah and/or Texas, and radioactive waste shipments through Oregon and Washington communities. We are also being asked to accept the principle that it is okay to turn tank waste into grout rather than glass, a major departure from the law and Washington’s “as good as glass” principle for immobilizing highly radioactive waste.

Take Action today! Write a comment (view fact sheet linked below for inspiration), sign the petition, learn more, and tell a friend!

Columbia Riverkeeper Fact Sheet

Text from Columbia Riverkeeper