DoomsdaysCW<p>What’s being done now about <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RadioactiveWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RadioactiveWater</span></a> that threatens the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ColumbiaRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ColumbiaRiver</span></a> in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WashingtonState" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WashingtonState</span></a>?</p><p>by Annette Cary<br>Tue, July 9, 2024 </p><p>"A major <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/radioactive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>radioactive</span></a> contamination threat to the Columbia River should be removed at the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Hanford" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hanford</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nuclear</span></a> site before the end of summer.</p><p>"Hanford workers have started to pump contaminated water from the final basin of the nuclear reservation’s nine reactors along the Columbia River.</p><p>"'This effort will eliminate the risk of a leak of contaminated water to the groundwater about a quarter-mile from the Columbia River,' said Andy Wiborg, the Department of Energy acting deputy assistant manager for river and plateau cleanup."</p><p>[...]</p><p>"The K West and K East Reactor basins were the last to be used, after storing irradiated fuel from N Reactor that was not processed following the end of the Cold War. Before the fuel was removed in 2004, it <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corroded" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corroded</span></a> underwater, contributing to a highly <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RadioactiveSludge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RadioactiveSludge</span></a>.</p><p>"In 2019 the last of the sludge was removed, leaving draining the water the next major task to reduce risk from the basins.</p><p>"The nearby K East Reactor basin was emptied first.</p><p>"Then in June, the first tanker truck with basin water pulled away from the K West Reactor.<br>About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with filtered water to remove radioactive contamination from the K West Reactor basin as it is being drained. The work will protect the nearby Columbia River.<br>About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with filtered water to remove radioactive contamination from the K West Reactor basin as it is being drained. The work will protect the nearby Columbia River.</p><p>"About 400,000 gallons have been pumped out of the basin so far, which is the equivalent of six residential swimming pools, said Heather Dale, DOE Hanford assistant manager for the river and plateau. About 60 tanker trucks have been filled with basin water.</p><p>[...]</p><p>"They also installed a system to pump out and then filter the contaminated water before it it loaded into tanker trucks.</p><p>"The filtering system removes particles and also uses an ion exchange system to remove radioactive <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/cesium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cesium</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/strontium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>strontium</span></a> from the water. The initial resin used in the ion exchange system DID NOT WORK WELL, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said in January.</p><p>[...]</p><p>"Some of the contents of the vertical pipe units in the K West Reactor basin may be required to be sent to the nation’s repository for transuranic radioactive waste in New Mexico for disposal [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WIPP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WIPP</span></a>].</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/news/being-done-now-radioactive-water-181740119.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">news.yahoo.com/news/being-done</span><span class="invisible">-now-radioactive-water-181740119.html</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNukes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoNukes</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoDumping" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoDumping</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FutureGenerations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FutureGenerations</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoWar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoWar</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoNuclearWeapons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NoNuclearWeapons</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RethinkNotRestart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RethinkNotRestart</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearWaste" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearWaste</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HanfordNuclearSite" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HanfordNuclearSite</span></a></p>