ONE of 鈥渢he most contaminated places on Earth鈥� will only get dirtier if the US government doesn鈥檛 get its act together 鈥� clean-up plans are already 19 years behind schedule and not due for completion until 2050.
More than 210 million litres of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State. Most are over 50 years old. Already 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground.
There are now 鈥渟erious questions about the tanks鈥� long-term viability,鈥� says , which strongly criticises the US Department of Energy for delaying an $8 billion programme to empty the tanks and treat the waste. The DoE says the clean-up is 鈥渢echnically challenging鈥� and argues that it is making progress in such a way as to protect human health and the environment.
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The DoE鈥檚 plan, however, is 鈥渇aith-based鈥�, says Robert Alvarez, an authority on Hanford at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. 鈥淭he risk of catastrophic tank failure will sharply increase as each year goes by,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd one of the nation鈥檚 largest rivers, the Columbia, will be in jeopardy.鈥�
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