Feds Evacuate Hanford Nuclear Workers

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2005/aug/24/082407387.html

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - The U.S. Energy Department evacuated some workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation Wednesday because of a suspected container leak.

The incident occurred in an area where workers have been unearthing containers of waste that had been buried for years. The site is also near a landfill where some waste is being permanently buried.

No known contamination or injuries were detected in initial radiological surveys of the scene, said Calvin Dudney, a member of the joint information center at Hanford.

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[TahitiNut]

1. I know Calvin Dudney ... and his wife and children.

He's pretty much of a straight-shooter -- in comparison to many around there. (He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, though.)

The part of the site evacuated is shown below and labeled "200 W area" ...


The whole Hanford Site covers hundreds of square miles. (560 to be more accurate.)

The 200 Area of Hanford is where fuel irradiated in the old production reactors was chemically processed. The area is divided into two separate areas, 200 East and 200 West. 200 West, located approximately 8 miles from the Columbia River and 25 miles from Richland, covers approximately five square miles and contains three processing plants, one of which operates as the site's decontamination facility. It has not conducted plutonium processing since 1956.
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_082405WABhanfordevacsLJ.a6451b64.html

[hunter]

2. Here's the Google sky cam of 200 west & east.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=richland+Washington&ll=46.563818,-119.577255&spn=0.085775,0.162100&t=k&hl=en

There's a nice aerial picture of 200 West on this page:

http://www.hanford.gov/docs/annualrp00/summanage.stm

Hanford is not the super-secret place it used to be.