RTTue, 09 May 2017 19:46 UTC
© Jeff T. Green / Getty Images North America / AFP
About 3,000 workers have taken cover at the 200 East Area of the sprawling complex.
A tunnel near the plutonium-uranium extraction plant (PUREX) collapsed early Tuesday morning local time, most likely from vibrations produced by nearby road work, KING-TV reported.The tunnel was used to store highly radioactive materials and equipment, such as trains used to transport nuclear fuel rods.
The PUREX facility was built in the 1950s and used until 1988 to extract plutonium from around 70,000 fuel rods in total. The building has been vacant for nearly twenty years and "remains highly contaminated,"
according to the Hanford website.
The rail cars used to transport the fuel rods from the nuclear reactors to the processing facility are buried inside a nearby tunnel.
No workers were injured in the collapse, and officials have detected no release of radiation, Washington state Department of Ecology spokesman Randy Bradbury told AP.
Workers at the complex have been ordered to stay indoors and refrain from eating and drinking, according to text alerts seen by local media. Emergency crews are organizing the evacuation.
Emergency measures were put in place due to "concerns about subsidence in the soil covering railroad tunnels," says a
statement posted on the Hanford facility website.
Residents of the nearby Benton and Franklin counties do not need to take any action, the facility said.
Hanford is located on the Columbia River in eastern Washington, near the border with Oregon. Built during World War Two as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the nuclear bomb, it still contains roughly 53 million gallons - over 2,600 rail cars - worth of high-level nuclear waste, left from the production of plutonium for the US nuclear weapons program.
A number of current and former Hanford workers suffer from serious medical conditions as a result of exposure to toxic waste leaks and "
burps" of radiation at the complex, RT America reported in April 2016.
Comment: From Zero Hedge:
Update 5:
The Spokane Spokesman-Review reports that Gov. Jay Inslee was notified about the tunnel breach by the Energy Department and the White House on Tuesday morning. Inslee called the event "a serious situation." "Federal, state and local officials are coordinating closely on the response," Inslee said, said, with the state Ecology Department in close communication with the Energy Department. There were no plans for Inslee, who is making several previously planned stops in Skamania County on Tuesday, to go to Hanford, his staff said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry had been briefed, federal officials said, adding that "everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release."
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., released a statement as well: "Worker safety must be our number one priority, and we need to understand whether there has been any environmental contamination resulting from the subsidence at these tunnels. My thoughts are with the first responders who are working to assess the situation on the ground, monitor any environmental impacts and design next steps for securing the area."
Update 4: Washington Emergency Management has released a map showing the distances from the incident to various neighborhoods... non-essential employees in 200 East Area have been released. Swing shift north of the WYE Barricade is cancelled. See also:
Radioactive contamination spreading in shuttered Hanford Site nuclear weapons plantUpdate 3: Images of the hole in the roof of the tunnel have been released...
Update 2: An aerial survey midmorning Tuesday
showed an opening about 20 feet by 20 feet into the tunnel, which had been covered with about eight feet of soil. As Tri-CityHerald.com reports, the
breach could expose the highly radioactive material disposed of in the tunnel to the atmosphere.
No airborne radiation had been detected as of about 10:30 a.m. Radiological surveys were continuing.
Instructions for people to shelter in place were expanded from central Hanford to all of Hanford, including LIGO and the reactor areas along the Columbia River, after the aerial survey. No one is being allowed to enter the site beyond the security barricades.
Earlier in the morning workers near Purex had noticed a 4-foot-by-4-foot depression that was 2 to 4 feet deep over the tunnel.
Workers in Purex were evacuated when the depression was noticed.
About 3,000 workers in central Hanford initially were told to take shelter indoors, including about 1,000 workers at the vitrification plant construction site. Ventilation systems at the vit plant have been turned off as part of the emergency procedure and equipment that could generate heat have powered down.
The DOE announced that secretary Perry is aware of the incident and that there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release.
Update 1: A robot is being used to sample the contaminated air and soil in the area around the collapse...
Comment: From Zero Hedge:
Update 5: The Spokane Spokesman-Review reports that Gov. Jay Inslee was notified about the tunnel breach by the Energy Department and the White House on Tuesday morning. Inslee called the event "a serious situation." "Federal, state and local officials are coordinating closely on the response," Inslee said, said, with the state Ecology Department in close communication with the Energy Department. There were no plans for Inslee, who is making several previously planned stops in Skamania County on Tuesday, to go to Hanford, his staff said.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry had been briefed, federal officials said, adding that "everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release."
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., released a statement as well: "Worker safety must be our number one priority, and we need to understand whether there has been any environmental contamination resulting from the subsidence at these tunnels. My thoughts are with the first responders who are working to assess the situation on the ground, monitor any environmental impacts and design next steps for securing the area."
Update 4: Washington Emergency Management has released a map showing the distances from the incident to various neighborhoods... non-essential employees in 200 East Area have been released. Swing shift north of the WYE Barricade is cancelled. See also: Radioactive contamination spreading in shuttered Hanford Site nuclear weapons plant
Update 3: Images of the hole in the roof of the tunnel have been released...
Update 2: An aerial survey midmorning Tuesday showed an opening about 20 feet by 20 feet into the tunnel, which had been covered with about eight feet of soil. As Tri-CityHerald.com reports, the breach could expose the highly radioactive material disposed of in the tunnel to the atmosphere. The DOE announced that secretary Perry is aware of the incident and that there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release.
Update 1: A robot is being used to sample the contaminated air and soil in the area around the collapse...