THESE THINGS DON’T HAPPEN ANYMORE?
During a mark-up session of Senator Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee at which the Senate’s climate change legislation was being hammered out, several veteran legislators from the center to the right of the political spectrum gave ringing tributes about the importance of incentivizing a nuclear energy “renaissance.” The center to left contingent did not comment.
This news story appeared the same day. Admittedly, nuclear energy is a source of electricity that does not add to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the story is a reminder of what the “renaissance” could mean.
Hanford nuclear reservation was part of the 1940s-era Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear bomb. Ironically, Hanford continues to produce bombs, still containing (albeit not always so successfully) radioactive waste that is a problem and a danger. A small but telling indication of how problematic nuclear waste can be, it begs the question of what dangers we are creating today that will emerge in half a century. There could be no better argument for why nuclear energy may be an emissions-free source of electricity generation but it is not a problem-free source. It is a huge investment that like Hanford may serve the generation that builds it but is a disservice to future generations.
Energy Dept. fined over nuke site spill
Shannon Dininny, December 4, 2007 (AP via Yahoo News)
WHO
Washington state (WA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
One of the worst problems with the Hanford site is its toxic proximity to the Columbia River. (click to enlarge)WHAT
WA fined DOE $500,000 spilling radioactive waste at the DOE-run Hanford nuclear reservation. DOE may appeal.
WHEN
The spill occurred July 27.
WHERE
Hanford is in south-central WA state.
WHY
- Waste water was stored in an underground tank. Workers were pumping it out. The pump was block. The workers tried to clear the block by running the pump backwards. They lost control and spilled 85 gallons of waste water onto the ground, putting workers in danger from radioactive waste water and vapors.
- 63 workers were near enough to warrant ongoing medical monitoring. 13 have spill-associated symptoms: upper respiratory problems, upset stomachs, headaches, dizziness, eye irritation, blurred vision.
Sticking it in a hole in the ground under a mountain in Nevada just won't do. A half century ago they thought burying it in Washington was OK.QUOTES
- Jane Hedges, manager, WA Department of Ecology Nuclear Waste Program: "Before the spill was discovered, a series of poor decisions put workers in grave danger from exposure to the tank waste and vapors…"
- Erik Olds, spokesman, DOE: "Removing waste from aging single-shell tanks is one of the department's highest priorities at Hanford…"
posted by Herman K. Trabish @ 6:33 AM
3 Comments:
That's the best you can do? The pollution from burning coal is killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, plus driving the world toward devastating climate change, and all you've got against nuclear is that 85 gallons of water spilled onto the sand at Hanford. You're on the wrong side.
Reader Rob C. accurately points out that nuclear energy is possibly a lesser evil than coal. He seems to have forgotten about Chernobyl and Three Mile Island as well as the many minor incidents of spills, leakages and near disasters nuclear plants have faced in the last 3 decades.
Fortunately, there are New Energy choices (wind, solar, marine, geothermal) that, offered the same kinds subsidies and incentives fossil fuel and nuclear energy require to be cost competitive, would generate electricity without significant environmental harm, toxic waste or threat of radioactive devastation.
Rob,
The negative impacts of nukes are not merely 85 gallons of water spilled. How many hundreds of billions of dollars has been given to the nuclear industry? How many tons of nuclear waste have we safely disposed of so far? How many more decades will go by as we keep accumulating more of this deadly waste with nowhere to go - until we say enough. Our energy needs can be met without destroying communities and our environment - it's time to stop neglecting effieicny and renewables.
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