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| | | published Thursday, June 06, 2013 | 225 Views :: 0 Comments |
June 1, 2013 From the Associated Press
RICHLAND, Wash. — A stainless steel tank the size of a basketball court lies buried in the sandy soil of southeastern Washington state, an aging remnant of U.S. efforts to win World War II. The tank holds enough radioactive waste to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. And it is leaking.
For 42 years, tank AY-102 has stored some of the deadliest material at one of the most environmentally contaminated places in the country: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. This complex along the Columbia River holds a storied place in American history. It was here that workers produced the plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 — effectively ending the second world war.
Today Hanford’s legacy is less about what was made here than the environmental mess left behind — and the federal government’s inability, for nearly a quarter-century now, to rid Hanford once and for all of its worst hazard: 56 million gallons of toxic waste cached in aging underground tanks.
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| | | published Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | 278 Views :: 1 Comments |
Rain cuts short planned 9-mile walk
May 27, 2013 From KMBC Kansas City
A hardy group of protesters marked Memorial Day in Kansas City with a rain-soaked march that went part of the way from the old Honeywell plant to the new facility.
The group intended to walk the 9-mile route, but stopped about halfway and drove the rest of the way to the new National Security Campus. "The rest of the world is trying to get rid of nuclear weapons," said Henry Stoever of Peace Works Kansas City. "Here we have a plant that constructs nuclear parts."
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| | | published Friday, January 04, 2013 | 2866 Views :: 0 Comments |
Jan 04, 2013
By Thomas Clements From the Aiken Leader Blog
| | Photo by: High FlyerThis is what a $7-billion+ government-funded project being protected by big-spending politicians looks like at the end of December 2012. The plutonium fuel (MOX) MOX factory - in lower right in photo - now under construction at the Savannah River Site by Shaw AREVA MOX Services, was presented by DOE as costing $1.6 billion in 2004, with a completion date in 2007. Now, costs have skyrocketed and start-up remains speculative, underscoring concerns by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that DOE does not have in place proper management controls over costly, complex construction projects. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) estimates the overall remaining cost of the MOX project, including construction and the yearly operating cost of a stunning $500 million, is around $18 billion. A virtual blank check for MOX means that urgent clean-up projects at SRS and other important parts of the DOE budget are under growing stress. The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has hidden both the cost of construction of the MOX plant and the life-cycle cost of the project from the public and Congress. The big question remains: how long can this deceptive tactic hold? |
The Department of Energy (DOE) has formally announced the next meeting of the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board (SRS CAB) – on Monday, January 28, 2013; 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. and Tuesday, January 29, 2013; 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Double Tree, 2651 Perimeter Parkway, Augusta, Georgia.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting and make comments on SRS issues of concern. See below for text of Federal Register notice of Friday, January 4, 2013.
While a detailed agenda will be released soon, it is expected that the lengthy delay in a key high-level waste facility, the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), will be discussed. Delays in the facility were outlined in an article in in Columbia, South Carolina newspaper on January, 2, 2013:
“SRS factory years behind schedule, millions over budget” (The State, January 2, 2012) Cost impacts due to the 5-year delay in SWPF start-up will likely have severe impacts on the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) budget. A full explanation of how the project will be financed, a detailed presentation on the reliability of the design, who is accountable for the costly delay and design problems and when the facility will start up must be presented at the meeting, according to the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA).
Also to be raised at the meeting will be the controversial idea being promoted by special interests to bring the nation’s highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel from nuclear reactors sites to SRS for "consolidated storage." This scheme will likely be widely opposed by residents in the Aiken-Augusta area and throughout South Carolina.
Those concerned about SRS becoming a spent fuel dumping site are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice their concerns. To facilitate Aiken residents in expressing their concerns and learning about spent fuel dumping schemes, a “Don’t Waste Aiken” Facebook page has been established: https://www.facebook.com/DontWasteAiken
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| | | published Tuesday, August 28, 2012 | 3397 Views :: 4 Comments |
For Immediate Release: August 28, 2012 Memo Urges DOE to Remove Bechtel as the Design Authority, Warning Bechtel “is not competent to complete their role”
Seattle, WA: Hanford Challenge today released a high-ranking Director’s memorandum that urges termination of the key duties of government contractor, Bechtel National, Inc. (“Bechtel”; “BNI”). A litany of charges question whether Bechtel should continue its role at the Hanford nuclear site, including a long history of incompetence, misleading the government, overcharging, and unsafe designs.
The memo states, “[t]he number and significance of these issues indicate that Bechtel National Inc. is not competent to complete their role as the Design Authority for the WTP [Waste Treatment Plant], and it is questionable that BNI can provide a contract-compliant design as Design Agent.” The memo continues, noting that “[t]he behavior and performance of Bechtel Engineering places unnecessarily high risk that the WTP design will not be effectively completed...”
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| | | published Wednesday, August 15, 2012 | 1541 Views :: 0 Comments |
August, 15, 2012
In conjunction with the New Mexico Community Involvement Fund and the Social and Environmental Research Institute, we are excited to announce the completion of our Community Guide to Improving the Links Between Future Land-Use and Clean-Up Decisions.
The purpose of this Community Guide is to give residents living near DOE facilities a deeper understanding of how clean-up decisions and future use planning become interconnected and indeed entangled when pressures for site reuse and restricted clean-ups bring to the planning process a diverse set of interests.
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| | | published Friday, August 10, 2012 | 1877 Views :: 0 Comments |
Aug 10, 2012
By T.S. Last
From the Journal North The six people arrested earlier this week while demonstrating at the entrance to Los Alamos National Laboratory pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing in municipal court in Los Alamos on Thursday.
Each are facing misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass, obstructing a right of way and disobeying an officer.
The arrests took place Monday morning on the 67th anniversary of the first use of an atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. Research and development of the bomb was conducted at LANL in the 1940s and the lab remains a hub for the U.S.’s nuclear weapons program.
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| | | published Tuesday, August 07, 2012 | 2664 Views :: 0 Comments |
By T.S. Last
From the Albuquerque Journal
LOS ALAMOS — Six people were arrested in an act of civil disobedience at the entrance to Los Alamos National Laboratory on Monday — the 67th anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
They were charged with three misdemeanor offenses of criminal trespass, obstructing a right of way and disobeying an officer.
“We weren’t resisting arrest,” emphasized Cathie Sullivan of Santa Fe, one of the people arrested. “This was entirely nonviolent and peaceful. That’s what this is all about.”
Los Alamos Police Department Capt. Randy Foster said about 35 protesters blocked the road at the intersection of Diamond Drive and West Jemez Road shortly before 8 a.m., backing up traffic and delaying entry into the lab for about an hour.
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| | | published Monday, August 06, 2012 | 1941 Views :: 0 Comments |
Aug. 6, 2012
ANA's Director Susan Gordon discusses the possibility of a Manhattan Project National Park on CBS This Morning
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| | | published Monday, August 06, 2012 | 2438 Views :: 0 Comments |
Aug 5, 2012
By T.S. Last From the Journal North
 “I’m doing it because I’m not a corporation, I don’t have the funds,” he said. “This is the only way I know of.
“And it’s not just me,” he added. “There are 30 other people doing it around the country, and now even one in Europe. It’s growing into an international stage.”
About half the other strikers are from the Santa Fe area, and many are fasting only for a few days. A handful, including Balibrera, started their strike on July 16, the 67th anniversary of the first atomic bomb test at Trinity Site in Socorro County. They don’t plan to eat again until Aug. 6, the anniversary of the device’s first use in warfare – the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
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| | | published Wednesday, June 27, 2012 | 2210 Views :: 0 Comments |
The following piece explores problems at the radioactive Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington State. Technical problems and management failures at the Waste Treatment Plant have caused ongoing delays and cost overruns. The article quotes long-time ANA member, Tom Carpenter as he discusses work to improve oversight at the project.
June 26, 2012
By Shannon Dininny
From the Associated Press
YAKIMA, Wash. — A new cost estimate and construction schedule for a massive waste plant being built at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site will be delayed at least a year as workers try to resolve serious technical problems raised by whistleblowers about design and safety, the U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday.
The announcement seemed certain to spark new fears about the long-term viability of the project that has already been the subject of numerous lawsuits and remains a top priority of Washington and Oregon despite its ballooning budget and delays.
The $12.3 billion waste treatment plant is currently scheduled to begin operating in 2019, under a consent decree with Washington state, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department. The plant, long considered the cornerstone of the cleanup at Hanford, is being built to convert highly radioactive and toxic waste into a stable glass form for permanent disposal underground.
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