Hanford Reaching Robert Jacobs, PhD Hiroshima Peace Institute & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Hanford Reaching

Robert Jacobs, PhD Hiroshima Peace Institute & Hiroshima City University

Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP)

The “Green Run”

• Conducted in December 1949
• Designed to increase detection of Soviet

plutonium processing

• Iodine-131 filters turned off on PFP
• EPA map of distribution of iodine-131 in

Washington and Oregon

Hanford Nuclear Waste

Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition Begins November 2016

Hanford Nuclear Waste

Spent Nuclear Fuel Rods

Hanford Nuclear Waste

Waste Buried In Trenches

EPA Has Identified 1,500 - 1,200 Toxic and Radioactive Dump Sites

Hanford Nuclear Waste

Hanford Tank Farms

• 177 tanks contain 53 million gallons of chemical and radiological

waste (149 single-shelled)

• 67 tanks have leaked 1 million gallons into groundwater
• Some are rated at 100% of the lower flammable limit for hydrogen
• Radionuclides in the tanks pose a threat to human health from

300-200,000 years

Hanford Vitrification Plant

• Initial plan was halted by work of

whistleblowers who alerted DOE Secretary

• Current plan is the vitrification of the high

level waste

• Vit Plant is first of its kind technology and is

currently under construction

• Once completed humans cannot enter
• Risks include: leaks, nuclear criticalities,

explosions, fires, large environmental releases

Current Onsite Health Problems

• Chemical vapor exposures at Tank Farms
• 150 workers hospitalized since Jan 2015
• 73 in April and May 2016
• KING5 has been running powerful

interviews

• Adoption of respirators has mitigated this

problem in 2017

Radiological Decay of High Level Waste

Wildfires at Hanford