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Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 16 februar 2013 / Time Line February 16, 2013

15. Februar 2013, 17. Februar 2013

02/16/2013
Single-shell tank at Hanford found to be leaking waste
- http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/02/16/2277741/single-shell-tank-at-hanford-found.html
By Annette Cary ­ Tri-City Herald
An underground single-shell tank at Hanford is leaking up to 300 gallons [1 Gallon [Fluid, US] = 3.7854118 Liters, 300 = 1 135.62354 liters] of radioactive waste a year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday.
"I am alarmed and deeply concerned by this news," Inslee said in a press conference. "This is a problem we thought was under control."
Tank T-111 is the first of Hanford's 149 single-shell tanks to apparently leak since pumpable liquids were removed from the last of those tanks in 2004. As many as 67 of the tanks are believed to have leaked in the past.
The tanks contain a mix of high-level radioactive and hazardous chemical waste left from chemically processing fuel irradiated at Hanford reactors to remove plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.
"Washington state has a zero tolerance policy on radioactive leaks," the governor said. "We will not tolerate any leaks of this material into our environment."
The state is willing to take legal action if needed, but that will not be necessary if Congress does its job and meets the nation's legal and moral obligation to clean up Hanford, he said.
The Department of Energy said Friday that liquid levels are decreasing in Hanford Tank T-111 at an estimated rate of 150 to 300 gallons a year, or a half gallon to a gallon a day. Although the most likely cause is a leak, DOE Hanford officials have not confirmed that. DOE said it still is determining the specific cause.

02/16/2013

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