Tunnel Collapse At US Nuclear Site Raises Safety Concerns

LOS ANGELES, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th May, 2017 ) - The collapse of a tunnel at the most contaminated nuclear waste site in the United States has raised safety concerns at such facilities described by some as ticking time bombs.

Workers on Wednesday began plugging a hole in the collapsed tunnel at the Hanford Site in the western state of Washington, where an emergency was declared the previous day and thousands of workers were placed on lockdown for several hours.

Federal officials said approximately 50 truckloads of soil will be used to seal the 20-foot (six-meter) hole in the tunnel where carts filled with contaminated equipment are stored. The tunnel is one of two at the site containing radioactive waste from the time the facility produced plutonium for America's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki which ended WWII.

The cave-in, detected during a routine inspection, has focused attention on Hanford, dubbed "the most toxic place in America" and where a number of accidents have taken place in past years. "There are numerous disasters waiting to happen there and one can lead to another," warned Tom Carpenter of the advocacy group Hanford Challenge and an attorney who has represented whistleblowers at Hanford and other nuclear sites.

Carpenter said while no contamination was detected from the tunnel collapse, the incident highlights the challenges facing clean-up efforts at the massive facility, which spreads across 586 square miles (1,518 square kilometers).