The search for a solution has dragged on so long that there is pressure to produce some result for all the massive spending, even if it does not meet past expectations. A poisonous cold war legacy that defies a solution:
RICHLAND, Wash. — From 1950 to 1990, the U.S. Energy Department produced an average of four nuclear bombs every day, turning them out of hastily built factories with few environmental safeguards that left behind a vast legacy of toxic radioactive waste.
The government now appears to be seriously evaluating the need to leave thousands of gallons of leftover waste buried forever in Hanford’s shallow underground tanks, according to some of those familiar with the negotiations, and protect some of the waste not in impenetrable glass, but in a concrete grout casing that would almost certainly decay thousands of years before the toxic materials that it is designed to hold at bay.
At site after site, the solution has come down to a choice between an expensive, decadeslong cleanup or quicker action that leaves a large amount of waste in place. The potential for a compromise that would allow some of that waste to remain in the bottom of the tanks has set off sharp disagreements among experts. Some say using grout to encase it would be a scientifically safe, economical solution. Critics warn that the waste could outlive the grout and seep out again in future centuries.
Grumbly said he presented the Clinton administration years ago with budget estimates of hundreds of billions of dollars to clean up former nuclear weapons sites around the country. Officials at the Office of Management and Budget told him “to never show them publicly,” he recalled. Gary Brunson, the Energy Department’s former engineering director at the waste treatment plant, said the cleanup had been a failure. He and two other technical managers filed a whistleblower suit in 2013 against the chief cleanup contractor, Bechtel and its partner, accusing the company of doing defective work and then illegally lobbying for budget increases. The suit was joined by the Justice Department and settled in 2016 for $125 million.
The reality, he said, is that the 54 million gallons of sludge will most likely never be removed; he believes it will be grouted and left in place for future generations to deal with. But what to do with the lower-level wastes is less certain, and that is an important part of the current negotiations. The GAO concluded that grouting much of it would be just as environmentally safe as putting it in glass, get the job done faster, save billions of dollars and pose a lower risk of an industrial accident.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
LAFC captain Carlos Vela has another chance to add to his legacyConsidered dispassionate about the game, aloof and self-centered by some in his native Mexico, Vela has flourished in MLS and has his club playing for the CONCACAF Champions League title this week.
Consulte Mais informação »
Fat Joe reflects on the life and legacy of the late rapper Big LBig L's life was cut tragically short, but Big L's voice remains unforgotten, his story echoing through the long arc of hip-hop history.
Consulte Mais informação »
Ticket To Ride Legacy: Legends Of The West To Launch This NovemberICYMI: Asmodee has a new legacy tabletop game on the way as TicketToRide Legacy: Legends Of The West will be out in November. BoardGames
Consulte Mais informação »
Futuristic indie-rock juggernaut Brainiac celebrate their legacy with two Chicago reunion shows - Chicago Reader...you’d be foolish to take any opportunity to see Brainiac for granted, and you have two this weekend: at the theemptybottle and on the first day of the Do Division Street Fest. | ✍️ Monica Kendrick
Consulte Mais informação »
The Legacy Of The Punisher On The Marvel Universe (Spoilers)The current Punisher series by Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta has been a rather remarkable one, set amongst Marvel and Disney turmoil.
Consulte Mais informação »