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Emergency Declared At Hanford Nuclear Site In Washington

The U.S. Department of Energy issued an emergency alert Tuesday morning at the Hanford Site north of Richland, Washington. Some workers at a former chemical processing plant have been evacuated and about 3,000 others near the area at the center of the Hanford Site were directed to take shelter indoors.

A representative at the Hanford Emergency Operations Center who would not give her name said there were no injuries reported.

"There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point," said a subsequent statement on the Hanford Emergency Information website.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, in Washougal to tour a restoration and flood control project at the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, said he's been advised of the emergency and confirmed that there are no reports of injuries at Hanford.

"I know there are many questions of how this happened — and we'll have to get to the bottom of that," he said Tuesday. "At the moment we're focusing on the safety of workers and making sure there's no release beyond immediate site."

Officials at Hanford were concerned about contamination in soil covering railroad tunnels near the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant cleanup site. The tunnels contain contaminated materials. The alert was triggered by the discovery of a “small sunken area of soil” that covers a tunnel.

According to a press release from the governor's office, the Department of Energy alerted the state Tuesday morning to inform them that "a tunnel was breached that was used to bury radioactive waste from the production of plutonium at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation."

"Federal, state and local officials are coordinating closely on the response, and the state Department of Ecology is in close communication with the U.S. Department of Energy Richland Office. My office is in close communication with these agencies and directly with Department of Energy headquarters in D.C. We will continue to monitor this situation and assist the federal government in its response," the press release continued.

The area is not open to the general public. A statement on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Emergency Information website said that civilians in surrounding Benton and Franklin counties did not need to take any precautionary actions.

The plant, also known by its acronym PUREX, was used during the Cold War to chemically extract plutonium from irradiated fuel rods for use in nuclear weapons.

A spokesman for the Washington Emergency Management Division said the state Emergency Operations Center has been activated and is monitoring the situation. The Oregon Department of Energy, which is responsible for radiological safety, activated its emergency operations center as well.

Hanford sits next to the Columbia River. It was one of the original Manhattan Project sites. Its nine nuclear reactors irradiated uranium fuel rods. That created plutonium, which was extracted with chemicals, processed and shipped to weapons factories. Each step produced radioactive waste. Hanford is the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste sitting in old, leaky underground tanks

Here's an explainer on the nuclear waste cleanup at Hanford.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more details become available.

OPB's David Steves in Portland and Molly Solomon in Vancouver contributed to this story.

A recent photo of the 300 Area at Hanford Nuclear Reservation after removal of contaminated buildings, waste sites, backfill and revegetation of the northern portion (tan area).
Hanford.gov /
A recent photo of the 300 Area at Hanford Nuclear Reservation after removal of contaminated buildings, waste sites, backfill and revegetation of the northern portion (tan area).
<p>Speaking in Washougal, Washington, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee briefs reporters on the scene at the Hanford Nuclear Site Tuesday, May 9, 2017.&nbsp;</p>

Molly Solomon

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Speaking in Washougal, Washington, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee briefs reporters on the scene at the Hanford Nuclear Site Tuesday, May 9, 2017. 

Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Anna King, Courtney Flatt