“There are parts of the site that will never be turned over,” Mr. Vance, the Hanford site manager, said. “We are going to be here a long time.”
long time = 10 to the x years.
x > 2
When folks talk about encumbrances on their descendants this one seems to me greater than any financial debt.
Many years ago we visited Hanford while on vacation in the Northwest, as a souvenir they gave us a brown glass marble, to show what they were doing with the waste, it wasn’t radioactive, but just a sign of where they were going… And it’s all those marbles that were going deep, somewhere, maybe NV or at least further from the Columbia River… Old friend live in Bridgeport, WA, near the Chief Joseph Dam, after WeCo, he took over his Dad’s tavern and also worked for the Corps at the Dam… The Columbia provides a lot of power to the NW…
I have a friend working in the Hanford plant. She is an artist when she is not working. It is endless bureaucratic work. She works scientifically with chemicals. Whatever that should mean. She is my age, 60, and just got an office. She wants to avoid the younger folks, the gossip etc…but cant. Office work in the middle of a complete disaster.
Turns out we may not have to wait thousands of years for WIPP to be compromised.
DOGE wants to cancel the lease for the DOE office in Carlsbad, NM. The office manages WIPP and includes an emergency response center.
Some things should be beyond the political whims of the world. Much less an unelected sycophant!
Hey, we have to keep up with the Russkies, and they are way ahead on this one, thank you Chernobyl. Better exterminate all with professional knowledge of sequestering nuclear waste so we can surge into the lead.
In the US nimby is still a problem. We know how to store nuclear waste safely; we can’t agree where. Some countries in Europe are better at it. And reprocessing used fuel for longer utility makes sense to me.
Nevada will take it if you give everyone in Nevada a free college or trade school education. We are going with pay to play now.
I worked on the high level and low/med level radioactive waste vitrification facilities at Hanford from 1997-2005 and before that at the vitrification facility at Savannah River Site between 1985-1990. The brown glass marbles are just a non-radioactive sample of vitrification of nuclear waste form of encapsulation. Actually the radioactive waste and glass are melted and poured into stainless steel canisters for storage and eventual placement in a geological high level waste repository.
https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/wtp
People discussing nuclear waste often get confused in the levels of radioactivity, the storage methods used for each level of waste, and the sources of the waste:
Radioactive waste streams:
Levels of waste:
Waste storage methods:
So Germany’s storage of low and medium level waste in potash mine is no worse than landfill burials in the US. What all countries are searching for is where to bury their high level radioactive waste from commercial reactors and from weapons
Isn’t it Finland that has come up with a solution. This is not a technology problem. It is mostly politics and a nimbly problem.
One day we will get our act together. But don’t hold your breath. We are still busy contemplating our naval.
Finland has decided to store their high level nuclear waste (spent fuel) in deep under ground as explained in the link below. This is a cost, safety and nimby problem.
For those that don’t know. It isn’t quite that simple. The spent fuel rods continue to produce decay heat so they have to be ~continuously cooled for 5 - 10 years, sometimes even longer, as the level of heat production decays away to a low enough level that it can be safely stored in the dry casks.
Mike
Re: Finland
They have come to terms with the nimby problem. Safety will always be debated. They apparently find the risks acceptable. And ditto the costs.
The US problem is mostly nimby. Funds were allocated. The rest is politics.
Politics is the art of what is possible.
US problem is that Yucca Mountain was a political choice the did not work out because of water intrusion problem after years of research costing $ billions. New funds need to be allocated. US is studying new locations for high level nuclear power and nuclear weapons waste.
Not to mention that the Senator from Nevada was nimby and wielded much power.
Opponents to nuclear power are experts at throwing sand into the gears of democracy!!
Not Nimby, you all just were just pikers and didn’t want to pay Nevada to take it. Oh yeah 50 jobs, woohoo. Just what we needed. You want us to take your trash (Nevada does not have any nuclear plants and we already let you test your nuclear bombs) you really need to up the compensation.
How is that democracy?
The project keeps making progress.
This the project I worked on for many years as an Bechtel National, Inc. project engineering manager until I retired in 2005. We worked with several companies such as BNFL, Duratek, and many other nuclear engineering and construction companies. The project started in 1996 when BNFL and Bechtel National won the bid for this DOE project. Bechtel National was selected by DOE to be the lead contractor for the project in 2000 Bechtel National has been awarded a contract to work on the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Washington state. This project involves treating and immobilizing radioactive waste using a process called vitrification. Bechtel has been involved in the project for many years, working on its design, construction, and commissioning.
Here’s a more detailed look at Bechtel’s role:
Bechtel National has a contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to design, construct, and commission the WTP.
The WTP uses vitrification, a process where radioactive waste is mixed with glass-forming materials, heated to high temperatures, and then poured into stainless steel containers for safe storage.
Bechtel has completed the construction of the Low-Activity Waste Facility within the WTP and is currently in the process of commissioning it.
While the Low-Activity Waste Facility is nearing completion, the High-Level Waste Facility is still under construction.
Why can’t people store (live near) their own trash, all the trash they produce?
It’s called “personal responsibility.”
Used to be a proclaimed value. Not sure now.
That is a good question. Texas has four nuclear reactors, they were one of the sites that came down to the last selection and they stuffed it down Nevada’s throat. Oh and George Bush the second was the President at the time. Awful convenient wasn’t it.