Watchdog group says plutonium waste missing from Hanford

[seemslikeadream]

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Vast quantities of radioactive waste have been lost across the sprawling Hanford nuclear reservation since the 1940s, and the U.S. Department of Energy is ignoring the problem, a watchdog group contended Wednesday.

The waste contains enough plutonium to make dozens of nuclear weapons, according to Heart of America Northwest, which is pushing an initiative to ban additional shipments of radioactive wastes to the south-central Washington reservation.

"Enough plutonium to make more than 50 nuclear weapons appears to have been lost and abandoned by U.S. DOE in Hanford's soil, with no intention of cleaning up the spreading contamination," said the report authored by Gerald Pollett, director of Heart of America Northwest.

Colleen French, a DOE spokeswoman in Richland, disputed the allegations. She said the Energy Department is well aware of the volume of nuclear waste at Hanford and is making plans to deal with all of it.
more
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WST%20Hanford%20Wastes

[trotsky]

1. Great Scott!

[mom cat]

2. MF-SOB! Great Homeland security, huh? Dozens of nukes?

[struggle4progress]

3. kick for the nuclear boys and their smug sense of untouchable superiority

:kick:

[DeepModem Mom]

4. kick