Officials: Columbia River Is Safe

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Officials: Columbia River Is Safe

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - High-level nuclear waste buried at the Hanford 
nuclear reservation is apparently not an immediate threat to the 
Columbia River, less than four miles away, the Energy Department said 
Thursday. 

Agency officials said groundwater contaminated by radioactive tritium 
appeared to be confined to an area on the edge of the site where the 
material was buried decades ago. 

Officials could not say how extensive the contamination was, how fast 
it might be moving or when it might reach the river. 

``We'd like some answers soon,'' said Mike Goldstein, an official 
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

The groundwater contamination was measured this year at 400 times 
higher than the federal safety standard. 

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that poses a cancer risk 
when ingested. It was produced at Hanford to boost the explosive 
power in nuclear warheads. 

Last January, the high level of tritium was detected in a Hanford 
monitoring well near the waste site. The well is also in the path of 
a huge tritium plume stretching from the central part of the 560-
square-mile reservation to the river. 

The source of the tritium remains unknown, but it is believed to be 
coming from five large corrugated metal pipes and 50 bottomless 
buried 3 1/2 miles from the river in south-central Washington. The 
waste also includes 11 to 22 pounds of plutonium. 

Hanford does not expect to begin cleaning up the site until at least 
2010. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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