Radiation Leak at US Nuclear Facility

State officials say there are six tanks leaking radioactive waste at nuclear storage facility with history of similar leaks in Washington.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

Technology, US

Topics

Nuclear Energy, United States

People

Steven Chu

Places

United States of America

Transcript

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. On Friday, Governor Jay Inslee's office said six underground storage tanks at the facility were currently leaking radioactive waste. However, authorities were quick to point out that there is no risk to human health at this time. Steven Chu, the outgoing U.S. Secretary of Energy, recently notified the governor's office of the problem. The seeping waste is adding to decades of soil contamination from past leaks here and threatens to further taint groundwater at the site, but will not pollute the Columbia River eight kilometers away.