Winds blow small amount of radiation onto Washington highway

Source: Associated Press

Winds blow small amount of radiation onto Washington highway

Updated 2:31 pm, Monday, February 22, 2016

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The uncontrolled spread of small amounts of radioactive waste at Hanford after a Nov. 17 windstorm is alarming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter to the Department of Energy.

The high winds pushed specks of contamination beyond Route 4, a public highway in Richland to the Wye Barricade entrance to Hanford.

. . .

It has given the Energy Department until the third week of April to prepare a report on its loss of control of radioactive material, and say what actions it plans to prevent a recurrence.

Hanford is located north of Richland, Washington, and for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons. The site is now engaged in a massive cleanup of the radioactive waste left over from plutonium production.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Winds-blow-small-amount-of-radiation-onto-highway-6846721.php