We are broadcasting from Washington State, where the Department of Energy declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed. The collapse, which was discovered Tuesday, forced hundreds of workers to take cover to avoid potential exposure. Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday’s tunnel collapse. But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release.” Now the Washington state Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program has announced on Twitter that it has taken legal action against Hanford. We speak with Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.
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TRANSCRIPT:
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to our last segment, and we continue to focus on what’s happening at a state and local level that’s happening all over the country. Next week, we’ll be traveling throughout California and broadcasting throughout there. You can check our website at democracynow.org to see where we’ll be. But right here in Washington state, where the Department of Energy declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed, is the subject of our last segment. The collapse, which was discovered Tuesday, forced hundreds of workers to take cover, to shelter in place, to avoid potential exposure. Local station KING 5 obtained this video from a worker describing the scene.
PA ANNOUNCER: All personnel report to their respective lunchrooms for further information and/or instruction. All personnel should refrain from eating or drinking until told it is safe to do so.
HANFORD WORKER: Well, so, it’s either a drill or an emergency. Gotta take cover.
AMY GOODMAN: Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday’s tunnel collapse. But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, quote, “Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release,” unquote. Well, now the state of Washington’s Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program has announced on Twitter it’s taken legal action against Hanford.
For more, we’re joined here in Seattle by Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.
Tom, welcome to Democracy Now! Explain what’s taken place. I mean, given what’s happening in Washington, D.C., there’s very little national awareness about what you’re dealing with here in Washington.
TOM CARPENTER: OK, so this is the nation’s most contaminated site. In the state of Washington here, it was built to make nuclear weapons and plutonium for those weapons. And now we’re left with this legacy of radioactive waste. And so, what recently happened on Tuesday morning was one of the facilities at the site suffered a collapse of a tunnel, holding vast quantities of very highly dangerous radioactive materials. Now, the government is saying that none of that escaped, except, you know, radiation itself into the sky, but no particles escaped. And so, now the question really remains is: Is that true? Were workers contaminated? It appears not. But what is the next — you know, what is the next shoe that’s going to fall? So, what’s in this tunnel, right? So, we know that there are chemicals. There are explosive materials. There could be fires that happen. So we’re all watching with bated breath.
