Following a partial tunnel collapse in May at Hanford’s Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, a facility unused since the 1980s, a report from DOE and its contractor for the area, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., says a second facility tunnel, which once processed chemicals needed in nuclear production, does not meet current standards.
“We will work closely with [the Dept. of Ecology] to determine how best to stabilize Tunnel 2 and ensure the safe storage of the waste until it can be remediated,” says Doug Shoop, manager of the DOE Richland operations office.