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High
Risk of Hanford Nuclear Accidents and Internal
Investigation Found:
A study released today by two public interest watchdog groups warns that the Pacific Northwest may face a nearly one in three chance of major nuclear accidents exposing the public to high doses of radiation and requiring the seizure of crops and milk in Eastern Washington and Oregon, if Hanford's FFTF nuclear reactor is restarted. The study by Heart of America Northwest and the Government Accountability Project found a high risk of Hanford having the same type of runaway nuclear chain reaction accident - called a "criticality" - that caused the recent nuclear disaster at Tokaimura, Japan. That accident occurred when supervisors told workers to reprocess Highly Enriched Uranium nuclear fuel for a breeder reactor in violation of Japanese government safety regulations. Hanford's FFTF nuclear reactor, which is also a breeder reactor, would require use of the same Highly Enriched Uranium fuel or even more dangerous highly enriched Plutonium fuel. The U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), which runs Hanford, is proposing to restart the FFTF reactor to produce Plutonium 238 and other radioactive isotopes, develop nuclear fuels and several other missions, which may include weapons related missions in the future. The public interest group study reported that Hanford has had nearly twenty violations of the safety rules designed to prevent nuclear criticalities in the past three years. In several instances, only luck prevented the Plutonium from going critical. An internal investigation by the USDO, obtained by Heart of America Northwest, found that Hanford "supervisors directed the workers to ignore the (criticality safety) procedures… and perform the work." "Hanford's dismal safety record and exemption from independent nuclear safety regulation makes the restart of Plutonium fuel fabrication or processing Plutonium at Hanford like handing a loaded gun to a baby," said attorney Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest. "It should be unconscionable for any elected official in the Northwest to advocate reactor restart and Plutonium production at Hanford when there is no outside nuclear safety regulation." Hanford's reactor and nuclear processing remain exempt from any independent nuclear safety regulation. The public interest groups warn that this lack of external nuclear safety regulation makes future nuclear criticality violations more likely than in Japan. "Hanford lacks a safety conscious work culture," said Tom Carpenter, an attorney who represents numerous whistleblowers on behalf of the Government Accountability Project. "Workers at Hanford routinely face retaliation for asking that nuclear safety rules be followed. Restarting Plutonium production at Hanford will increase pressure to break the USDOE's own weak safety rules. At Tokaimura, there were independent government regulations. At Hanford, there isn't even any independent nuclear safety regulator for workers or the public to report violations to." Several highly contaminated plants located within 2,000 feet of the Columbia River and within two miles of public schools are under consideration for nuclear processes to support FFTF reactor restart missions. The public interest groups' report documents that radiation doses to the public from possible accidents involving the waste already in the buildings could reach 90 Rem. This is approximately one quarter of the dose that causes fatal radiation sickness in fifty percent of exposed adults. 90 Rem is far more than the radiation levels at the gate of the Tokaimura plant. The report shows that use of these highly contaminated facilities would harm efforts to clean up the "300 Area", where they are located, and increase the risks and likelihood of accidents. If the FFTF reactor is restarted, technical documents reviewed in the public interest groups' report found that the likelihood of a major radiation release from fuel or isotope target drop and similar accidents is nearly one in three over the thirty years that the reactor is proposed to run. The consequences of these accidents include very high doses of radiation to the public, and the USDOE internal documents say that the accidents would require "immediate evacuation and the interdiction of crops, milk, meat, etc…" However, Hanford has no adequate plans to evacuate the public to prevent the radiation exposures from these accidents. "How can anyone find a nearly one in three or even one in three hundred chance of a nuclear accident requiring seizure of the crops and milk in Eastern Washington and Oregon to be acceptable or sane?" asked Gerald Pollet. "Because there is no licensing or external nuclear safety regulation of the FFTF reactor, the public has no way to challenge what USDOE calls acceptable risks, acceptable radiation doses and its lack of evacuation plans. Will they also claim they can seize the water in the Columbia River, which will be contaminated by any of these accidents?" In order to find that the radiation doses to the public from the postulated accidents at FFTF were in the "acceptable" range for USDOE's own lax guidelines, FFTF officials claim that they will evacuate the public within two hours and seize all crops and milk - despite the lack of any plan or legal authority. Copies of the Heart of America Northwest and Government Accountability Project Report are available by calling (206) 382-1014. Major events or accidents, caused by workers "intentionally" not using prescribed reactor safety procedures, occurred 25 times from 1985-1988 while the FFTF Reactor was operating. An even larger number of incidents resulted from "unanticipated" problems, incomplete training, or "preoccupation of mind." These incidents included extremely serious occurrences, including severe plant transients, rapid power increases above 3% in 15 minutes, 12 reactor scrams, radiation releases, and events having a major economic impact. "The Hanford culture without regulatory oversight clearly includes deliberate violation of safety rules that could lead to catastrophic accidents, just like at Tokaimura." Said Gerald Pollet. "The FFTF reactor operating history is disturbing." (See occurrence related quotes from "FFTF Event Fact Sheet Root Cause Analysis Calendar Year 1985-1988.") ### |