Up to 3,500 Gallons Of Nuclear Waste Leaks At Hanford Site

A leak in a massive nuclear waste storage tank at the Hanford Site in Washington state has expanded significantly. Thousands of gallons of radioactive waste leaked at the Manhattan Project-era storage tank over the weekend. The expanded leak was first detected after an alarm went off at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on Sunday. On Monday workers were preparing to pump the waste out of the troubled area and try to determine why the leak became worse. RT reports: It’s unclear exactly how much waste spilled out, but estimates place the amount at somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 gallons, according to the Tri-City Herald. “There is no indication of waste leaking into the environment or risk to the public at this time,” the Washington Department of Ecology said in a statement. The problem occurred at the double-wall storage tank AY-102, which has actually been leaking since 2011. At the time, the leak was extremely small, and the waste would dry up almost right after spilling out between the inner and outer walls, leaving a salt-like substance behind. In March, the US Department of Energy began pumping what was left in the storage tank, which originally held some 800,000 gallons of waste. [...]