Workers Begin Removing Nuclear Waste From Hanford Tank

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — Workers have started removing nuclear waste from a leaking tank at the Hanford Site just one day before a state of Washington deadline.

The Tri-City Herald reports that Hanford workers began pumping waste from the nuclear reservation's oldest double-shell tank Thursday afternoon.

The tank is leaking radioactive waste into the space between its inner and outer shells.

The tank contains about 150,000 gallons of radioactive sludge covered by about 650,000 gallons of liquid waste. The liquid could be removed by early next week if things go smoothly, but removing the sludge is more complicated.

The Washington Department of Ecology had ordered the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractor Washington River Protection Solutions to begin emptying the waste by March 4 and finish the work within a year.