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US nuclear dump is leaking toxic waste | New Scientist
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class="post-1979950 article type-article status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry article_section-news article_type-daily-news article_subject-earth article_subject-health article_subject-technology article_topic-environment article_topic-nuclear-technology article_topic-plutonium article_topic-united-states article_topic-weapons"> <div id="breadcrumbs"><ul><li><a href="https://www.newscientist.com">Home</a></li><li> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/section/news/" rel="tag">News</a><li> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/subject/earth/" rel="tag">Earth</a></li><li> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/subject/health/" rel="tag">Health</a></li><li> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/subject/technology/" rel="tag">Technology</a></li></ul></div> <div class="article-body"> <header class="article-header"> <section class="rule news"> <div class="rule-info-container"> <section class="article-sharing-top"> <!-- AddThis Custom --> <div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style" addthis:url='https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23214-us-nuclear-dump-is-leaking-toxic-waste/' addthis:title='US nuclear dump is leaking toxic waste' > <a class="addthis_button_preferred_1"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_2"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_3"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_4"></a> <a class="addthis_button_compact"></a> <a class="addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style"></a> </div> <!-- End AddThis Custom --> </section> <section class="article-section"> <p class="section-indicator news"><a href="/article_type/daily-news/">Daily news </a></p> <p class="published-date">27 February 2013 </p> </section> </div> </section> <h1 class="article-title">US nuclear dump is leaking toxic waste</h1> <p class="strap"></p> </header><!-- .entry-header --> <div class="main-content"> <div class="article-copy"> <div class="article-content"> <p><figure class="img-800 case5"><img src="https://d1o50x50snmhul.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/dn23214-1_800.jpg" class="img-800 wp-image-1979955" alt="Not so secure after all? " title="Not so secure after all? "/><div class="image-details"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Not so secure after all?</figcaption><p class="credit">(Image: Jeff T. Green/Getty)</p></div></figure></figure> <p>Waste from the production of US nukes is on the loose. Toxic cargo is escaping from six of the 177 ageing tanks at the Hanford site in Washington state where the nation stores two-thirds of its high-level nuclear waste, most of it from the production of nuclear bombs.</p> <p>The site houses 200 million litres of radioactive and hazardous waste, and <a href="/article/mg19926642-900-contaminated-us-site-faces-catastrophic-nuclear-leak">67 tanks have leaked waste before</a>. The new leaks undermine recent reassurances that the dump is now secure.</p> <p>The biggest worry is that highly radioactive sludges containing heat-generating isotopes are corroding the bottoms of the tanks, following work to drain off most of the liquid waste which allowed the isotopes to collect there, says Bob Alvarez of the <a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/">Institute of Policy Studies</a> in Washington DC.</p> <p>“There is no immediate public health risk,” said Lindsey Geisler, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy. However, much of the waste has already contaminated groundwater, says Tom Carpenter of <a href="http://www.hanfordchallenge.org/">Hanford Challenge</a>, an environmental watchdog in Seattle, Washington.</p> <!-- ADD article topics at the end of the article --> <section class="article-topics"><p>More on these topics: </p><ul><li><a href="/article-topic/environment/" class="subscribe-button">environment </a></li><li><a href="/article-topic/nuclear-technology/" class="subscribe-button">nuclear technology</a></li><li><a href="/article-topic/plutonium/" class="subscribe-button">plutonium</a></li><li><a href="/article-topic/united-states/" class="subscribe-button">United States</a></li><li><a href="/article-topic/weapons/" class="subscribe-button">weapons</a></li></ul></section> </div> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <section class="tertiary-sidebar" id="tertiary-sidebar"><!--Secondary Column--> <!-- NewScientist/Article/ Doubleclick ads --> <div id="mpu-sidebar" class="mpu"> <h5>Advertisement</h5> <script type='text/javascript'> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('mpu-sidebar'); }); </script> </div> </section> </div> <!-- FOOTER --> <footer class="entry-meta"> <div class="article-footer-copy"> <div class="article-footer-content"> <section class="author-bio"> <p class="author-name">By <b>Andy Coghlan</b></p> <p class='print-headline'><a href='https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729064-200-us-nuclear-bomb-dump-is-leaking-toxic-waste/'>A shorter version of this article</a> was published in <em>New Scientist</em> magazine on 2 March 2013</p> <section class="article-sharing-bottom"> <!-- AddThis Custom --> <div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style" addthis:url='https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23214-us-nuclear-dump-is-leaking-toxic-waste/' addthis:title='US nuclear dump is leaking toxic waste' > <a class="addthis_button_preferred_1"></a> <a class="addthis_button_preferred_2"></a> <a 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