Hanford has been called the most contaminated spot in the western hemisphere. A cautionary monument to the cost of war and nuclear ambitions. It is one of the places the world should be looking as long as there continue to be arguments made in favor of nuclear energy use.

Decades after their construction; long after the energy has been "used" (much of it wasted in inefficient processes); long after billions of gallons of irreplaceable water have been used up and contaminated- the reactors and their forever deadly waste remain. The reactors are showing their age- leaking and cracking, but the waste will be with us, in human terms, forever. 

What this means is that we face a deadly problem without a real solution. At Hanford alone there are:

56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever attempted.

And, at Hanford, they are struggling to contain it. But, history is proving that the waste may not be containable, not in time, or for enough time, to be ever be considered safe. Not at Hanford, the other Cold War sites, or at "ordinary" reactor sites located all around the world. They say "to the victor go the spoils," but in this case, the victor will spoil everything. Because, to the growing horror of a slowly awakening post-Fukushima world- it is clear that with nuclear, the waste is winning.

Peter Eisler, USA Today l 25 January, 2012

even decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.

The U.S. government is building a treatment plant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever attempted.

A USA TODAY investigation has found that the troubled, 10-year effort to build the treatment plant faces enormous problems just as it reaches what was supposed to be its final stage.

In exclusive interviews, several senior engineers cited design problems that could bring the plant's operations to a halt before much of the waste is treated. Their reports have spurred new technical reviews and raised official concerns about the risk of a hydrogen explosion or uncontrolled nuclear reaction inside the plant. Either could damage critical equipment, shut the facility down or, worst case, allow radiation to escape.

The plant's $12.3 billion price tag, already triple original estimates, is well short of what it will cost to address the problems and finish the project. And the plant's start-up date, originally slated for last year and pushed back to its current target of 2019, is likely to slip further.

"We're continuing with a failed design," said Donald Alexander, a senior U.S. government scientist on the project.

"There's a lot of pressure … from Congress, from the state, from the community to make progress," he added. As a result, "the design processes are cut short, the safety analyses are cut short, and the oversight is cut short. … We have to stop now and figure out how to do this right, before we move any further."

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