Department of Energy: Preliminary Information on the Potential	 
for Columbia River Contamination from the Hanford Site		 
(04-NOV-05, GAO-06-77R).					 
                                                                 
The Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford site in southeastern	 
Washington state was established in 1943 to produce nuclear	 
materials, especially plutonium, for the nation's defense. The	 
site occupies 586 square miles northwest of the cities of	 
Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick, with a combined regional	 
population of over 200,000. The Columbia River, the nation's	 
second largest river and a source of hydropower production and	 
drinking water for downstream communities, as well as a major	 
route for salmon migration, flows through the site for almost 50 
miles. DOE built nine nuclear reactors to produce plutonium and  
other materials near the river shore to take advantage of river  
water for reactor cooling. Several miles away from the river, DOE
built other facilities used in making nuclear materials. During  
operations from 1943 to 1989, activity at these reactors and	 
other facilities generated large volumes of hazardous and	 
radioactive waste. Some of this waste was deposited directly into
the ground in trenches, injection wells, or other facilities	 
designed to allow the waste to disperse into the soil. Some of	 
the most hazardous and radioactive material was stored in large  
underground tanks. Over time, concern has developed about the	 
impact of Hanford's waste moving through the ground and toward	 
the Columbia River. Besides the waste discharged directly into	 
the ground, DOE has assumed, based on tank monitoring data and	 
other techniques to detect contamination in the soil, that 67 of 
the 177 underground storage tanks have also leaked contaminants  
into the soil. Many types of hazardous and radioactive waste	 
produced at Hanford can be borne by water through the ground.	 
While Hanford is a near-desert location with limited rainfall and
thick layers of soil and rock beneath its surface, water from	 
precipitation and other sources moves through these layers, and  
the groundwater moves in the general direction of the river. In  
the center of the site, the groundwater is more than 200 feet	 
below the surface, but at the river, the groundwater is at or	 
near river level. Over time, the movement of these contaminants  
through the "vadose zone"--the span of soil and rock between the 
surface and the groundwater beneath--has resulted in a number of 
contaminant "plumes." These plumes are volumes of contamination  
extending downward and outward from their sources. When these	 
plumes reach the level of the groundwater, the contamination they
contain enters the groundwater. In some cases, contamination from
these plumes has already reached the river. Since the early	 
1990s, DOE has shifted its efforts at the Hanford site from	 
production of nuclear materials to cleaning up the contamination 
and other materials left over from the production era. Milestones
and requirements for this cleanup are specified in an agreement  
between DOE and its regulators--the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and the Washington State Department of Ecology. DOE spends
about $2 billion per year on the cleanup of the Hanford site and 
estimates that the cost of Hanford's cleanup effort will	 
eventually total about $45 billion and will be completed around  
2035. The cleanup effort includes exhuming and treating buried	 
waste, cleaning up facilities, and other necessary steps,	 
including protecting the Columbia River by keeping contamination 
from migrating through the groundwater to the river. This report 
responds to a Congressional request for preliminary information  
about DOE's efforts to address river contamination. It addresses 
(1) the past, current, and future sources of contaminants to the 
Columbia River and the status of the contaminant plumes that	 
threaten the river; and (2) DOE's planned approach to prevent	 
contamination from reaching the Columbia River and DOE's efforts 
to implement its plan.						 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-06-77R 					        
    ACCNO:   A41039						        
  TITLE:     Department of Energy: Preliminary Information on the     
Potential for Columbia River Contamination from the Hanford Site 
     DATE:   11/04/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Contamination					 
	     Environmental monitoring				 
	     Hazardous substances				 
	     Pollution monitoring				 
	     Radioactive waste disposal 			 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Water pollution					 
	     Water pollution control				 
	     Columbia River (WA)				 
	     Hanford (WA)					 

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GAO-06-77R

     

     * Sources and Extent of Contamination from the Hanford Site that May
       Threaten the Columbia River
     * DOE's Approach to Addressing Columbia River Contamination from the
       Hanford Site
     * Briefing Slides
     * PDF6-Ordering Information.pdf
          * Order by Mail or Phone
*** End of document. ***