Wasteland: Hanford Nuclear Reservation 1994
In 1994 The Spokesman-Review published a report on the cost of cleaning up the weapons facility and fallout in the community.
Section:Gallery
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In this 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., tumbleweeds pile up against the fence of the first production reactor built alongside the Columbia River at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The B reactor has been deactiveated and the yellow warning sign reminds people of the radiation hazards still present surrounding the 50-year-old facility. It created the plutonium used in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., workers scour scrap metal with radiation detectors to make sure it isn't contaminated. The metal is cut from basins that held cooling water for K Reactor.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., Ronald Bliss, Westinghouse Hanford Co. vice president, stands by the concrete vault holding tons of plutonium. In the shadows at far right, heavily armed guards protect the deadly bomb-making material.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo, fisherman try for salmon on the Columbia River, under the shadow of an abandoned nuclear reactor. The river is the recreational and agricultural lifeblood of the area.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., Department of Energy manager Casey Ruud complains Hanford is inefficient. "We have fiefdoms of people who don't know what they are doing."
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., workers in protective clothing work near a trench where waste is buried. Billions of gallons of waste and cooling water were dumped into the ground during four decades of bomb-making.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., some nuclear trash isn't even Hanford's. These pieces of submarine hulls, which contained the nuclear reactor rooms, were barged to the site for burial.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., John Fulton manages one of Hanford's most serious environmental problems--thousands of radioactive fuel rods stored 1,000 feet from the Columbia River. The K Basins were designed for temporary storage, but the rods have been there for many years.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., thousands of radioactive fuel rods are stored 1,000 feet from the Columbia River in K Basins designed for temporary storage. But the rods have been there for many years. The rods are encased in metal and kept under water to keep them cool.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., workers use remote control robotic arms to handle samples od radioactive tank waste. They are trying to determine exactly what has been poured into the tanks over the years.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., chemist Attlee Benally wears full protective gear while handling samples of highly radioactive waste. Hanford's tanks alone hold 61 gallons of dangerous chemicals and radioactive leftovers.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file phot in Richland, Wash., a crib- essentially a covered trench where radioactive waste is buried- is chained off to keep people out of the area.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., even after spending billions of dollars and 30 or 40 years cleaning up, children will never be able to play on much of Hanford as a billboard might suggest. It will remain contaminated for thousands of years.
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In this Nov. 14, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., John Wagoner, the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford manager, leads a team of 590 government workers who oversee the private contractors running of the reservation.
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In this Nov. 14, 1994 file photo in Kennewick, Wash., Hanford booster, 90-year-old Sam Volpentest, built a coalition of politicians, corporate lobbyists and others that keeps money flowing to the Tri-Cities.
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In this Nov. 14, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., morning commuters head west into the nuclear reservation. With more than 18,000 people working for private contractors, the government can't keep track of where all the money is spent.
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In this Nov. 14, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., the Government Accounting Office produces the most critical reports on Hanford. Still, investigators Tom Perry, left, and Chris Abraham are a small force in Richland.
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In this Nov. 15, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., Hanford's billions are sparking a Tri-Cilies housing boom. Here, homes ring the Canyon Lakes Golf Course.
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In this Nov. 16, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., Michael Bott lost his job, his family and his health after flagging a billing violation at Hanford. "Westinghouse and DOE were trying to break me," he says.
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In this Nov. 16, 1994 file photo in Spokane, Wash., attorney Robert Dunn spent $230,600 pursuing a lawsuit against a Hanford contractor. He won, even though the contractor's lawyers billed taxpayers three times as much for its defense.
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In this Nov. 17, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., research laboratories are being built at Hanford to help find new ways to clean up the poisoned land.
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In this Nov. 13, 1994 file photo in Richland, Wash., Hanford looms in the distance as workers put a roof on a house in the Horn Rapids development. Taxpayer money is fueling economic prosperity in the Tri-Cities area.
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