Nuclear-waste tanks show age

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fifteen tanks holding deadly atomic waste at a nuclear weapons complex along the Savannah River have cracked, rusted or leaked, according to federal inspection reports.

Some of the cracks date to the 1950s, when the steel tanks first went into use at the Savannah River site. But inspection reports say some leaks have been found in the past three years.

In 2001, 92 gallons of radioactive waste leaked through a 40-year-old tank into a containment area. Six leak sites were found on the 750,000-gallon, 24-foot high steel tank.

Secondary containment systems have kept radioactive poisons from getting into groundwater. But a containment system failed in 1960, and the waste leaked into the ground, the reports said.

The 300-square-mile federal weapons complex has 51 steel tanks holding 37 million gallons of waste, including uranium, cesium and plutonium.

Westinghouse Savannah River Co., which runs the site for the U.S. Department of Energy, says some tanks are within 8 to 10 feet of the water table, raising concerns. But Dean Campbell, a spokesman for Westinghouse, says the government does not know of any tanks that currently are leaking.

“They obviously are getting older and will not last forever,” said Charles Hansen, an assistant waste disposition manager with the U.S. Department of Energy. “This is highly radioactive, and there is a concern to get that waste out as soon as possible. There’s always some potential for inadvertent leakage into the environment.”