RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — Workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation are cutting a bigger hole in a high-level radioactive waste tank so a robotic arm can be inserted for cleanup work.
The Tri-City Herald reports that digging down to the tank and cutting a 42-inch-hole is a complicated task to limit worker exposure to radiation.
A manager on the project, Scott Sax, calls it one of the most significant projects at the Hanford tank farm. By the end of the month workers hope to insert the robotic arm, which can rotate in a full circle and reach 40 feet. It will use a water cannon to break up sludge and move waste toward a pump.
The Tank C-107 holds 247,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical sludge left over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
