Uploaded July 2014 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Reporter: Susannah Frame; Photographer: Steve Douglas
Tanks storing radioactive waste at America's most contaminated nuclear site appear to have sprung a leaks, leaching yet more cancer-causing isotopes into soil some five miles from the Columbia River in Washington state.
The Hanford site produced plutonium that was used to manufacture the bomb that blew up Hiroshima. Now it's home to a different kind of horror: It's used to store nuclear waste while a plant is built on site to treat that waste. But the Department of Energy treatment plant project has been plagued by delays, and tanks that were designed to hold the waste temporarily keep falling apart.
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Reporter: Susannah Frame; Photographer: Steve Douglas
Tanks storing radioactive waste at America's most contaminated nuclear site appear to have sprung a leaks, leaching yet more cancer-causing isotopes into soil some five miles from the Columbia River in Washington state.
The Hanford site produced plutonium that was used to manufacture the bomb that blew up Hiroshima. Now it's home to a different kind of horror: It's used to store nuclear waste while a plant is built on site to treat that waste. But the Department of Energy treatment plant project has been plagued by delays, and tanks that were designed to hold the waste temporarily keep falling apart.
USE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically No copyright infringement is ever intended.
FAIR authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in a effort to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc...
I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If any individual wishes to go beyond the fair use law, they should contact the copyright owner for permission.
