A new report recommends that $181 million be spent on interim cleanup and maintenance of the plant.
RICHLAND — Radioactive contamination is spreading inside a deteriorating processing plant on the Hanford nuclear reservation.
The Tri-City Herald reports the facility, the Reduction-Oxidation Complex, commonly known as REDOX, hasn’t been used since the 1960s.
A new report recommends that $181 million be spent on interim cleanup and maintenance of the plant. REDOX is not scheduled to be demolished until about 2032, or possibly later.
Work on the building soon could reduce the threat of contamination spreading outside the building, including by animals, a break in a utility pipe or a fire, the report said.
REDOX was used from 1952-1967 to process about 24,000 tons of irradiated uranium fuel rods to remove plutonium for the nation’s nuclear-weapons program. It is highly contaminated.