Hanford nuclear waste could pass through North Idaho

COEUR d’ALENE — Thousands of gallons of liquid nuclear waste to be sent out from the Hanford site next year will pass through Spokane via the interstate highway system, the U.S. Department of Energy confirmed this week, but it’s not yet known if the materials will also travel through North Idaho on the way to treatment facilities in Utah and Texas.

The 2,000 gallons of liquid waste will be moved as part of the Test Bed Initiative, a project meant to “demonstrate the feasibility of an alternative option for the retrieval, treatment and disposal of a portion of the Hanford Site’s low-activity tank waste.” 

Edward Dawson, Hanford Site spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy, told The Press via email Thursday that the DOE has not yet released the transportation route for the treated waste in the Test Bed Initiative Demonstration project. 

Some Washington leaders have expressed concern about the project, including Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, who published a letter last month objecting to the liquid waste being moved through Spokane, saying it poses an “unconscionable risk.” 

“I understand that, should the initial 2,000 gallons of waste successfully be solidified at facilities in Texas and Utah, your proposed agreement includes plans for millions of gallons of hazardous liquid waste to be shipped by rail or truck in the future,” Brown wrote. 

In a response letter, the Washington Department of Ecology confirmed that the Test Bed Initiative is separate from another project that will involve the retrieval and treatment of low-activity waste from 22 underground tanks at the Hanford site. The other project will begin no earlier than 2028. 

After the 2,000 gallons of liquid waste are pretreated and separated for the Test Bed Initiative, the waste will be shipped to permitted facilities for permanent disposal in “double-contained” shipping packages called totes, which are themselves carried in fully enclosed trailers. 

A fact sheet published by the U.S. Department of Energy said Hanford will remove more than 98% of the radioactivity from the waste before shipment. 

In the “extremely unlikely” case of a severe accident, the highest potential radiation a person might be exposed to is less than that of a single abdominal X-ray. 

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the probability of severe accident during transport to Utah is less than one in 1 million, while the probability of severe accident during transport to Texas is less than three in 1 million.