A 400-square foot section of a tunnel containing dangerous radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was discovered to have collapsed Tuesday morning, forcing thousands of workers to shelter-in-place for several hours.
According to CBS Seattle, thousands of workers at the Hanford nuclear site were told to stay home Wednesday as efforts began to plug a hole that developed in the partial collapse of the tunnel roof.
A gravel road was built to the site of the roof collapse, and workers were expected to begin filling the hole with dirt on Wednesday, said Destry Henderson, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy.
“We intend to start filling the hole today,” Henderson said Wednesday.
Hanford, located in southcentral Washington state, has about 9,000 employees and most of them were told to stay home Wednesday, Henderson said.
According to CBS Seattle, officials have detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured in the collapse of the unoccupied tunnel, Henderson said.
For the full story, visit the CBS Seattle website.
