– Gregoire Reacts To Leaked Hanford Waste Report (NPR, Jan. 18, 2012):
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Governor Chris Gregoire says construction on a waste treatment plant at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation must continue. This despite serious safety concerns raised by two high-level whistleblowers. There’s also a newly leaked report that warns plutonium levels in Hanford tank waste could be much higher than previously thought.
Gregoire says those issues should be taken seriously, but the clean-up has already taken too long.
“If there’s a good and valid reason for us to stop, to slow down, we will listen to any legitimate concern,” Gregoire says. “But in the meantime I cannot continue to allow US Department of Energy to delay and delay and delay. The Columbia River is at stake, all of that area and its vitality.”