Plutonium pride on the Mid-Columbia
[stextbox id="custom" color="000000" bcolor="000000" bgcolor="ffffff" image="null"]This update originally appeared April 15 on the blog for the Spot.us story I'm working on about seismic risks at Eastern Washington's nuclear power facilities. Later updates -- including news of a petition by environmental groups to stop the NRC from nuclear plant licensing and other proceedings until it completes a review of the Fukushima disaster -- are available here. Expect the final story May 2.[/stextbox]
"We're proud of the cloud."
That's what Dave Acton - the general manager and brewmaster at Atomic Ale & Eatery in Richland, WA - told me last night. Acton grew up in Richland, part of Eastern Washington's Tri-Cities area. The town's biggest claim to fame, though, is the nearby Hanford Site, the site used by the U.S. government for decades to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. It's also the place where, for more than 30 years, the Columbia Generating Station has produced electricity on land leased from the federal government from the only commercial nuclear reactor still operating in the Northwest.
Acton chatted with me over of "Plutonium Porter" last night. He explained to me how safe he felt growing up in Richland -- and how happy he is to raise kids here. For Acton, concerns about safety at the Columbia Generating Station and the Hanford site are the result of fear-mongering and panic. Though the conversation happened spontaneously (the way the best journalism often does), it reminds me just how much more complex any story is. Of course, one person's opinion shouldn't be seen as representative of an entire community, but it's worth remembering that as I consider the seismic hazards of Eastern Washington - and what it means for the Columbia Generating Station and the Hanford Site - there's a real value in understanding how those most directly impacted by these facilities feel about them. I'm looking forward to sharing what Acton had to say in my final piece.
I'll also have details from my enlightening conversation with Steve Reidel (without whom, coincidentally, I wouldn't have found Atomic Ale after bumping into him long after our interview). Reidel, a geologist and adjunct professor at Washington State University, Tri-Cities, recently retired from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Recently retired after decades working on the Hanford Site, Reidel reminded me how little we still know about earthquakes in this part of Washington - a point he also made in a column in last Sunday's Tri-City Herald (you'll have to pay to see the story in the paper's archives). More concerned about the risk such quakes might pose to aging buildings on the Hanford Site than at the Columbia Generating Station, Reidel reminded me just how much of a struggle it is to get scientific studies done consistently and thoroughly. There was much more to our conversation, but you'll hae to wait until May to learn the full story.
When you read it (and I hope you'll support it by clicking "fund this story" or, if funds are tight, by taking surveys to earn free credits to apply to this piece), you'll also learn about my next destination: a newly trenched fault outside of Yakima that I'll be visiting with Brian Sherrod later today. Sherrod, a paleoseismologist, works with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network to map and identify active faults. Thanks to LIDARdata that has become available over the past decade Sherrod and the PNSN have been able to identify one new fault a year in Washington. Their only limitation: having enough resources to collect and process data from around the state. Sherrod is also preparing to publish research that will provide a new understanding of the relationship between fault systems east of the Cascades, and those in the more heavily populated areas west of the mountains. I'm looking forward to seeing in person how Sherrod works and literally getting my hands dirty as I see his work first hand.
I'm happy to be out in the Tri-Cities and to have the opportunity to see what I'm writing about first hand (theres no reason why any journalists shouldn't go in the field, but that's a blog for another time). Disappointingly, I've yet to get Energy Northwest - the operators of the Columbia Generating Station - to talk with me about the basis for their safety claims. As i try, I'll continue analyzing some of the other materials and interviews I've had - including a discussion with an emergency management expert, congressional research service reports on seismic safety near nuclear power plants, and more.
I can't do any of this without your continued support. Please click "fund this story" or "free credits" if you want to help me tell this story.
