The materials containing Plutonium241 are decaying into Americium241, which has a much longer half-life and exposes workers to greater doses of gamma rays. Local Hanford watchdog groups, including Heart of America Northwest and the Government Accountability Project, which provides legal representation for Hanford whistleblowers, have long contended that the facility is unsafe. Internal DOE documents cite instances of accidents, worker contamination and radioactive releases to the environment. The incident resulted in significant operator exposure and room contamination. But DOE tells the public a different story.
Criticality is an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction.
He cited problems at the plant, including faulty or missing leak detectors, leaky gloveboxes, cracks in primary containment walls, poor design and a lack of operating guidelines. In 1986, for instance, two workers were contaminated with plutonium when they received puncture wounds while replacing glovebox filters. A recent Los Alamos National Laboratory study revealed that explosions of organic solvents have occurred at Hanford plants and could again when plutonium nitrate solutions containing solvents are heated above 135 Celsius. At least two such blasts have occurred at Hanford's 177 waste tanks. Ruud is suing Westinghouse on racketeering charges stemming from his harassment and firing by the company following his public disclosures.