By John Stang Herald staff writer Hanford workers will be allowed four more months to clean up the N Basin area without contractors facing state fines. Because more contamination was found in the area's radioactive pools, the state gave Hanford an extension on its Tri-Party Agreement deadline to deactivate the N Basin and the rest of the N Reactor area. The Washington Department of Ecology agreed this week to Hanford's request to extend the deadline from April 1 to July 31. Bechtel Hanford Inc. is in charge of deactivating the 100N Area, which includes N Reactor and 90 to 100 auxiliary buildings and facilities.
Deactivation consists of cleaning up most of the radioactive contamination and closing buildings.
Then, outlying buildings would be demolished and the main reactor building demolished and sealed off. However, Bechtel and the Department of Energy found more contamination than expected in the N Basin - which is two connecting indoor pools that once held spent nuclear fuel until it was transferred elsewhere. We think its doable, and we can make that mark. We're not happy having to continue it out. The state granted the extension because the extra contamination expanded the scope of the project, stated the ecology department's consent order.