Officially, huge stocks of plutonium produced at the industrial site were disused, but according to unofficial data 2/3 of nuclear waste remained at Hanford and were buried in the ground. That caused high radiation levels. The complex completely stopped working in 1977. At the present time, the territory of the industrial complex has 177 repositories housing more than 200 000 cubic meters of radioactive waste.
These mortuaries were built immediately after the factory was closed. Their life is not more than 20 years. Since 20 years after closure of the plant have long gone, an uncontrolled leakage from waste storages has led to a serious environmental pollution. Construction of a plant for processing liquid radioactive waste has already begun Near the Hanford Site, but it’s planned to complete its construction no earlier than 2019. According to unofficial reports, dozens of industry employees were seriously affected, but officially this information has not been disclosed.
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