RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Hanford workers are searching for radioactive contamination after a Tuesday windstorm spread some radioactive particles from a waste burial ground.
The Tri-City Herald says some waste trenches north of Richland had been dug up to retrieve radioactive material buried near Route 4, a main road across Hanford.
The closest contamination to the public road was on a speck of sand found about 40 feet off the highway. That's according to Peter Bengtson, spokesman for Washington Closure Hanford. He says several other specks were found, but they were closer to the burial ground.
Bengston says the radiation levels do not pose a risk to the public or the workers cleaning it up.
Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and now contains the nation's largest collection of nuclear waste.
Small amount of Hanford radiation spread by recent storm
Hanford workers are searching for contamination after a windstorm spread radioactive particles from a waste burial ground.
