300 Area
The 300 Area is part of the Hanford Site in the state of Washington, USA. The area was originally used for the production of fuel for nuclear reactors and for performing research on improving the production process, however most modern work being done focuses on environmental research. Today, the buildings remain active as laboratories, workshops, and offices.[1] The 300 area is operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute.
The 300 area is a restricted-access area to maintain safety due to the nature of materials routinely handled. The soil around the complex in several locations is contaminated with low-level radiation. There are waste burial grounds to the north with higher level radiation that have had hundreds of thousands of tons of soil removed.
Closure
Fluor Hanford, Inc. began the 300 Area Accelerated Closure Plan in 2000 when re-industrialization failed to grow as expected.[1] The facility is in the process of demolition, staff will be moved from the aging World War II era buildings to newly constructed buildings on the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) main campus. The move is scheduled to conclude in 2011, moving approximately 1,000 employees. This move is greatly complicated by the fact that the 300 Area houses all of the nuclear and radiological research laboratories.[2] By moving now, rather than the originally planned 2046, estimates place savings of maintaining the outdated facility at $1.5 billion.[1]
Notes
- 1 2 3 "Hanford Site: 300 Area". US Department of Energy. 2006-12-13. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ↑ "PNNL: CRL: 300 Area Transition". Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
References
- "HANFORD SITE (Hanford 100 Area, Hanford 200 Area, Hanford 300 Area)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- "The Hanford 300 Area Cleanup Plan – Insufficient, Dangerous, and Against Best-Known Findings" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-08-25.
Coordinates: 46°22′10″N 119°16′47″W / 46.36944°N 119.27972°W