IOLANI - The Royal Hawk: Vol VI No. 650 - Contamination Alert! Refrain from buying Contaminated Foods!

The Short: Hanford Disaster: What Happens to Someone Who's Exposed to Plutonium? Workers at the Hanford nuclear site were told to either evacuate or shelter in place, and to avoid eating or drinking anything after the tunnel collapsed, according to the Yakima Herald. At least some of the radioactive waste at the Hanford facility contains radioactive plutonium and uranium, according to the DOE, although at least some of it is also radioactive "sludge" composed of a mixture of radioactive substances. This extra energy can either directly kill cells or damage a cell's DNA, fueling mutations that may eventually lead to cancer. Plutonium, one of the radioactive substances that may be present at the Hanford site, has a half-life of 24,000 years, meaning that's how long it takes for half of the material to decay into more stable substances. A 2011 study in the journal Nature Chemical Biology found that rat adrenal-gland cells ferried plutonium into the cells; the plutonium entered the body's cells largely by taking the natural place of iron on receptors. In addition, a 2005 study in the journal Current Medicinal Chemistry found that there are some short-term treatments for plutonium exposure. Uranium, another radioactive element that may be present at dangerous concentrations in the PUREX tunnel, also can have harmful effects on human health. The biggest health risk people face after being exposed to uranium is kidney damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Uranium may also decay into radon, which has been tied to an increased cancer risk in several studies, particularly in miners who are exposed to higher levels of the toxin. Overall, radiation from any source increases the risk of cancer, and the cancer risk increases with higher exposures. However, exposures in more recent nuclear disasters, such as the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, have not typically been high enough to show highly elevated rates of cancer. In addition, studies have found lower rates of cancer in nuclear plant workers than in the general population, likely because these workers tend to be healthier than the people in the nearby population, according to a 2004 study in the French journal Revue Epidemiological Sante Publique. Tia has interned at Science News, Wired.com, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and has written for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Scientific American, and ScienceNow.

The Long: Plutonium, one of the radioactive substances that may be present at the Hanford site, has a half-life of 24,000 years, meaning that's how long it takes for half of the material to decay into more stable substances. A 2011 study in the journal Nature Chemical Biology found that rat adrenal-gland cells ferried plutonium into the cells; the plutonium entered the body's cells largely by taking the natural place of iron on receptors. In addition, a 2005 study in the journal Current Medicinal Chemistry found that there are some short-term treatments for plutonium exposure. Overall, radiation from any source increases the risk of cancer, and the cancer risk increases with higher exposures. However, exposures in more recent nuclear disasters, such as the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, have not typically been high enough to show highly elevated rates of cancer.

The Short: Tunnel collapse latest safety issue at nuclear site Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

The Long: Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers. Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. "No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties," the Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. "There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point." The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile (1,295-square-kilometer) Hanford site — half the size of Rhode Island.

The Short: Washington plutonium leak poses 'long-term threat'

The Long: CBC News Posted: Feb 17, 2013 12:32 PM PT Last Updated: Feb 17, 2013 4:03 PM PT "The lack of an immediate threat does not in any way shape or form should be allowed to reduce the recognition of the long-term threat of this material reaching the ground water or the Columbia River," Governor Jay Inslee said Saturday. Photos Analysis

The Short: Tunnel Collapses at America’s Most-Contaminated Nuclear Site The site was mostly decommissioned after the Cold War, and is the focus of a large environmental clean-up project.

The Long: The Department of Energy previously said the tunnels contained “contaminated materials.” A source told KING 5 that road work nearby might have caused the collapse. Hanford, located along the Columbia River and 200 miles southeast of Seattle, is considered the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States. It was built during the Manhattan Project and produced plutonium used in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. The site was mostly decommissioned after the Cold War, and is the focus of a large environmental clean-up project. The site has 9,200 employees, not including contractors.