Hanford Watch, Portland, Oregon

Letters to Oregonian

Paige Knight
Isn't it interesting that The Oregonian chose to report about the Portland hearings on restarting the Fast Flux Test Facility at Hanford Nuclear Reservation on the obituary page (Oct. 20)? You must have been attempting a subtle agreement with former Sen. Mark Hatfield's statement that he's "seen politicians do stupid things and this is one of them."

Yes, such stupid ideas do belong on the obituary page, especially if you, as journalists, the supposed purveyors of news, lack the courage to do real reporting on an issue that greatly affects the economy, health and safety of Pacific Northwest citizens now and forever.

It is significant when 300 people (not the 200 you reported) show up to protest a reactor that will effectively compromise the cleanup of the most polluted site in the Western Hemisphere. These 300 people are demanding cleanup, protection of the Columbia River and accountability by corporations and the government. Many of us believe this is real news.

Lynn Porter
Outside of The Oregonian (Aug. 26 editorial), there is overwhelming opposition in Oregon to restarting Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility nuclear reactor.

Opponents include the state legislature; former Sen. Mark Hatfield; Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Reps. Earl Blumenauer and David Wu, D-Ore.; and many environmentalists. Blumenauer, on a tour of the facility, told Hanford Watch President Paige Knight that the reactor would be restarted "over my dead body."

Hanford Watch opposes restarting the facility because, each year, it would generate up to one ton of high-level nuclear waste, dangerous to human and other life for more than 10,000 years. The United States has no safe way to dispose of this waste and may never have a way.

We are also concerned about the diversion of attention, energy and money from cleanup, which is supposed to be Hanford's only mission. Including the high-level tank waste, Hanford is the largest nuclear dump in the Western Hemisphere, and it's on the Columbia River.

Hanford's main cleanup projects are perpetually behind schedule, over budget and in trouble. We should take care of the mess there now before creating any other waste.

Marian Drake
Thank you for reporting the Portland City Council's decision to oppose restarting a test reactor at Hanford Nuclear Reservation (Sept. 16). Two hundred miles upriver from Portland, Hanford is now the most polluted nuclear site in the United States.

Hanford's waste tanks "are thought to have leaked more than 1 million gallons of radioactive waste into the soil and ground water" near the Columbia River.

If the pollution is allowed to reach the river, the disastrous effects would likely compare with Chernobyl. The salmon would be wiped out, and damage to other plant, animal and human life would be enormous.

Radioactive tumbleweeds have been found rolling along within the reservation. Radioactive fruit flies have been found in the region. How far will this fly-borne radioactivity spread?

Hanford Watch opposes restarting production because, each year, the Fast Flux Test Facility would generate up to one ton of high-level nuclear waste, dangerous to human and other life for more than 10,000 years.