Meeting Thursday on storage for Hanford’s highly radioactive capsules

A discussion of the area where highly radioactive cesium and strontium capsules will be stored at the Hanford nuclear reservation is planned Sept 21.

Now 1,936 capsules of cesium and strontium are stored underwater in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility in central Hanford.

The capsules are planned to be moved to dry storage because of the risk that a severe earthquake could damage the concrete pool where they are stored.

The Department of Energy is proposing inserting the stainless steel capsules into storage canisters that will be overpacked in concrete casks to be stored on a concrete pad.

DOE will cover the siting, construction and operation of the proposed Capsule Storage Area at the meeting.

The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at the Richland Public Library, 955 Northgate Drive. To watch it online, register at www.hanford.gov at the link in the event calendar.

This story was originally published September 19, 2017 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Meeting Thursday on storage for Hanford’s highly radioactive capsules."