Hanford Nuclear tunnel collapases.

Hanford was a small agricultural community in Benton County, Washington, United States. It was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of White Bluffs in order to make room for the nuclear production facility known as the Hanford Site.

An emergency has been declared at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed. A private contractor hired by the Department of Energy is working on a $110 billion project to clean up 56 million gallons of chemical and nuclear waste stored in as many as 177 underground tanks there.
Before the collapse, those tanks were reportedly leaking toxic and radioactive vapours and chemicals that have been linked to cancer, brain damage, and lung damage. There were at least 61 workers exposed to those deadly vapours last year. Experts have called the location "the most toxic place in America" and "an underground Chernobyl waiting to happen."

The dark area beneath the orange flag is where the tunnel collapsed.
Hundreds of workers were in "take cover" position after a tunnel in a plutonium uranium extraction (PUREX) plant collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation early Tuesday morning. A manager sent a message to all personnel telling them to "secure ventilation in your building" and "refrain from eating or drinking."
Really, you think?
Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, told the AP there apparently has been no release of radiation and no workers were injured. Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons, and now is engaged in cleaning up the nation’s largest volume of radioactive defense wastes.
The sprawling Hanford site is located near Richland and is half the size of Rhode Island. It also borders The Columbia River, which provides water to Vancouver, and Portland OR.

For anybody wanting a little more info than the OP seems interested in providing (at first):

Emergency Alerts issued tunnel collapse

Workers on site have been evacuated due to "highly contaminated materials" being in the tunnel that collapsed, and workers nearby have been told to stay indoors and secure their ventilation systems.

a reply to: Violater1

SNIP

The Independent

a reply to: Violater1

Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tunnel Collapse Triggers Alert

The U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m. local time, after an alert was declared, according to the official Hanford site. The Hanford Fire Department was at the plant, though photos from the scene showed firefighters waiting for the official word to move closer to the site of the accident.

They are saying no radiation leak.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

Don't be so naive. If the structure containing this mixture of toxic chemicals and radioactive material is compromised it drips and spreads through groundwater and the soil before it is detectable on the surface.

originally posted by: EchoesInTime
a reply to: Violater1

Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tunnel Collapse Triggers Alert

The U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m. local time, after an alert was declared, according to the official Hanford site. The Hanford Fire Department was at the plant, though photos from the scene showed firefighters waiting for the official word to move closer to the site of the accident.

They are saying no radiation leak.

They say a lot of things, don't they?

Hanford is on the banks of the Columbia River. It is due west of our ranch. We have tried in vain to get any relevant information

Nuclear waste rail cars are incredibly robust. It is entirely likely that a tunnel collapse would not be sufficient to cause damage to the vessel contained in the car.

Murphy's Law being what it is, it's certainly possible damage happened anyway.

originally posted by: Leonidas
Hanford is on the banks of the Columbia River. It is due west of our ranch. We have tried in vain to get any relevant information

I drink that river right into my face!

Not thrilled about this news. Our water is some of the best around. Saddening.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: EchoesInTime

Don't be so naive. If the structure containing this mixture of toxic chemicals and radioactive material is compromised it drips and spreads through groundwater and the soil before it is detectable on the surface.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger, i agree. That's what they said at Fukishuma too. I would be nervous if i lived near there. Hoping there's not a leak.

a reply to: Abysha

Boiling water will totally kill off any plutonium that may be in it. No worries

Here's a quote from the King5.com report:

A source said that crews doing road work nearby may have created enough vibration to cause the collapse.

Source

Just what kind of road work would they had to have been doing for that tunnel to collapse?

You know what I was thinking before I read that......there's been talk of the "really big one" happening in this region as opposed to Southern California. Now would not be a good time for that to happen (if there is such a thing as a good time for this).

Just how long does it take to clean up our American Chernobyl? Seems to me they should have worked a bit harder..and faster (pardon my sarcasm)

a reply to: Violater1

Here is a twitter from Susannah Frame
She seems to be covering the development.
And hanford.gov

We shouldn't be creating this kind of dangerous stuff if we cannot make it safe when we are finished. Handing this mess down to future generations is not acceptable. People running things are not too smart, they allowed these kind of things to be done, it should have been done right years ago or we should have never started using nuclear energy

Emergency Workers, and First Responders are standing by.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Abysha

Boiling water will totally kill off any plutonium that may be in it. No worries

Thanks.

I did some quick research and found that most of the drinking water comes from the Bull Run watershed at Mt. Hood. What I see in our huge open-air reservoir is sort of a back-up/secondary supply, naturally filtered through a whole tone of Earth muscle.

This is only a few blocks from me (it's a great spot to walk to on brain-decompression days).


Once, they caught a guy peeing in it and drained it. When asked why such a huge response, the person in charge said something like "um... 'cause it's gross". We don't filter it beyond there because it naturally passes all the inspections. It's rad.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Abysha

Boiling water will totally kill off any plutonium that may be in it. No worries

You are very very wrong!
Boiling tap water does not get rid of radioactive material. You should have bottled water in your emergency supplies.
emergency.cdc.gov...

You can drink water, juices, or other drinks in sealed containers. Drinks in your refrigerator or freezer are also safe to drink. The package protects the liquid inside from radioactive material.
If you think the container or package may have radioactive material on the outside, use a damp cloth or clean towel to wipe it off before opening it. Put the used cloth or towel in a plastic bag or other sealable container and place the bag in an out-of-the-way place, away from other people and pets.
Water in other containers in your home, such as a toilet tank or hot water heater will also be free of radioactive material.
You can still use tap or well water for cleaning yourself and your food.
Even if the tap water is contaminated, you can still use it for decontamination. Any radioactive material that gets into surface water or ground water sources will be diluted to very low levels by the water and will be safe to use for washing skin, hair, and clothing.

The below photograph shows how close The Columbia River is the this area.

How sad, how very very sad.

originally posted by: Violater1

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Abysha

Boiling water will totally kill off any plutonium that may be in it. No worries

You are very very wrong!

Hence the face, Captain Obvious.

originally posted by: Abysha

It's rad.

And now it may be full of Rads

Fallout joke, sorry. Sounds like quite a shame if it does get impacted, but it also sounds like they won't be shy about correcting the issue if it happens.