By Annette Cary
Specks of radioactive contamination have been found on eight cars or other vehicles that were parked at the Hanford nuclear reservation’s Plutonium Finishing Plant.
Two of the vehicles may have been contaminated before they were driven home by workers during the weekend, according to information released to Hanford employees Tuesday afternoon. The owners of those cars have been offered radiation surveys of their homes.
Demolition remains on hold at the plant — with just a few weeks of work left — after the spread of radioactive contamination in recent days outside zones around demolition areas, where contamination was expected to be contained.
The contamination was found Friday night after demolition had been completed at the plant’s Plutonium Reclamation Facility.
A stop-work order then was issued Sunday by CH2M officials.
No demolition had been planned over the weekend.
However, work went ahead as planned Sunday to finish stabilizing the rubble left from Friday’s demolition, said Tom Bratvold, project vice president for CH2M.
About half of the rubble pile still needed to be covered with soil to prevent a possible spread of contamination.
Soil cement also was used on the rubble pile.
A Sunday night windstorm swept through the area, and more specks of radioactive contamination were found Monday in areas that previously had been found to be clean, officials said.
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