Off the wire
• U.S. Senate panel approves Trump's nominee for ambassador to China  • Interview: Global energy internet will make world sustainable energy village: expert  • British retail sales show consumers continue to drive economic growth  • British stocks rise 0.57 pct Tuesday  • Banks discuss relocating to Frankfurt in wake of Brexit  • U.S. panel says no to thyroid cancer screening  • Oil prices retreat on EIA forecast  • Austrian chancellor hails positive economic cooperation with Romania  • Zidane, Simeone warm up for Champions League semi-final  • Number one seed Murray progresses comfortably in Madrid  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD: Tunnel collapses at Washington state nuke site

Xinhua, May 9, 2017 Adjust font size:

A section of a storage tunnel in a plutonium uranium extraction (PUREX) plant collapsed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation early Tuesday morning, prompting authorities to declare emergency at the Washington state site.

Officials were alerted of a cave-in of a 20 foot, or 6 meter, section of a tunnel that is hundreds of feet long. Located next to the PUREX in the center of the Hanford site, it is used to store contaminated materials.

Workers at the facility were being sheltered as a precaution while authorities said there was no indication of a release of contamination for the time being. As of noon Tuesday, there were no reports of injuries.

Crews were continuing to survey the area for contamination.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m. local time, after an alert was declared. Endit