Cracked Dam Upriver From Hanford Nuclear Reservation
B. McPherson Expose by Seattle TV station points out danger to public by careless handling of radioactive waste. The Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River has a large crack in a spillway pier. It is about 2inches(5 cm) wide and 65 feet long . The damage to the hydroelectric facility was discovered during a routine check by a dam worker. Since the discovery of the crack, officials have drawn down the water behind the dam by about 26 feet to take pressure off the structure. The dam is 180 feet high and was built over 50 years ago. It is up river from another half century old dam, Priest Rapids Dam, which is 178 feet high, impounding another large lake. There is a danger that if the Wanapum Dam fails, it could overwhelm the Priest Rapids Dam and a massive wall of water would bear down on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The Hanford site was developed during the Second World War and produced the fissionable material for the first atomic bomb. It became the main production centre...