A creepy old building used for 30 years to research radioactive materials from 1966 to 1996 has a lot more radioactive waste under it than previously known. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday.
The 324 Building has major contamination under it and is only 300 yards from the Columbia River.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy /
It’s called the 324 Building. It’s only 300 yards from the Columbia River very close to the town of Richland. It’s what’s underneath — in the soil — that’s hazardous to cleanup workers. Now, Energy says “a much larger volume” of soil contaminated with radioactive waste will have to be remediated. The radioactive waste spilled in the 1980s but wasn’t discovered until 2010. The federal government just announced on Thursday that they want to tear down the old 324, then build a containment structure over it — all before they clean up the spilled radioactive waste.
They say this will be safer for workers and the environment.