Crews Douse Hanford Fire; No Radiation Leaks Found

RICHLAND, Wash. — The wildfire that raced across nearly half of the Hanford nuclear complex was all but extinguished Friday, and Energy Secretary Bill Richardson gave assurances that the flames did not spread radiation.

The 190,000-acre blaze, which was ignited by sparks from an auto wreck Tuesday and exploded into a 30-mph inferno in less than a day, was the second fire to sweep a federal nuclear weapon installation in two months.

The fire also raised questions about why it became such a huge inferno.

Richardson and others near the fire lines blamed unpredictable winds, dry conditions and 100-degree temperatures.

But critics said the blaze showed that the government was not prepared to protect the site that holds the nation’s largest volume of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons.

Hanford was the chief producer of plutonium for the U.S. nuclear arsenal for 40 years and is now the storage site for some of the most lethal wastes on the planet.

By the time Richardson declared the fire contained early Friday, it had burned 45% of the 560-square-mile reservation, plus 20 homes in and around the towns of Benton City and West Richland, just south of Hanford’s boundaries.

Fifteen people were injured, most suffering smoke inhalation. One man was seriously burned as he tried in vain to save his home.

Richardson said his agency would start a fire-recovery fund for those who lost homes and property here.

“There does not appear to be any contamination whatsoever,” Richardson said. When asked whether he was absolutely certain, Richardson replied: “I never say ‘absolutely’ anymore. We are satisfied at this time there are no radiation releases.”

David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Mass., said he did not doubt Richardson’s claims. Lochbaum said that early monitoring would have turned up any “tremendous concentrations.”

The fire burned across three old radioactive-waste disposal sites--a trench and two dried-up ponds. It also burned near some excavated drums containing uranium wastes but was diverted by firefighters.

The most lethal waste is in 177 storage tanks buried six feet underground that could explode if a spark were introduced inside. Flames got within two miles of the tanks, Energy Department spokeswoman Julie Erickson said.

In May, a fire set to clear brush near Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico raged out of control, forcing evacuation of more than 20,000 people and destroying more than 200 homes in Los Alamos and nearly 40 temporary buildings at the laboratory.