Highly Radioactive Spill Near Columbia River In Washington

http://enenews.com/89-sieverts-hour-measured-soil-steps-away-columbia-river-washington-nuclear-site-worst-contamination-feet-groundwater

Hanford officials have settled on a plan to clean up what may be the most highly radioactive spill at the nuclear reservation where 89 sieverts per hr have been measured in the soil near Columbia River in Washington.  Radioactivity in the contaminated soil, which is about 1,000 feet from the Columbia River, has been measured at 8,900 rad per hour [89 sieverts per hr]. Direct exposure for a few minutes would be fatal and just 4 sieverts per hour is a deadly dose. “This was concentrated material,” said Mark French, the Department of Energy’s project director for Hanford cleanup along the Columbia River. [...] It migrated down in a open square shape, with the worst contamination down to five or six feet deep, McBride said. There is not evidence that it has reached the ground water which is about 54 feet below the ground there and about 42 feet below the bottom of the hot cell [...]