|
The world’s largest melter of radioactive waste is now heating up near Richland after more than 20 years of construction.
The melter will be used to glassify radioactive waste from Hanford tanks, preparing the waste for permanent disposal. The melter will first create practice glass before processing real Hanford tank waste by the end of 2023.
The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production site. Between 1942 and 1987, the facility produced plutonium for the nation’s nuclear arsenal. Radioactive waste was stored and remains today in tanks with a lifespan of only about 25 years. Leaking tanks and other problems pose enormous risks, threatening the local community and environment. Adequate, stable federal support is vital to clean up the site.
Earlier this year, the federal government took the unprecedented step to amend a funding proposal for the Hanford cleanup, adding $191 million to the effort over the next fiscal year. State leaders have petitioned the federal government for decades for more funding to support the cleanup. The federal adjustment to the funding proposal was an encouraging step, one that Gov. Jay Inslee hopes will be followed by continued support.
“Things are heating up in this Hanford cleanup,” said Inslee. “This melter has been a long time coming – its activation is a big leap forward for the project. Likewise, we hope this recent federal support is a sign of greater commitment.”
 Hanford crews conduct routine maintenance of a waste tank containing radioactive waste. Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
 Gov. Jay Inslee met with state employees working on the Rights of Way Initiative on Friday, as well as individuals transitioned by the program out of roadside encampments and into supportive housing. Gov. Jay Inslee met with frontline state workers and local nonprofit teams on Friday to hear about their experiences transitioning people out of unsafe roadside encampments and into supportive housing. Their efforts are part of the Right of Way Safety Initiative announced by the governor in May. The program is currently focused on sites in King, Thurston, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane counties. More than 100 residents have been connected to shelter or services.
Employees from the state Department of Commerce, state Department of Transportation, and Washington State Patrol have led the program’s implementation, in partnership with local governments and nonprofit service providers. Inslee expressed appreciation for the teams’ dedication, compassion and results.
“This is not easy work. It’s not easy to walk into these encampments and move people. It’s not easy to find someone a place to live. It’s not easy to encourage someone to accept help,” said Inslee. “It takes hard work to achieve results, and these Commerce, WSDOT, and WSP folks have done the work to achieve meaningful progress.”
“This work comes down to people helping people,” said Marc Dones, CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. “We are deeply grateful to our state partners for approaching this work in a person-centered way, leading with dignity and respect.”
 Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell enjoyed some hands-on experience building tiny homes under the tutelage of Barb Oliver. Barb runs the Sound Foundations “Hope Factory”, daily instructing volunteers to build tiny homes. Experts agree that more affordable housing and support services are critical to addressing homelessness. Creating a continuum of options helps bring stability and safety to people experiencing homelessness. Tiny homes are one option Gov. Jay Inslee sees promise in. He visited the Sound Foundations NW “Hope Factory” and learned how factory employees use a system of jigs and templates to build consistent, safe, and economical tiny homes shipped throughout the region. Local tiny home villages “villages” typically offer both shelter and connections to treatment and supportive services for formerly unsheltered residents.
Inslee’s tour of the facility on Friday was one of several stops to acknowledge regional partners addressing homelessness in King County.
“Your efforts are essential to restoring opportunities for communities to address the various challenges that contribute to homelessness,” said Inslee. “That is incredible to think about. Washingtonians are the secret sauce to solving all of our greatest challenges in an innovative, compassionate way, together.”
Inslee later toured the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) Hobson Place. The facility offers care for people with disabilities, 177 units of shelter for people experiencing homelessness, training for medical professionals, and an outlet for hospitals discharging patients without safe recovery options. The facility is operated collaboratively by DESC and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
“As a state, we’re working to reduce homelessness. We’re working to increase medical system capacity,” said Inslee. “Here, I see solutions to two issues at once. You’re moving the needle.”
 Nicole Klein, the University of Washington’s recreation capital campaign manager, shows Gov. Jay Inslee around the ASUW Shell House, home to the famous 1936 “Boys in the Boat”. “All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades.” (Brown, 2013).
Daniel James Brown’s 2013 book, “The Boys in the Boat” made waves as a dramatic retelling of the Olympic success of the University of Washington men’s rowing team in 1936. The group pulled with all their might to surpass Italy and Germany to claim a gold medal. The ASUW Shell House was the team’s home base – the University of Washington has been restoring the facility to preserve its triumphant history. Gov. Jay Inslee toured the facility on Friday.
Within the shell house are a number of historic photographs and mementos from that 1936 team and the 1948 team, which won a gold medal in the men’s coxed four (a four-man boat event).
A feature film directed by George Clooney and casting Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner and Courtney Henggeler is currently under production. The film is expected to debut in 2023.
*CITATION: Brown, D. J. (2013). The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Penguin Books.
 The 1936 University of Washington men’s rowing team took home the gold medal at the Summer Olympics that year in Berlin. The team was thought to be an underdog against the powerful Italian and German teams – they proved otherwise. (Image credit: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, UW2234)
|
