The waste in the tunnel system is not what most would know as waste, it is actually the equipment used in shuttling the nuclear material within the tunnel system, the rail cars and such.
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Actually, those rail cars were filled with radioactive material:
“ Eight flatbed railroad cars loaded with radioactive material were parked inside when the entrance was sealed in 1965.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/12/sinkhole-collapsed-hanford-nuke-site/319098001/
The Energy Department said it activated its emergency operations protocol after reports of a cave-in at the 200 East Area in Hanford, a sprawling complex about 200 miles from Seattle where the government has been working to clean up radioactive materials left over from the countrys nuclear weapons program.
The agency said in a statement that the 20-foot section is part of a tunnel that is hundreds of feet long and is used to store contaminated materials.
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Adjacent to the Hanford Project is the running nuclear power plant. I’m not positive, but the spent fuel for that looks to be stored right on-site near the power plant and offices. There is a fenced-off area with radiation warning signs, and tall cylinders sitting vertical in racks.
I was in one building that is a lab of some type with numerous “hot” working areas with the mechanical arms and stuff inside the shielded work areas (3-foot cube) with the big glass(?) fronts. One of the working areas looked like it was still in use. The dozens of others were filled with contaminated stuff of all types and of all ages. Was like some weird museum - but really just a safe place to store contaminated stuff.