Officials Say There's No Need To Worry About Nuclear Waste Leak

Nuclear waste is leaking into the ground at a decommissioned nuclear weapons site in Washington state, but officials say there's no need to worry. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation has become the final resting place for about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste, and has long-been considered the most contaminated nuclear site in our nation. New reports indicate that many of the double-walled underground storage containers holding the toxic sludge have been leaking for some time. State and federal officials say that only 6 of 177 tanks are leaking, and they pose no threat to public safety. However, Tom Carpenter, executive director of the environmental group Hanford Challenge, said, "A third of these tanks have failed already. One third! They've leaked a million gallons, there's more to come." Many of the tanks were designed for a maximum use of 20 years, however some have been in place since the 1940s. According to CBS News contributor Michio Kaku, who is also a physics professor at the City University of New York, the Hanford site is a "ticking time bomb." He said, "When it hits the ground table, it will go right into the Columbia River, and remember that's one of the major rivers in the entire Pacific Northwest."