The Nation - News from Jan. 11, 1987

The Energy Department’s $50-million safety overhaul of its largest weapons-production reactor will still leave the plant vulnerable to a potentially catastrophic hydrogen explosion, according to several experts appointed to recommend improvements at the 23-year-old reactor. After receiving the experts’ reports, the department said it would close the N reactor at the Hanford nuclear reservation near Richland, Wash., for six months of repair work to “ensure its continued safe operation.” But the department has apparently rejected appeals from its six consultants to install systems similar to those in commercial reactors to prevent hydrogen gases from building up to explosive levels.