Hanford, Wash. (CNN Newsource) – Officials are providing an update on the partially collapsed tunnel at a nuclear waste site in Washington State.
Video from Tuesday night shows crews working to lay down a gravel road leading to the collapsed section of the tunnel.
A spokesman for the Hanford Site says the road provides a secure and clear path for workers to fill the tunnel opening.
The spokesman warns the process will be done slowly, safely and methodically.
Workers noticed the 20-foot hole in the tunnel’s roof Tuesday.
The tunnel holds rail cars loaded with equipment contaminated by nuclear material.
So far, there has been no evidence of any airborne contamination caused by the collapse.
The tunnel – which is made of wood and concrete and covered in eight feet of soil – was constructed during the cold war to hold rail cars loaded with equipment that had been contaminated in the process of plutonium production.
It has been sealed since the mid-1990s, according to the department of energy.
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