Seattle, May 11 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Washington, the Department of Energy has declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site, after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed, forcing hundreds of workers to take cover to avoid potential exposure. 

Hanford is the U.S.’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site.  The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. 

The U.S. Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from the tunnel collapse.  But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said: "Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release."