The public is invited to the B Reactor Museum Association’s 2025 year in review meeting on Dec. 8. Elections for board and committee positions also will take place at the meeting. 

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history continues to roil the nation but work at the Hanford site is continuing for now.

The six primary companies cleaning up the Hanford site came together to donate to the Tri-Cities Food Bank at a time when food assistance nonprofits are struggling to meet demands. 

A facility under construction for decades and costing tens of billions of dollars is at last transforming toxic waste stored in underground tanks at the Hanford site into a glass form for storage. 

Two batches of hazardous waste have been sent to the vitrification plant at Hanford but the process of turning the toxic material into glass form has not yet begun – though it is imminent.

The Hanford site contractor that will operate the facility set to treat tens of millions of toxic waste stored in underground tanks has plans to lay off 733 workers on Oct. 16 if Congress has not reached a deal to fund the federal government. 

One day into a federal government shutdown, state officials announced all necessary permits and approvals from state agencies to operate the Hanford site’s vit plant are complete. They are now waiting on federal officials to start processing waste. 

The U.S. Department of Energy has signed off on allowing radioactive tank waste to be introduced into the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) facility at the Hanford site, according to Sen. Patty Murray.

Gov. Bob Ferguson didn’t mince words during a Sept. 12 press conference in Kennewick: if the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford site does not begin treating waste by Oct. 15, the state will pursue legal action to bring the facility online and the state will win. 

The Trump administration’s top official at the U.S. Department of Energy has reportedly told a Washington senator that he is stalling operations at a critical Hanford site facility that is weeks away from beginning operations – though his office says otherwise.