A recent federal report found the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) office can’t easily identify how much it will cost or how long it will take to clean up contaminated soil and landfills at 12 of the 15 sites it manages, even though data that could support those efforts is available.
The Hanford site’s contractors and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s operator received much of their performance incentive payouts after facing uncertainty from a mercurial federal administration throughout 2025.
A three-bill package that would provide funding above 2025 fiscal year levels to the Hanford site and the nation’s national labs, including Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, has passed its first hurdle after receiving bipartisan support from U.S representatives.
The latest expansion of Hanford’s engineered landfill and work on the high-level waste portion of the Waste Treatment Plant are among some of the latest projects to move forward at the Hanford site.
Even as Hanford site workers began transforming a small fraction of the millions of gallons of tank waste into a stable glass form this fall, they’ve also begun efforts to extend the life of tanks to support that long-term effort.
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 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.
