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.

Even as potential budget cuts and other shifts at the federal level introduce complications in the Hanford site’s cleanup mission, progress on initiatives is continuing, according to one Hanford site official.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sept. 9 pushed back against media reports that he is seeking a “different direction” to the environmental cleanup effort at the Hanford site, including halting work on a treatment facility on the cusp of becoming operational. 

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse appeared to walk a fine line when he addressed a packed ballroom Aug. 27 at the Pasco Red Lion while protestors lined the street outside. 

A former professional engineer with 40 years of experience working on nuclear cleanup projects and a patent in high-temperature waste treatment is the next leader of one of the country’s most contaminated nuclear sites. 

Workers at the Hanford site used new imaging technology to inspect the Hanford Site’s decommissioned nuclear reactors, revealing a detailed look inside the sealed enclosures that will help monitor them more safely and affordably.