WASHINGTON- President Joe Biden has proposed a budget of $3 billion for the Hanford site cleanup. This budget is the largest the site has received to address the 56 million gallons of radioactive waste in underground tanks,.
“I have been loud and clear on this—the federal government has a legal and moral obligation to clean up the Hanford site and protect Hanford workers,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).
The budget will send funds to four different agencies to fund cleanup and environmental restoration.
$1.974 billion for the Office of River Protection$100 million for Safeguards and Security$921 million for Richland$3.2 million for the Fast Flux Test Facility
“I’m glad the President heard me loud and clear—you can’t shortchange the Hanford cleanup or the workers who power that mission,” said Senator Murray. “This budget proposal is historic progress and will help tremendously as I work to build off the record funding I helped to secure in last year’s spending package. You can bet I will keep up the fight as Appropriations Chair to do everything I can to make sure the federal government lives up to its moral and legal obligation to the Tri-Cities communities and to cleanup Hanford.”
The Office of River Protection will take charge of operations around the waste at the Hanford site, including responsibility of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant in construction to modify the waste into a glass form that can be stored safely.