Crews with Hanford contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company break up concrete and remove contaminated soil near the former K Area reactors on the Hanford Site earlier this year. (Photo: DOE)
The Department of Energy is seeking the public’s input on the Hanford Site’s 5-year plan, which outlines planned cleanup work either to be completed or initiated at the former plutonium production site near Richland, Wash. The DOE updates Hanford’s 5-year plan annually to reflect current progress and ongoing integrated planning for future work at the site.
Feedback on the plan will be accepted until November 10. The DOE will hold a hybrid public meeting on October 24 in Richland. Information on submitting feedback and on attending the meeting in person or virtually can be found here.
The goal: In engaging the public on the 5-year plan, the DOE said it hopes to increase awareness of Hanford cleanup priorities and gather input that may influence the budget formulation process for fiscal years 2026–2030. The budget for FY2024 is already in the appropriations process, and the budget for FY2025 has been submitted and is in the formulation process.
The agency wants to better understand the public’s priority of projects, it said, as it develops future budget submissions. Some of the work the DOE intends to complete at Hanford over the next five years includes initiating the treatment of radioactive tank waste through Hanford’s Direct Feed, Low-Activity Waste initiative, completing the transfer of cesium and strontium capsules to dry storage, demolishing Hanford’s K West Basin, and beginning operations at the site’s Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility.
