(The Center Square) – The Hanford nuclear reservation site in Richland, Washington would receive just over $3 billion – a record – in fiscal year 2024, up $195 million from current funding, under the U.S. Senate Energy and Water Appropriations bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“Crucially, this bill provides record funding for the Hanford site – more than ever before – in a very challenging year,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said in a news release. “As I have made abundantly clear, as long as I am the Senate Appropriations Chair, Congress is not going to shortchange the Hanford cleanup, the workers who power that mission, or the communities living nearby. This bill also makes crucial investments in our national labs, including [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory], keeping our nation on the cutting edge of research and development and bringing good-paying jobs to the Tri-Cities.”
The bill has gone to the full Senate for consideration.
The U.S. House of Representatives is proposing a Hanford cleanup budget of $2.8 billion, which is below the Biden administration’s request of almost $2.9 billion.
Located in Eastern Washington, Hanford produced plutonium for the military from 1943 until its last reactor shut down in 1987, according to its website. Government regulators suspect waste has been leaking into the soil, prompting environmental cleanup efforts at the site.
The legislation also includes more than $1 billion for the Richland Operations Office – a $35.5 million increase over last year’s funding – and $1.89 billion for the Office of River Protection, a $160 million increase.
The Richland Operations Office is responsible for running the site and any other environmental cleanup, including contaminated and unused buildings and reactors, contaminated groundwater and soil, and waste disposal sites that don’t meet modern standards.
The increased funding for Richland includes $10.7 million in Payment In Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, funding for the Tri-Cities communities near the site. PILT is meant to make up for the property taxes not paid for local government services because the Hanford site is federally owned.
