Staff Reports
WC Monitor
1/8/2016
The Hanford Site fiscal 2016 appropriation signed into law is $78.7 million more than requested by the Obama administration and is higher than the fiscal 2015 budget. It totals $2.3 billion. “The federal government has a legal and moral obligation to clean up Hanford, which is why I fight year in and year out to make sure that commitment is maintained and Hanford gets the resources it needs to get the job done,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in a statement. “It wasn’t easy this year, between President Obama underfunding Hanford in his budget and additional cuts proposed in the House.” The staff of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) released a statement emphasizing the need for steady funding at Hanford. “For every dollar not spent on cleanup, additional funds must be allocated to the upkeep of facilities. By acquiring appropriate funding for this year, we ensure cost savings and a more expeditious return of Hanford to a usable state,” according to the statement.
The appropriations bill includes $1.5 billion for work under the Hanford Office of River Protection. The amount, which is $200 million more than the last budget, was proposed by the administration. However, it is $146 million more than was proposed in the House version of the budget before it was reconciled with the Senate proposal in the omnibus spending bill approved near the end of 2015. Spending at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant would stay at $690 million, which is the amount set for long-term steady annual funding for the project. An additional $74 million would be used to prepare for pretreatment of certain waste outside the vitrification plant campus. A proposed new facility would allow some low-level radioactive waste to be treated while operation of the High-Level Waste Facility and the Pretreatment Facility at the vit plant are delayed by technical issues. The waste storage tank farm budget was set at $649 million. “It is essential to get on with pumping leaking tanks and getting the Waste Treatment Plant operational as soon as possible,” said Bob Thompson, chairman of the Hanford Communities, in a statement.
The appropriations bill includes $922.6 million for the Hanford Richland Operations Office, which represents all of the increase for Hanford above the administration’s request. Most of the increase, about $74 million, would go to some of the remaining river corridor cleanup, including for work on the highly radioactive spill beneath the 324 Building and the 618-10 Burial Ground. Language accompanying the bill gives DOE 90 days to provide Congress with a five-year plan for cleanup along the river, including an explanation of any deviation from previously made agreements. Congressional leaders have repeatedly asked DOE officials during hearings about plans for the 618-10 Burial Ground and the 324 Building spill. At the 618-10 Burial Ground work has started to dig up 94 pipes buried vertically in the ground. They are filled with research and uranium fuel fabrication waste from the Hanford 300 Area. Overcasings have been driven into the ground around most of the pipes. An auger is being used to chew through the waste and mix it with the nearby soil. Plans for the 324 Building spill call for installing remotely operated equipment inside the hot cell where the spill occurred to chisel through the floor and then dig up the contaminated soil from within the building. The soil will be transferred to another hot cell in the building to be prepared for disposal.
The budget increase also includes about $5 million to restore support for community and regulatory activities to its usual level of about $20 million. The money is used for payments in lieu of taxes to local governments, the Hanford Advisory Board, emergency preparedness, and regulator costs borne by the federal government.