Uncertainty over Department of Energy funding and guidance at the Hanford Site in Washington state threatens to bog down work at the nation’s largest nuclear cleanup site, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash) told Secretary of Energy Chirs Wright Wednesday.
“The Hanford Site is on the brink of having to lay off subcontractors and restart an entire procurement process on an important project because they are directed now to hold off on implementing projects at fy 25 [fiscal year 2025] pend levels,” Murray said. “This is not efficient.”
Murray is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Energy and Water Development subcommittee. Murray’s remarks came in the waning minutes of the panel’s hearing on President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request.
The senator from Washington did not specify what subcontractor project was involved. Earlier in the hearing, Murray said flat funding the cleanup of the former plutonium production complex could drag out the decades-long remediation at Hanford.
NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)
DOE spent fuel lead Brinton accused of second luggage theft.
by @BenjaminSWeiss, confirming today's reports with warrant from Las Vegas Metro PD.
Waste has been Emplaced! 🚮
We have finally begun emplacing defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste in Panel 8 of #WIPP.
Read more about the waste emplacement here: https://wipp.energy.gov/wipp_news_20221123-2.asp
Editorial: Sam Brinton’s credibility is now an issue 🔓