HANFORD SITE

Dashboard

  • Hanford is home to the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor, the B Reactor, which produced plutonium for the world’s first nuclear explosion (the Trinity test) and for the nuclear bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.  Hanford’s plutonium production mission continued until the late 1980s, ultimately producing 65% of the nation’s stockpile.

    Over the course of Hanford operations, 20 million pieces of uranium metal fuel were used in Hanford’s nine nuclear reactors, 110,000 tons of fuel was processed at five large plants, 450 billion gallons of liquids were disposed into the soil, and 53 million gallons of radioactive waste were stored in 177 large underground tanks.

    Hanford cleanup began in 1989, when a landmark agreement was reached between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Washington state. Known as the Tri-Party Agreement, the accord established hundreds of milestones for bringing the Hanford site into compliance with federal and state environmental regulations. After nearly three decades of cleanup, considerable progress has been made at Hanford, reducing the risk the site poses to the health and safety of workers, the public, and the environment.

    • Safe, effective and efficient cleanup of the Hanford Site

    • Policies and funding needed to support Hanford cleanup, including efforts to safely reduce long-term costs (such as grouting some low-activity tank waste)

    • Removal to the extent practicable, of waste from underground tanks and close tank farms

    • Sustained progress in design, engineering and construction of all WTP facilities

    • Relocation of Cesium and Strontium Capsules to Dry Storage

    • Continued progress in cleaning up groundwater contamination

    • Continued progress in remediation of contaminated soil beneath the 324 building

    • Advocate for improving site infrastructure in support of long-term site operations

    • Support for efforts to grow and diversify the local economy

    • Advocate for fair and equitable Payment in Lieu of Taxes to schools and government entities

    • Continued growth of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park at Hanford

  • City of Richland

    City of Kennewick

    City of Pasco

    City of West Richland

    Benton County

    Franklin County

    Port of Benton

  • Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

    Nez Perce Tribe

    Wanapum

    Yakama Nation

  • Hanford Communities

    • Mission: The Hanford Communities organization coordinates local government involvement in DOE decision making on issues affecting our jurisdictions. The organization works to increase public awareness and involvement in Hanford cleanup issues. Board members interact with DOE, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the EPA and others regarding Hanford environmental contamination, remediation, waste management, emergency response, and work force and site transition issues.

    • Contact: David Reeploeg, Executive Director.

    Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC)

    • Mission: TRIDEC’s mission is to improve the economic health of the Tri-Cities area. To achieve this mission, TRIDEC promotes economic diversification, facilitates job creation and retention, pursues new federal missions to support stability in federal operations, and leads the Tri-Cities community on issues of economic importance. TRIDEC has been actively involved in advocating for the policies and funding needed to support Hanford’s missions for over 60 years.

    • Contact: David Reeploeg, Vice President for Federal Programs

  • Navarro-ATL (HLMI) - Navarro-ATL manages the 222-S Laboratory.  The laboratory analyzes Hanford’s tank waste to support safe storage of tank waste, processes, characterization, industrial hygiene monitoring, and the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Facility as plant transitions to operations.

    Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) - Bechtel is managing the design, engineering, and construction of Hanford’s Waste Treatment & Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vitrification (or Vit) Plant.

    Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, LLC (H2C) – H2C is responsible for managing Hanford’s tank waste, including retrieval and closure of the legacy waste tanks. H2C will also manage the vitrification of Hanford’s low-activity tank waste following hot commissioning of the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Facility.

    Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) - HMIS is responsible for providing Hanford Site services, including adequate and reliable water, power, road maintenance, information technology, safeguards and security, sitewide safety standards, training and countless more integrated services and deliverables across the Hanford Site.

    Inomedic Health Applications –IHA is the occupational medical services provider for thousands of federal and contractor employees at the Hanford Site.

    Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) - Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) is the prime contractor for the safe, environmental cleanup of the Central Plateau and River Corridor at the Hanford Site.

  • Federal Government

    State Government

    Local Government

  • David Reeploeg, Executive Director, Hanford Communities

    • Phone: (509) 205-1760, or (509) 735-1000

Site Budget

FY 2024 Enacted FY 2025 Request FY 2025 House Bill
2,932,000 2,984,679 2,984,679

(Defense Environmental Cleanup for Richland and Office of River Protection. Amounts in thousands of dollars. Click here for the latest site budget.)

Brian Vance

Manager, Hanford Field Office

Cleanup Issues

    • Special Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel

    • Transuranic and Solid Waste Disposition

    • Facility Deactivation and Decommissioning

    • Soil and Groundwater Remediation

    • Tank Waste

  • In March 2022, the Office of Environmental Management released a Strategic Vision for 2022-2032.

    Planned Cleanup Scope 2022–2032

    The coming decade will see the successful launch of one of EM’s largest and most significant cleanup activities — the start of tank waste treatment at Hanford through the DFLAW program. This is a goal EM has been pursuing for more than two decades at Hanford and will address one of the largest environmental challenges in the EM complex.

    The full Hanford Strategic Vision is available here.

Nuclear Energy Projects

  • In October of 2024, Energy Northwest and Amazon announced their plans to develop an advanced reactor using X energy technology.

    In April of 2021, Energy Northwest, Grant County Public Utility District and X-energy, LLC signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a mutual partnership to support the development and commercial demonstration of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor.

  • In May of 2024, Framatome and TerraPower announced a new partnership to develop advanced nuclear fuel at its manufacturing facility in Richland, WA.

  • Since 1984, Energy Northwest has operated the Pacific Northwest’s only commercial nuclear reactor, the 1,207 MW Columbia Generating Station.

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

  • Nuclear reactors at Hanford (now the Hanford Site) produced plutonium for the Manhattan Project to fuel the first atomic test and the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. The story of the Manhattan Project at Hanford encompasses historic facilities and educational centers with the National Park Service, the US Department of Energy and the communities where Hanford workers and their families lived, which are all part of the Tri-Cities region today.

 

Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Ecology

Updated January 2024.
Information, photos, and videos in this profile are sourced from online resources provided by the DOE, Hanford Communities, and Washington State Department of Ecoclogy.