The remaining cleanup costs at the Hanford Site plus some limited long-term stewardship come to $107.7 billion, according to the 2016 Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule, and Cost Report released this week. The estimate a year ago was $110.2 billion. The report has been a requirement of the Tri-Party Agreement for the last six years to provide a foundation for preparing federal budget requests for the cleanup and for informational briefings to tribal governments and Hanford stakeholders. It also serves as a basis for discussions with the state of Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The latest report shows remaining costs for the Richland Operations Office at $52.7 billion, down from $53.6 billion a year ago, and Office of River Protection expenses at $55 billion, down from $56.6 billion at this time in 2015. However, until a new expense and timeline baseline is created for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, the report reflects the previous baseline for a facility that was expected to be at full operation in 2022. The report also is based on budgets that are compliant with legal and regulatory requirements, which projects budgets for five years between now and 2038 at $3 billion or more. The administration’s budget request for fiscal 2017 is close to $2.3 billion, according to the Department of Energy. Under a compliant funding scenario, cleanup would be largely completed in 2060. The $107.7 billion total includes $4.8 billion for long-term stewardship through 2090.
