Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will use his leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to make issues at Hanford a higher priority in the Senate, he said Tuesday. “There is not going to be a shortage of hearings as long as I am the chairman,” he said. He’ll be questioning the nominee for Secretary of Energy, who has yet to be named, about Hanford when the nominee comes before his committee, he said. He plans to secure a commitment to treat and dispose of all 56 million gallons of tank waste at Hanford, Wyden said. That includes resolving technical challenges in a cost effective way at the Waste Treatment Plant, he said.
The visit to Hanford, Wyden’s first since 2001, was planned before Friday’s announcement that a likely leak from single shell Tank T-111 had been discovered. The leak from Tank T-111, which has held waste since World War II, is now one of his top three concerns, he said. It signifies the growing risk to the environment from Hanford’s aging single-shell tanks, he said. He’s also concerned about technical issues at the vit plant and the deterioration of Hanford’s double-shell Tank AY-102, which has a leak from its inner shell. However, he said it was too soon to say if building more tanks is the best and most cost efficient solution.
Wyden also toured B Reactor and pledged to support the creation of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. “There is an old saying that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” Wyden said after touring B Reactor Tuesday. While there are concerns among some in Congress about creating a new national park while the nation struggles to keep up those it already has, Wyden said there may be new ways to attract money for national parks. He stopped short of endorsing legislation as introduced last year in Congress, saying he would have his staff conduct due diligence.
