The Department of Energy plans in fiscal 2020 to cut funding for cleanup at the Hanford Site in Washington sate in part because of progress made and projects completed, according to detailed budget documents released Monday.
In total, funding for the two DOE offices at Hanford would drop by more than $400 million from current levels, if Congress approves the Trump administration plan.
The budget for the Richland Operations Office, which oversees most environmental remediation programs and general operations at the former plutonium production site, would be cut from about $954 million to $718 million.
Budget documents said a $46 million decrease is associated with the expected completion of the demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant this year. The PUREX radioactive waste storage tunnels will be stabilized, eliminating the need for $39 million included in the fiscal 2019 budget for that work. Completing the transfer this fiscal year of radioactive sludge from the K West Basin to dry storage in central Hanford would eliminate the need for about $14 million.
The overall budget for Hanford’s Office of River Protection would drop from about $1.6 billion to about $1.4 billion. The office is responsible for management and treatment of 56 million gallons of radioactive tank waste.
Budget details released for the Office of River Protection show the construction budget for the Waste Treatment Plant is proposed to return to $690 million in fiscal 2020, the traditional level of annual funding for the plant. It was bumped to $833 million in fiscal 2018 and $786 million in the current fiscal year.
The focus for the Office of River Protection would be on preparing to treat low-activity waste at the plant by a 2023 milestone set in federal court.
The tank farm budget, along with related work, would drop from about $828 million in this fiscal year to $677 million under the administration’s request.
Fiscal 2020 begins on Oct. 1.
