DC's oversight of Hanford construction increases

Federal officials in Washington, D.C., are assuming a larger role overseeing construction of a massive plant to treat radioactive waste in south-central Washington.

The $12 billion vitrification plant at the Hanford nuclear reservation is among the largest industrial construction projects nationally, both in cost and sheer size. The plant is being built to convert highly radioactive waste into a safe form for permanent disposal.

The Energy Department has largely overseen plant construction from its Office of River Protection at Hanford. According to an internal Energy Department memo, dated March 31 and obtained by The Associated Press, a full-time staffer in Washington D.C. will oversee the project, thus ensuring someone in the nation's capitol is intricately involved with the high-profile project.

The move allows the project director at Hanford greater access to resources in the nation's capital, Energy Department spokeswoman Carrie Meyer said.

"The Department of Energy remains committed to ensuring that the Hanford waste treatment plant project is completed safely on time and on budget," she said.

The decision follows an independent review of the project that found the Energy Department needed a full-time manager overseeing it from the agency's headquarters.

"A project of this magnitude cannot be handled as just another project at a DOE site," the report said.

The federal government created Hanford in the 1940s as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. Today, it is the nation's most contaminated nuclear site.

The government spends $2 billion each year on Hanford cleanup - one-third of its entire budget for nuclear cleanup nationally. About one-third of Hanford's cleanup money goes for design and construction of the plant, long considered the cornerstone of cleanup.

The plant will convert millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste, currently stored in aging underground tanks, into glasslike logs for safe disposal underground. State and federal officials consider the work crucial because at least 1 million gallons of waste have leaked from the tanks, contaminating the groundwater and threatening the nearby Columbia River.

Technical problems have delayed construction progress, pushing the plant's operating date to 2019. The cost has ballooned from $4.3 billion in 2000 to $12.2 billion.

The 65-acre complex, which is half complete, includes three major nuclear facilities, a laboratory, and 21 smaller support buildings.