Today, the Trump Administration unilaterally changed the definition of high-level waste stored at Hanford and other nuclear waste sites across the country, opening the door for the federal government to walk away from its obligation to clean up millions of gallons of toxic, radioactive waste at H

"Today’s alarming incident at Hanford elevates the urgency of the federal government to prioritize and fund all critical cleanup at this aging nuclear reservation. We are not aware of any nuclear waste leaking outside the AZ-101 double-shelled tank, but we expect the U.S.

Negotiators from Washington state and the federal government have agreed to extend the 40-day dispute resolution period triggered under a 2010 court order to clean up high-level radioactive and chemically hazardous waste at Hanford. 

Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the state will not extend today’s deadline for resolving the dispute with the U.S Department of Energy over cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation.

“Safe and successful cleanup of the nuclear waste stored at Hanford is of utmost priority for the people of Washington state and the Pacific Northwest. The federal government has a moral and legal obligation to oversee the successful cleanup of the waste that remains.

State triggers dispute resolution 

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Washington Gov. Jay Inslee today that the U.S. Department of Energy has determined there are six, single-shell tanks leaking radioactive waste at Hanford. Last week, the governor was told about one of those tanks.

“Last night I received a call from United States Energy Secretary Moniz informing me that the US Department of Energy discovered what appears to be an elevated contamination level reading in the leak detection pit outside and adjacent to  the Hanford double-shell tank AY-102.