Hanford contractor finishes final job ahead of schedule

RICHLAND, Wash. – The company working to clean up radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has exceeded expectations before its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy ends.

The Tri-City Herald reported that Washington Closure removed the waste-filled buried pipes well ahead of schedule. The landfill, which is considered one of Hanford’s most hazardous areas, had been scheduled as one of the last environmental cleanup tasks along the Columbia River.

Washington Closure was able to remove the 80 vertically buried pipes from a waste burial ground. The goal had been to finish removing just 28 by the contract’s end.

Once Washington Closure leaves Hanford, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. will finish up the work at a different waste burial ground.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons.