Radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is a toxic reminder of the nation's Cold War nuclear weapons program. Hanford, on the Columbia River near the cities of Richland, Pasco and Kennewick in Washington state, is the most contaminated site in North America, holding more than 60 percent of the nation's highly radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes. Stored in aging underground tanks, many of which are leaking, the radioactive waste poses a serious threat to the land, the nearby Columbia River, human health and the region's economy.

In 1989, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed a legally-binding agreement to build a Waste Treatment Plant to convert the tank waste into leak-proof glass logs for safe, permanent storage.

As of January 2006, the design and construction of the treatment plant was more than 50 percent complete, and radioactive waste in three leak-prone tanks had been successfully moved to safer double-shell tanks, awaiting the completion of the treatment plant.

For the most current information on Hanford, please see the Ecology Nuclear Waste Program

Media Contacts

David Workman
Washington State Dept. of Ecology
360-407-7004
dwor461@ecy.wa.gov

Sharon Braswell
Washington State Dept. of Ecology
Community Outreach Environmental Education Specialist
509-372-7895
shab461@ecy.wa.gov