DOE Runs behind on Cleanup of Hanford Waste

The Department of Energy is six months behind schedule and $125 million over budget for removing 6.5 million gal of radioactive waste from 16 storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, DOE Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman said in an Oct. 20 report. Under the terms of an agreement between DOE, EPA, and Washington state, the department had been scheduled to remove the high-level waste from the tanks by the end of September 2006. But the report says DOE is not likely to complete the retrieval project until March 2007, six months beyond the deadline. In addition, the report says the cost of the cleanup has more than doubled from the original prediction of $90 million to more than $215 million. DOE was “overly optimistic about its ability” to remove the waste when it established the work schedule and cost estimate, according to the inspector general. “The department had not based its retrieval plan schedule and cost estimates on prior experience and current characterization data or taken timely action to ensure that resources are available to meet the established schedule,” the report says. DOE says it plans to issue a revised cleanup plan.