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Richland Operations Office
About Us
The 586-square-mile Hanford Site is located along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State. A plutonium production complex with nine nuclear reactors and associated processing facilities, Hanford played a pivotal role in the nation's defense for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1940s with the Manhattan Project. Today, under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy, Hanford is engaged in the world's largest environmental cleanup project, with a number of overlapping technical, political, regulatory, financial and cultural issues.
Physical challenges at the Hanford Site include more than 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemically hazardous waste in 177 underground storage tanks, 2,300 tons (2,100 metric tons) of spent nuclear fuel, 9 tons (8 metric tons) of plutonium in various forms, about 25 million cubic feet (750,000 cubic meters) of buried or stored solid waste, and groundwater contaminated above drinking water standards, spread out over about 80 square miles (208 square kilometers), more than 1,700 waste sites, and about 500 contaminated facilities.
In May 1989, DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington State Department of Ecology signed the landmark Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, commonly known as the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA). The TPA outlines legally enforceable milestones for Hanford cleanup over the next several decades.
DOE has two federal offices at Hanford -- the Richland Operations Office (RL) and the Office of River Protection (ORP) -- each of which oversees separate contracts held by private companies. With a workforce of approximately 11,000 and an annual budget of about $1.8 billion dollars in fiscal year 2005, Hanford cleanup operations are expected to be complete by 2035.
Outside of the cleanup mission, DOE leases some Hanford land to the State of Washington, which in turn leases it out for two independent operations -- US Ecology operates burial grounds for commercial low-level waste, and Energy Northwest (a consortium of public utility companies) oversees the Northwest's only operating commercial nuclear power reactor, the Columbia Generating Station. Neither of these operations is associated with the federal cleanup work at Hanford.
Hanford has long been a subject of great interest to the surrounding communities and region, area Tribal nations, elected officials, and other DOE cleanup sites across the country -- and media interest in our activities remains high. A new Hanford website feature, "Resources for Reporters" - aims to provide reporters with information that could be useful in covering the activities and issues at the Hanford Site, including backgrounders, photos, video clips, news tips, contacts, and up-to-date progress information.
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