RICHLAND — The 2014 budget proposed by President Barack Obama would spend more money to empty underground waste tanks at the Hanford nuclear reservation.
The budget calls for $521 million to empty tanks, up from $442 million in 2012. The additional money for that project comes after word earlier this year that six tanks there are leaking.
Another $690 million would pay to continue construction on a plant to treat that waste. The plant is behind schedule and over budget amid technical problems that need to be resolved. About $922 million would go to the Energy Department’s Richland Operations office to tear down buildings, treat contaminated groundwater and dig up buried waste.
Overall, Hanford’s $2.2 billion budget is more than one-third of the $5.3 billion total budget for nuclear waste cleanup nationally.
