RICHLAND — A long-delayed facility to deal with dangerous radioactive waste on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has drawn the interest of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team.
Questions about the Hanford vitrification plant were included in a questionnaire circulated among employees of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Tri-City Herald said the questionnaire asked some unusual questions, including names of Energy Department and contractor employees who had attended international meetings on climate change during the past five years. Trump has called climate change a hoax.
One question asked the respondent to provide alternatives to building the $12 billion Hanford vitrification plant. The plant is designed treat up to 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous chemical waste held in underground tanks.
The wastes are left-over from the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
