Issue Position: Hanford Nuclear Cleanup

Issue Position

Located on 586 square miles in Southeast Washington, the Hanford Hanford Nuclear Site was the site of the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. Hanford workers made the plutonium used in the nation's first nuclear weapons, and they continued to make nuclear materials until the end of the Cold War. Twenty years after we stopped manufacturing plutonium there, work at the site has turned to cleaning up the nuclear material and contaminated waste that was left behind. Hanford remains the most contaminated nuclear site in our country.

Hanford workers and the people of the Tri-Cities sacrificed to help America win World War II and the Cold War, and I have worked hard in the U.S. Senate to ensure that the federal government is meeting its moral and legal obligation to clean up Hanford as well as similar sites throughout the country. As a senior member of the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, I have led efforts to increase resources for Hanford cleanup and to ensure that it is being done safely. And I will continue to use my position on those committees to fight to ensure work stays on track.
My Priorities

* Supporting worker security and safety.
* Increasing funding to sustain Hanford cleanup.
* Ensuring cleanup is efficient and timely.
* Protecting residents and the adjacent natural resources -- including the Columbia River -- from contamination and environmental degradation.
* Encouraging continued cooperation between the state of Washington, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

My Accomplishments

* Increased total Department of Energy Environmental Management Program funding to allow cleanup to continue at Hanford and at nuclear weapons sites across the country.
* Supported efforts to designate the B Reactor as a National Historic Landmark so we can remember the role Hanford and the Tri-Cities played in American history.
* Encouraged the federal government to adequately compensate Hanford workers and their families for on-the-job illnesses.

Source