RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy and its regulators have proposed extending the deadline to ship waste contaminated with plutonium off the decommissioned Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state. The Tri-City Herald reported that the proposal moves the deadline back from 2030 to 2050 to ship the waste to a national repository in New Mexico for permanent disposal. The Energy Department, Washington state’s Department of Ecology and the federal Environmental Protection Agency set waste cleanup plans and deadlines for the nuclear site. Department of Ecology manager John Price said the previous milestones were unattainable. The Hanford reservation produced plutonium for Cold War and World War II nuclear weapons.
Washington state nuclear site to delay moving waste off-site
