Hanford cleanup gets record $3.2 billion budget

On Thursday, Congress approved a record budget for cleanup for the Hanford Site in Washington state, one of the world's most contaminated and complex nuclear cleanup projects.

"The federal government has a big job to do cleaning up Hanford," Governor Bob Ferguson said. "This budget is a positive step forward in ensuring they live up to their responsibilities. We have made important progress this year - let's keep up the momentum."

Once signed by the president, the Hanford Site will receive more than $3.2 billion for fiscal year 2026 - an increase of more than $200 million from the last two years.

"This historic funding wouldn't be possible without the steadfast leadership and support of Sen. Patty Murray and our entire Congressional delegation," said Casey Sixkiller, Ecology's director. "With this funding, Hanford's most crucial projects can advance, ensuring we can continue to protect surrounding communities and the Columbia River."

The Hanford Site produced more than 67 tons of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War - and left behind extensive contamination and millions of tons of radioactive and hazardous waste. The site's mission shifted in 1989 to clean up and ensuring protection of the environment, Columbia River, and surrounding communities.

Fully cleaning up all of the contamination at Hanford is expected to take decades. That's why Ecology's analysis shows the federal government can ultimately save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars by providing the U.S. Department of Energy with a compliant budget - the amount needed to meet cleanup milestones under the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement for Hanford. Delays from funding shortfalls will drag out that timeline and ultimately increase costs.

Ecology estimates a compliant budget of $6.15 billion was needed for Fiscal Year 2026, and $6.76 billion is needed for 2027. While the more than $3.2 billion approved this year falls short of full funding levels, it represents significant progress in getting Hanford closer to compliant funding.

Although many years' worth of work is still ahead, there is steady progress on the cleanup, including several major milestones reached in 2025 and early 2026. Those include finalizing a landmark agreement for cleaning up 56 million gallons of radioactive tank waste; transforming nuclear waste into a stable glass form for the first time; and beginning to transfer highly radioactive capsules to safe, long-term dry storage.

"Over the last year, we've made huge progress at Hanford," Sixkiller said. "Many of these accomplishments have been in the works for decades. We need to keep funding at a level where we can accelerate the pace of cleanup and reduce the risk of a catastrophic infrastructure collapse or contamination release. Now is the time for the federal government to double-down and not back away from its legal and moral obligations to the people of Washington state."

Ecology partners with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as regulators, overseeing the U.S. Department of Energy's cleanup of Hanford under the legally-binding Tri-Party Agreement, a judicial consent decree, and various permits.