The Hanford nuclear reservation in Southeastern Washington was the epicenter of plutonium enrichment during WW II and through the Cold War. For more than 20 years, an effort to safely dispose and store 56 million gallons of radioactive waste stored at the site has been in the works. The vitrification plant would turn some of that waste into glass logs. The opening of that waste processing facility -— which has now cost $30 billion — was thrown into doubt earlier this month, but the Department of Energy is now allowing the project to move forward and the first glass logs are expected to roll out as soon as next week, ahead of the October 15 deadline. We get the latest from Anna King, correspondent for Northwest Public Broadcasting and the Northwest News Network, who’s been covering Hanford for the last 20 years.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/26/after-30-billion-and-23-years-hanford-glassification-of-radioactive-waste-set-to-begin/