The budget for Hanford’s vitrification plant could jump back to $690 million this year under a resolution passed by the House of Representatives.

That would be enough to gear up to resume construction on the two largest buildings at the vitrification plant by October if technical issues are resolved.

Work on most other programs across the Hanford nuclear reservation would continue at the current pace, if the 2007 Hanford budget plays out as anticipated at $1.88 billion, up from $1.75 billion in fiscal year 2006.

The current budget year began Oct. 1, but Congress hasn’t approved a spending package. After the new congressional session started in January, congressional leaders announced they would pass a continuing resolution to cover the Department of Energy appropriations through Sept. 30 rather than take up unpassed budget bills.

The House passed the continuing resolution this week, and some details emerged Friday during a meeting in Richland. The resolution gives the Department of Energy broad authority to spend $5.7 billion as it sees fit on cleanup of former weapons sites such as Hanford, rather than detailing how much money must be spent on specific projects.

DOE leaders intend to increase spending at the vitrification plant to $690 million, said Shirley Olinger, deputy manager of DOE’s Hanford Office of River Protection at the meeting of the Hanford Advisory Board.

However, DOE still must wait to see if the Senate approves the continuing resolution with the same budget amount and same free rein for DOE. The Senate could consider the resolution next week.

Work is continuing at the $12.3 billion vitrification plant based on an annual budget of $526 million, the amount set for fiscal year 2006. Because of studies and other costs, the 2006 amount available to contractor Bechtel National was actually closer to $490 million.

Long-term planning for the plant had been done based on an annual budget of $690 million. To meet the reduced 2006 budget, Bechtel National laid off about 1,700 workers.

Work has stopped temporarily on the largest and most technically complex structures, the Pretreatment Building and the High Level Waste Facility.

The vitrification plant, officially named the Waste Treatment Plant, is to turn some of the worst waste left from production of plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program into a stable glass form for permanent disposal. The waste now is stored in underground tanks.

A budget of $690 million would allow work to resume on those buildings by Sept. 30, Olinger said.

However, some technical issues remain. DOE leaders in Washington, D.C., would need to approve a revised earthquake standard for both buildings.

Data from new bore holes drilled on the vitrification plant site indicate the revised earthquake standard is sufficient, Olinger said. The standard was strengthened after a smaller 2004 study showed the previous standard might be inadequate.

Approval of the revised standard would allow work to ramp up at the High Level Waste Facility, she said. And at least concrete work could resume at the Pretreatment Facility.

Some additional technical issues are being addressed at the Pretreatment Facility, such as the possible collection of hydrogen in piping and the best ways to keep the waste mixed.

At the Office of River Protection’s other project, the tank farms holding 53 million gallons of radioactive waste, DOE would plan to spend $274 million this year, Olinger said.

That is down by about $52 million from 2006, allowing no money for the bulk vitrification pilot plant. However, it would allow waste to continue to be retrieved from leak-prone older tanks at the current rate.

The other DOE Hanford project office, the Richland Operations Office, would receive $917 million under tentative plans based on the House version of the continuing resolution. That’s up from about $900 million in fiscal year 2006.

Work would continue at the same level, and DOE could meet its legal requirements for cleanup, said Dave Brockman of the Richland Operations Office. The office’s assignments include cleanup along the Columbia River and central Hanford, with the exception of the tank farms. Its contractors include Fluor Hanford and Washington Closure Hanford.

However, Hanford DOE officials still were uncertain Friday about money for some projects that were separate budget items added into the fiscal year 2007 budget under the earlier plan. That included extra money to research cleaning up ground water and money to perform preservation work at B Reactor.

This story was published Saturday, February 3rd, 2007, by Annette Cary, Tri City Herald staff writer.