Trump Budget Cuts Hanford Nuclear Site Cleanup

0:00It's April 5th, this is Vancouver News today, local news powered by AI. The Trump administration dropped their fiscal year 2027 budget request for the Department of Energy on Friday targeting the Hanford, nuclear site with a big cut. Right now, fiscal year 2026 funding sits at a record $3.3 billion, but the proposal slices a deep. Senator Patty, Murray's office pegs the drop at about $404 million. A chunk of that comes from the tank waste program run by Hanford's Office of River Protection losing $228 million and landing just over $1.9 billion total. That program deals with 56 million gallons of radio active and hazardous waste stored in underground tanks, many of them leaking. It's all left over from World War II and Cold War plutonium production for the nation's nuclear arsenal. Senator Patty Murray, Democrat from Washington and Vice Chair of the Senator Appropriations

1:01Committee, blasted the plan as completely unacceptable. She says, skimping on cleanup at the country's biggest nuclear site is dangerous, jacks up long-term costs, and disrespects the Tri-City's community. That's counting on this mission. She's been battling for extra Hanford cash across administrations, and she's clear, the feds have a moral and legal duty here. With her appropriations role, she'll push Congress to override this and keep the clean of on track.