Hanford mitigation report released

RICHLAND — United States Department of Energy officials have released the latest five-year report on the environmental response and compensation at the Hanford nuclear site. The report, released this week, covers the years 2016 to 2020, according to a press release from the department.

Now known as the Hanford Site, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was the site of plutonium production for nuclear weapons for about 40 years. During that time, the site was contaminated and cleanup has been ongoing for about three decades.

The reports review implementation and performance of mitigation efforts at the site, and identify any issues that are found during the review period.

“Examples of cleanup actions at the Hanford Site include removal, treatment and disposal of contaminated soil, pumping and treating of contaminated groundwater, binding of contamination in soil to prevent migration into the Columbia River and extensive groundwater testing,” the press release said.