Past, Present, Future-Hanford 2020

Hanford Past Present and Future is a one hour program that was presented to the elected officials of the Hanford Communities in November 2019. Brian Vance, the Manager of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, sets the stage by discussing the operating days of Hanford, when nine nuclear reactors along the Columbia River produced sixty-six percent of the United States’ stockpile of plutonium. During the production years from 1944 to 1989, a tremendous amount of waste was generated. An agreement was signed in 1989 between the US Department of Energy, the State of Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency. The agreement outlined how cleanup up would precede so the Hanford Site could ultimately meet environmental standards applicable to the rest of the state and nation.