Notable case, Richland, Washington, United States
Hanford Site
The main US production site for weapons plutonium from 1944: nine reactors along the Columbia River and 177 tanks of liquid radioactive waste.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediation under way
- Area
- 151,800 ha on land1
- Activity
- since 1944
- Media
- soil, groundwater, surface water, air
- Kind of site
- nuclear, military
- National list
- Listed 1989National Priorities List
- National list
- Removed 1996National Priorities List
- National list
- Listed 1989National Priorities List
- National list
- Listed 1989National Priorities List
- Area. 586 square miles (1,518 km²). About 60 square miles of groundwater remain contaminated above federal standards, down from more than 80 in the 1980s (Washington Department of Ecology).
Contaminants
Mixtures and waste
National list
On the list (final)United States
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)
- Listed
- 1989
- Official id
- WA3890090076 ↗
About this list
The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.
Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.
National list
Deleted from the list (clean-up complete)United States
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)
- Listed
- 1989
- Removed
- 1996
- Official id
- WA4890090075 ↗
About this list
The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.
Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.
National list
On the list (final)United States
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)
- Listed
- 1989
- Official id
- WA1890090078 ↗
About this list
The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.
Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.
National list
On the list (final)United States
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)
- Listed
- 1989
- Official id
- WA2890090077 ↗
About this list
The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.
Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.
Status
Remediation under way
Cleanup has been under way for decades. 56 million gallons of radioactive waste remain in 177 underground tanks (149 single-shell, 28 double-shell); 22 single-shell tanks have been emptied and three are leaking (2024 figure). The vitrification plant is still under construction.
Story
Hanford began as part of the Manhattan Project; B Reactor made its first plutonium in November 1944. During the Cold War the reactors along the Columbia grew to nine, and in all the site produced about 67 tonnes of plutonium. Cooling water went back to the river: radioactive releases peaked at about 20,000 curies a day in 1959.
Liquid waste from chemical separation was stored in 177 underground tanks, some of which leak; groundwater is contaminated over tens of square miles. In 1988 the site went on the National Priorities List and in 1989 the Department of Energy, EPA and the State of Washington signed the Tri-Party Agreement that governs the cleanup. In 2000 large parts of the site became the Hanford Reach National Monument.
Timeline
- 1944B Reactor produces the first plutonium.
- 1959Radioactive releases to the Columbia peak.
- 1988Placed on the National Priorities List.
- 1989Tri-Party Agreement signed.
- 2000Hanford Reach National Monument established.
- 2007Demonstration plot for strontium-90 phytoextraction with willows on the Columbia shore.
Remediation
- 1989tank waste retrievalTransfer of waste from single-shell to double-shell tanks, under way for decades; the agreement requires retrieving 99% of the waste or as much as technically possible.
Plants and fungi at this site
PhytoremediationField pilot, 2007–2009
Salix exigua
A Pacific Northwest National Laboratory treatability study for the 100-N Area: sixty coyote willows (Salix exigua) planted in January 2007 on the Columbia shoreline at the 100-K West water intake, to assess phytoextraction of strontium-90 from the riparian zone as a complement to an apatite barrier in the groundwater.
Outcome Plant-to-soil concentration ratios consistently above 65, with three quarters of the absorbed isotope in the shoots. Harvested biomass: 0.2 t/ha in 2007, 0.87 in 2008 and 4.3 in 2009. The plants survived spring flooding; transfer to herbivorous insects was negligible.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Amaranthus retroflexusRedroot pigweedStrontium-90Evidence: field
- Brassica junceaIndian mustardStrontium-90Evidence: field
- Helianthus annuusSunflowerUraniumEvidence: field
Fungi
- Funneliformis mosseaeUraniumEvidence: greenhouse
- Cladosporium sphaerospermumRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Rhizophagus irregularisUraniumEvidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBaker's yeast, brewer's yeastUraniumEvidence: laboratory
Nearby
Notable case, Kellogg, United States
Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Complex
279 km
Phytoremediation
Notable case, British Columbia, Canada
Trail Smelter
306 km
- Sulphates
Trial, Washington, United States
Bellingham, WSDOT oil-contaminated soil (Battelle trial)
318 km
- Petroleum hydrocarbons
Mycoremediation
Notable case, Montana, United States
Libby Asbestos Site
360 km
- Asbestos
Sources
- Hanford cleanup, Washington State Department of Ecology, 2026
- Tank waste management, Washington State Department of Ecology, 2026
- Hanford Site, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.