56 Million gallons of radioactive waste - Hanford tank farms lay off 244 workers

[The Straight Story]

Hanford's tank farm contractor handed out layoff notices Monday, bringing to 244 the number of layoffs at the nuclear reservation linked to uncertainties in the budget for the fiscal year that began Saturday.

The 244 layoffs were fewer than previously had been approved at the tank farms, where 56 million gallons of radioactive waste are stored from the past production of plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program.

But it still puts the total cutback at Hanford since spring at 1,993 jobs. The year started with about 12,000 jobs at Hanford.

The tank farm contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, had earlier approval from the Department of Energy to lay off up to 475 workers at the start of this fiscal year.

...

DOE agreed in late fiscal 2010 to allow Hanford cleanup contractors to lay off up to 1,100 workers as it began to look likely that fiscal 2012 would start without a budget, putting contractors at risk of spending too much money before a potentially tight budget for the rest of the year was in place. Washington River Protection Solutions is the only contractor to take advantage of that offer.




http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/10/04/1850740/hanford-tank-farms-lay-off-244.html