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RICHLAND, Wash. — Layoff notices were sent Monday to 235 Hanford nuclear cleanup site workers because of sequestration, or automatic federal budget cuts, the Tri-City Herald reported. The last day for most laid-off workers will be March 28.

In addition, other workers may lose their jobs as Department of Energy contractors cut back on work to subcontractors.

Most of the 235 jobs cut were union positions, the Tri-City Herald said, but the layoffs also included 27 nonunion positions. Several contractors are cutting spending by furloughing about 2,500 nonunion workers — requiring them to take paid or unpaid time off — but that cannot be required of union workers under collective bargaining agreements.

RICHLAND, Wash. — The Department of Energy is considering a plan to remove some of the radioactive waste from leaking tanks at the Hanford nuclear site and send it to a storage facility in a deep salt mine in New Mexico.

Gov. Jay Inslee, who toured the Hanford site Wednesday, said he’s pleased that some progress is being made.

“We deserve the federal government to step up to the plate and do its job, and it`s doing that today.  We appreciate (Energy) Secretary (Steven)  Chu getting on this. But we`re going to be insistent that this job gets done.”

According to the Albuquerque Journal, the DOE proposal would send as much as 3.1 million gallons of Hanford waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southeast New Mexico,  where radioactive waste since 1999 has been disposed of in a deep salt mine burrowed in the desert east of Carlsbad, N.M.

New Mexico Environment Department pokesman Jim Winchester issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

“The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has been informally notified by the Department of Energy (DOE) of their intent to submit a request for a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) permit modification that would allow the Hanford Nuclear Reservation to ship approximately 3-million gallons of processed radioactive transuranic waste from the Hanford site to WIPP near Carlsbad. NMED has not yet received the formal WIPP permit modification request. All WIPP permit modifications are thoroughly evaluated on technical merit and for compliance with applicable laws and regulations.”

The plan to ship some of the waste to New Mexico is just in its infancy, with logistics and New Mexico’s permission still up in the air.

And there’s another wrinkle – sequestration could force $171 million in federal cuts at Hanford.  The largest part of those cuts would be in underground management.  Leaks were recently discovered in six of those tanks.

The Department of Energy, however, said there is no imminent danger to the public from the leaking tanks.

The DOE’s Tom Fletcher, who helps oversee the federal tank monitoring program, said “from data we have from past leaks, it takes between 20, 30 and 50 years to reach the groundwater, because we have 250-300 feet of soil from where that tank leaked is to where groundwater is.”

RICHLAND, Wash. — On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that at least six tanks at the Hanford nuclear facility are leaking — not just one tank as was initially reported — and on Monday, the Department of Energy released its annual invitation for the public to sign up to take a tour of the site.

Online registration for the 2013 tours begins March 4 at 6 p.m. and includes a driving tour with stops at the National Historic Landmark B Reactor, Cold Test Facility, Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility and the Plutonium Finishing Plant. There is no mention in the press release of the six leaking tanks or any danger it could potentially pose to visitors.

Anyone interested in touring the facility must be at least 18 years old and reservations are honored on a first-come, first-served basis.

WASHINGTON — Six single-shell radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford site are leaking, not just the one tank that was reported earlier, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Friday.

Inslee made the announcement after a meeting in Washington with Energy Secretary Steven Chu and three of Chu’s aides.

“We have some … disturbing news,” Inslee said in a conference call with Washington state reporters. “Secretary Chu advised me that we have six confirmed leaking single-shell tanks at the Hanford site – and not one that was reported earlier this week.”

Inslee said one or two of the leaking tanks are in different tank farm sites at Hanford than the earlier leaking tank. “The amount of leakage differs from tank to tank,” Inslee said.

The increased number of leaking tanks was only discovered at this time because previous data was “not properly evaluated” at the federally run Hanford site, the governor said Chu told him. Inslee said because of that, more tanks would be evaluated.

“This raises the prospect we have leakage in additional tanks beyond the six,” Inslee said. “There are six leakers; there may be more.”

Inslee said Chu assured him that “there is no imminent health threat connected to these leaks,” but agreed action has to be taken to prevent the radioactive waste from leaking into the state’s ground and groundwater.

The governor said he would be meeting with Energy Department in the coming weeks to discuss options on how to deal with the leaking tanks.

“We need a new action plan at Hanford,” Inslee said, adding that his administration has “zero-tolerance policy” toward the leak of nuclear waste.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson released a statement that said the U.S. Department of Energy has failed to “adequately resolve the significant threat posed by the nuclear waste at Hanford.” He added that he is “committed to protecting the health and safety of our people and our environment. Our office continues to explore all legal options with the governor and the Department of Ecology.”

There are a total of 177 storage tanks at the Hanford site, 149 of which are single-shell tanks.

VANCOUVER — Officials toured the cleanup surrounding the Hanford nuclear site Tuesday.

Watch the video to find out what officials expect out the cleanup, and how it’s going.

RICHLAND, Wash. — One of the single-shell tanks storing radioactive waste at Hanford is leaking liquids in the range of 150 to 300 gallons per year, the U.S. Department of Energy said Friday.

The leaking tank was built in the 1940s and was stabilized in February 1995, when all pump-able liquids were removed by agreement with the state.

The specific cause of the liquid level decrease in Tank T-111 has not been determined, the DOE said.

Monitoring wells in the T Tank Farm, where Tank T-111 is located, have not identified significant changes in concentrations of chemicals or radionuclides in the soil, the DOE said.

“DOE is continuing to monitor its network of monitoring wells in the area of T Tank Farm and is evaluating possible next steps,” the department said.

In Olympia, Gov. Jay Inslee said, “I am alarmed and deeply concerned by this news. This was a problem we thought was under control years ago, when the liquids were pumped from the tanks and the sludge was stabilized. We can’t just leave 149 single-shell tanks with high-level radioactive liquid and sludge siting in the ground for decades after their design life.

“Let me be clear: Washington state has a zero tolerance policy on radioactive leakage. We will not tolerate any leaks of this material to the environment.

“Fortunately, there is no immediate public health risk,” Inslee said. “The newly discovered leak may not hit the groundwater for many years, and we have a groundwater treatment system in place that provides a last defense for the river. However, the fact that this tank is one of the farthest from the river is not an excuse for delay. It is a call to act now.”

The DOE said this tank was classified as an assumed leaker in 1979. In February 1995, interim stabilization was completed for this tank. In order to achieve interim stabilization, the pumpable liquids were removed in accordance with agreements with the state of Washington. The tank currently contains about 447,000 gallons of sludge, a mixture of solids and liquids with a mud-like consistency, it said.

This is the first tank that has been documented to be losing liquids since interim stabilization was completed in 2005. There are a total of 177 tanks at the Hanford site, 149 of which are single shell tanks.