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By Nicholas K. Geranios

The Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. 鈥� Workers on a former nuclear weapons production site have started the first large-scale treatment of radioactive and chemical wastes from large underground storage tanks 鈥� a key milestone in cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the U.S. Department of Energy said Wednesday.

For decades, plutonium was made for the nation鈥檚 nuclear arsenal at Hanford; it鈥檚 the most radioactively contaminated site in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Hanford provided the plutonium for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of World War II.

William White, the Energy Department鈥檚 senior advisor for environmental management, called installation of the new $130 million cesium removal system a major milestone.

鈥淭he importance of this achievement can’t be overstated,鈥� White said, adding that it would eventually transform the Hanford site.

The newly operational system removes radioactive cesium and solids from waste stored in huge underground tanks at Hanford. The treated waste will be stored until it is sent to the nearby Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, where it will be converted into a glass-like substance for long-term storage. That plant, under construction since 2002, will come online next year, the agency said.

鈥淭his is an exciting new era in our Hanford cleanup mission,鈥� said Brian Vance, manager of the DOE鈥檚 Office of River Protection at Hanford. 鈥淔or the first time in Hanford site history, we are treating a significant amount of tank waste on an industrial scale.鈥�

Hanford tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions 鈥� along with DOE staff, other site contractors and regulatory agencies 鈥� built, installed and tested the cesium removal system.

The technology is nearly identical to a system operating at DOE鈥檚 Savannah River site in South Carolina, where plutonium was made as well, the agency said.

Hanford contains approximately 56 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks, representing one of DOE鈥檚 largest environmental risks and most complex challenges. The tank waste is a result of nearly five decades of plutonium production that supported national security missions and helped end World War II, the DOE said.

鈥淭his is a win,鈥� stated Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who formerly represented the Hanford area in the U.S. House. The waste stored inside the tanks, some of which are leaking, could eventually threaten the nearby Columbia River, Inslee noted.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., called the news 鈥渁 monumental step鈥� in the cleanup of Hanford.

But it is one step.

Finishing the cleanup of Hanford, located near Richland in southeastern Washington, will cost an estimated $300 billion to $640 billion, and require about 56 more years, according to a DOE report published at the end of January.

Facilities at the 580-square-mile Hanford site produced almost two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation鈥檚 nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War.

DOE is spending about $2.5 billion annually on environmental cleanup of the waste, plus contaminated buildings, soil and groundwater. But the estimated costs to finish most cleanup by 2078 would require much larger annual budgets.