RICHLAND — The U.S. Senate has rejected a proposal to cut millions in spending for a decommissioned nuclear site in Washington proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
A Senate panel forwarded a measure that would provide $748 million more in annual spending than proposed in the administration’s budget for fiscal year 2021, which began at the start of this month, the Tri-City Herald reported.
The Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee proposes a budget of $2.6 billion for the nuclear reservation, where environmental cleanup is underway after the site produced plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program during World War II and the Cold War. The proposal would be $43 million more than current spending.
The subcommittee said approving the proposal could threaten cleanup operations near Richland.
Sen. Patty Murray, D- Wash. said this was the fourth year that the Trump administration’s budget request was woefully inadequate for Hanford cleanup.
