350 acres burn near massive Hanford nuclear waste plant in Eastern WA, diverting workers

KENNEWICK — Lightning sparked a fire near the center of the Hanford nuclear site in Eastern Washington over the weekend.

Workers were alerted about 10 p.m. Saturday that inbound traffic to the center of the site on Route 4 South was being diverted to Route 2 South as firefighters responded to the fire.

About 348 acres burned not far from the vitrification plant, which is preparing to treat radioactive waste. The plant is north of Route 4 South, and the fire burned south of the road.

No buildings were burned and the fire did not pose a risk to any radiological areas, according to Department of Energy contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions.

Route 4 South was reopened about 10:45 p.m. The Hanford Fire Department wrapped up work on the fire about midnight.

Environmental cleanup is underway at the 580-square-mile site near Richland after it was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.