Hanford Tank Cleanup Now $15.2B

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Hanford Tank Cleanup Now $15.2B  April 24, 2000 

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The cost of cleaning up the Hanford nuclear 
reservation's highly radioactive nuclear waste storage tanks has 
jumped to $15.2 billion - more than twice the original estimate, the 
contractor estimated Monday. Earlier this month, the BNFL Inc. had 
offered a nearly $13 billion estimate, up from an initial price tag 
of $6.9 billion. ``We recognize that the new price in all likelihood 
is not affordable,'' said Paul Miskimin, president of BNFL, which is 
based in Fairfax, Va. The company's bid was based on spending $6 
billion worth of private money to build a factory to turn Hanford 
wastes into a glass-like substance for storage. The estimated cost of 
designing, building, operating and then deactivating the plant over 
the 20-year life of the proposed contract is now calculated at $15.2 
billion, with the financing costs on the $6 billion accounting for 
about half the total, BNFL said. ``Few people now believe this is the 
right way to finance this job,'' Miskimin said. The company is 
looking for ways to reduce the financing costs, presumably by using 
tax money for at least part of the job. Under terms the Department of 
Energy set for bidders, the federal government would not pay a penny 
to the builder until the first glass is produced, sometime in 2007. 
That means the winning bidder would pay all the upfront costs. 
Earlier this month, Mike Lawrence, the general manager of the 
project, resigned, saying he was frustrated he didn't have direct 
control over key portions of the troubled program. Monday was the 
deadline for BNFL to submit its proposal to the Energy Department, 
which owns Hanford. The 54 million gallons of radioactive waste are 
in 177 giant underground storage tanks. They are leftovers from the 
production of plutonium for nuclear weapons. The sprawling Hanford 
reservation is 120 miles southwest of Spokane, near Richland. 
Officials for the Department of 
Energy and the state Department of  
Ecology could not be reached for comment late Monday

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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