Latest cost estimate for Hanford cleanup tops $100 billion

[pscot]

Nobody knows how much has been spent already. Since plutonium takes 10,000 years to decay, this cash cow may live forever.

An estimated $113.6 billion is the new price tag for completing the remaining Hanford nuclear reservation environmental cleanup, plus some post-cleanup oversight.

If the cost were spread evenly among everyone living in the United States today, each person would have to come up with $359.

The new estimate of cleanup costs was included in the 2014 Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule and Cost Report released this week. It's the fourth such report released since they became an annual requirement added to the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement in 2010.

The estimate is based on completing most cleanup work in 2060 and then some continuing oversight and monitoring until 2090. That oversight, called long-term stewardship, is listed as costing $5.4 billion

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2014/02/19/2837564/new-hanford-cleanup-pricetag-is.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2014/02/19/2837564/new-hanford-cleanup-pricetag-is.html