New Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette visited Hanford and the Tri-Cities Research District (TCRD) in August to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony opening the Analytical Laboratory, the first facility in the 65-acre TCRD complex to open. The laboratory is charged with determining the correct glass formulation “recipe” for each batch of radioactive tank waste piped from the Hanford tank farms to the treatment plant.

Also, the secretary visited AVANTech, a Hanford contractor located in the TCRD. AVANTech is designing and building a new, tank-side pretreatment system to remove Cesium from other low activity waste so it can be treated at the Low Activity Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), currently under construction.

Formerly Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Brouillette served during a time when the Trump Administration sought to cut $700 million from the Hanford budget. Congress has since restored those proposed cuts. Brouillette is the sixth Energy Secretary to serve since construction began on the $17 billion, 65-acre Waste Treatment Plant (WTP).