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Green Initiatives: Stimulus Package Includes Funds to Clean Up Cold War-Era Weapons Sites

Approved stimulus package allots nearly $6 billion to help clean up weapons sites like the Hanford Site -- the U.S.'s most contaminated area.

Photo: Hanford Weapons Site, Washington state: Nuclear operator works above underwater fuel handling table to clean fuel.

The national stimulus package that was approved by Congress on Wednesday includes nearly $6 billion to aid in cleaning up Cold War-era nuclear weapons sites.

According to The Seattle Times, one-third of the funding is expected to be spent on cleaning up the Hanford Site -- the U.S.'s most contaminated nuclear area -- located in southeast Washington state.

According to the newspaper, the funding includes $483 million for nondefense cleanup, like laboratories, and $390 million would be allocated to uranium-enrichment programs.

"This has been a top priority for me because it fits the bill of what President Obama wanted, which is to create jobs in the short term and to better our country in the future," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, in the article. "This will create literally thousands of jobs at the site and help to reduce the footprint of [nuclear] sites around the country."

 

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Video: GT's Andy Opsahl reports on how a California municipal utility built a solar energy farm at the site of a decommissioned nuclear power plant.