Layoffs? Furloughs? What we know about 13,000 Hanford jobs during shutdown
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- DOE keeps Hanford federal staff and contractors working with prior-year funds.
- But furloughs and layoffs still possible in near future.
- About 13,000 people work at Hanford, mostly for private contractors under DOE oversight.
Department of Energy employees managing contractor work at the Hanford nuclear site in Eastern Washington reported to work as usual this week despite the federal government shutdown.
DOE programs are remaining staffed as long as money is available to carry over from the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Hanford employees told the Tri-City Herald last week that the money was expected to run out as soon as the start of this work week.
But now enough money has been found to keep DOE Hanford workers on the job rather than furloughed until Nov. 13, employees are hearing.
If DOE employees are furloughed, they may be eligible for unemployment benefits, which federal employees currently working without pay cannot claim.
The state of Washington was able to provide unemployment benefits to federal workers during the last partial government shutdown from December 2018 to January 2019, but federal guidance has changed, according to the state.
News media inquiries about possible layoffs and furloughs are being directed to DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C.
It confirmed Monday that DOE Hanford employees are reporting to work and that the Hanford site does not currently have a lapse in funding, but provided no further information.
Hanford federal workforce
At the start of the Trump administration, the Hanford site had more than 300 federal workers. That appears to have dropped to just under 230.
Hanford employs about 13,000, most of them as private sector employees for companies hired as contractors or subcontractors doing Hanford cleanup work under DOE oversight and direction.
Work by Hanford contractors also continues, with some contractors reportedly having carry-over funds that could cover their work nearly to the end of the calendar year.
The Hanford Atomics Metal Trade Council, an umbrella group for 15 unions doing work at Hanford, was notified almost a month ago that 733 union workers at the Hanford tank farms would be laid off by Oct. 20 due to the federal government shutdown.
That notice was rescinded a day later and workers continue to report to the tank farms, where 56 million gallons of radioactive waste are stored in underground tanks, many of them prone to leaking.
The 580-square-mile Hanford site in Eastern Washington adjacent to Richland was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce almost two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.
The work left radioactive and hazardous chemical waste and contamination that is being cleaned up at a cost of about $3 billion per year.
DOE’s nationwide plan for a government shutdown says a prolonged lapse in federal appropriations may require employee furloughs.
Continuing contractor work may be dependent on whether government oversight is needed and the availability of prior-year funding, according to the plan.
Work needed to protect people and property would continue, such as security services, and also to modify contracts as needed, according to the plan.
It said that DOE has some limited authority to extend the number of days that other work would continue.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Layoffs? Furloughs? What we know about 13,000 Hanford jobs during shutdown."