Vit Plant Could Start Up by 2013 - NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

RICHLAND, Wash.- A new Department of Energy study reveals Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant may be operational years earlier than previously thought, but at an added cost.

DOE says if they can build a second pre-treatment facility, that should allow them to get the low-activity waste plant up and running, and some waste treated before the heart of the plant is complete.

The report proposes as much as $220,000 for a second pretreatment facility.