Hanford is in good financial shape to meet its fiscal 2002 cleanup obligations, said Department of Energy officials after crunching the final numbers for the year.

That's true even though the $1.776 billion Hanford will receive is less than the $1.818 billion Congress had appropriated for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

The total was trimmed by some overall federal budget balancing, plus DOE's headquarters taking some money from its field offices for some Washington, D.C., work.

So, the Office of River Protection ended up with $1.062 billion, and DOE's Richland office received $714 million for other cleanup work.

That means Hanford has the full $690 million it needs to start construction of a radioactive tank waste glassification complex, said Jeanie Schwier, the Office of River Protection's assistant manager for integration and controls.

However, the $380 million for the rest of Hanford's tank farms work has shrunk to $372 million. This includes safely maintaining the tank farms and preparing wastes for eventual glassification. Even with the cut, planned work should be completed this year after some belt tightening, Schwier said.

Roger Stanley, the Washington Department of Ecology's chief negotiator on Tri-Party Agreement talks, said the Office of River Protection's budget appears sufficient.

The state has fined DOE $10,000 a week since it missed a July 31 legal deadline to begin building the glassification complex. That accumulated fine is now $185,000.

But the state expects to forgive the fine if DOE's construction catch-up plan looks good and if DOE guarantees that plan will be fully funded.

Right now, that appears likely, Stanley said, although some final details still need to be addressed.

In other parts of the budget, DOE's Richland office believes it can meet its legal obligations with the $714 million earmarked for work that's not under the Office of River Protection.

That work includes removing spent nuclear fuel from the K Basins, converting plutonium into safer forms at the Plutonium Finishing Plant, cleaning up the Columbia River shore area, dealing with contaminated ground water, and many other duties.

"We feel a budget of $714 million allows us to keep that momentum going," said Bob Rosselli, DOE's deputy manager for site services at Hanford.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates much of the DOE Richland office's work, hasn't determined if funding is adequate for the year, said Doug Sherwood, Hanford site manager for the EPA.

Right now, Bechtel Hanford has several months left in its existing contract for dealing with Hanford's old reactors, removing contaminated soil from the river area and tackling some work in the 300 area.

A proposed new contract would include Bechtel's current work, plus some added 300 Area cleanup and some central Hanford ground water work -- as well as speeding up the river shore work.

Hanford is allocating $149 million in 2002 for this work, which approximately equals the 2001 appropriations after adjustments to reach "apples-to-apples" comparisons, Rosselli said. That is enough to seal up D Reactor and complete most of the same work on F Reactor.

However, DOE calculates that the river corridor contract will most likely need $180 million to $190 million annually starting in fiscal 2003.

Right now, DOE has told prospective bidders on the new contact that their proposals must fall within an annual range of $150 million to $210 million.

Here are some highlights of DOE's Richland office's 2002 budget:

-- The K Basins' budget shrinks from $192 million in fiscal 2001 to $163 million this year. However, the 2001 budget focused on construction and startup, while this year's budget concentrates on moving spent fuel out of the basins.

-- The PFP's budget will shrink from $102 million to $80 million this year. Like the K Basins, the PFP's budget reflects a shift from preparations to actual cleanup work.

-- The HAMMER training complex will get $5.1 million this year, compared with $5.9 million in 2001.

-- DOE's payments-in-lieu-of-taxes to local governments will remain steady at $3.4 million.