Hanfords decades in the making radioactive waste treatment plant is nearly ready for action after weeks of rumors it could be axed.

The Direct Feed Low Activity Waste Facility is less than a month from its scheduled start up date of October 15th.

The plant is meant to convert waste into glass.

The head of the U.S.

Department of Energy reportedly said he may want to go in a different direction, but now it's been formally approved by DOE.

Senator Maria Cantwell spoke on Capitol Hill about the plant that's meant to, again, convert that waste into glass logs for safe, long term storage.

“That is what the skilled workers at the Hanford site have been working on for years, years, years.

Really, literally 23 years and about $24 billion in taxpayer money to build a vitrification plant that supports 3000 jobs in the Tri-Cities.” The plant is built to treat some of the 56 million gallons of waste stored at the site in giant underground takes, some of which are leaking.

A new moon is discovered orbiting around the planet Uranus, and that discovery has a northwest tie.

That's thanks to Matthew Hedman, a University of Idaho professor who was part of the team that found the moon.

He says the 13 rings encircling Uranus are very narrow, and the icy giant's moon's orbit so closely that their gravitational pulls can tug on each other, which can lead to collisions.

“It indicates we don't really understand what's going on in this system, and that tells us there's still a lot about how things are going on in space that we still need to learn.” The newly discovered moon is six miles in diameter, making it Uranus's smallest moon in the planet's 29th that we know of.

Coming up in just about a month, join us for a special event in the Tri-Cities.

The American Revolution: Screening and Community Conversation is set for Thursday, October 23rd at 6:30 p.m.. We'll get a look at the new Ken Burns film and then some local reflections from people around the northwest.

There will also be a keynote speaker, a feature presentation, and a chance to ask questions and discuss.

We hope you'll RSVP and join us next month on the WSU Tri-Cities campus in Richland.

Find out more at NWPB.org/October23.