The federal government is unenthusiastic about cranking up its biggest cleanup project next month at the Hanford nuclear site in south-central Washington. It began construction in 2002, with the first glassification plant legally scheduled to go online in 2009 — 16 years before it actually will. This first plant is supposed to take care of 40 to 50 percent of the tanks’ “low-activity” wastes. The first low-activity waste plant cost slightly more than $9 billion. The 2024 agreement calls for grouting to be used on low-activity wastes found in 22 tanks that also contain high-level wastes.