The Trump administration is actively stalling progress toward startup of the Hanford nuclear site’s vitrification plant, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Wednesday evening after speaking with Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

“Today, Secretary Wright admitted to me during a phone call that the Department of Energy is planning to curb hot commissioning at the Waste Treatment Plant at Hanford — an astonishingly senseless and destructive move and a threat to the entire nuclear cleanup mission at Hanford,” Murray said.

Construction of the vit plant, or Waste Treatment Plant, began 23 years ago, but testing and commissioning of the plant is on track to introduce radioactive waste to the plant and finally start operating it in the coming weeks, according to a statement from Murray’s office.

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