The Hanford site and other U.S. Department of Energy-directed activities should not be affected by the partial government shutdown.
The Tri-City Herald reports Department of Energy funding was secured in September when President Trump signed the Energy & Water appropriations bill.
The bill funds the federal department through Sept. 30, 2019.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland has informed staff members they should report to work according to their usual work schedules.
While the National Park Service is affected by the shutdown, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park's Hanford Unit visitor center in Richland will remain open to the public. It is operated through a Department of Energy contract.
Hanford is where plutonium was produced as part of the secret Manhattan Project to fuel the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan during World War II. Production continued throughout the Cold War as the country stockpiled nuclear warheads.
Since 1989, the activity at Hanford has been a cleanup effort only as the nuclear bomb-making project left behind a toxic legacy of contaminated soil, water, buildings, and 56 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste considered the most dangerous matter in the world.
The partial government shutdown entered its fifth day on Wednesday. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats continue to spar over border wall funding. Democrats say the plan is too expensive, would be too difficult to maintain, and would be ineffective against illegal border crossings. The shutdown is expected to last until at least Thursday.
KING 5 staff contributed to this story.