Handing over the reins of Handford clean up. It's been on his mind for at least a year. But it wasn't until Friday that Keith Klein formally announced his plans.

After nearly a decade, Keith Klein and Roy Schepens are stepping down as joint managers of the program.
For Klein, he's leaving eight years at the site and 34 years as a Federal employee.

"When I think about what this job means to me, is helping complete the cycle," said Klein. "Something started here that changed the world."

"That was the Manhattan Project," said FFTF support group strategist, Ralph Johnson. "That was huge. Almost the size of the man on the moon. And it led to the clean up project. And That's what Keith inherited."
An inheritance with a legacy of contamination: nuclear waste, plutonium, spent fuel.
Workers at Hanford spent decades figuring out new ways to store and clean up the nuclear waste.
They were urgent risks Klein took them on.

"Nothing prepares you for Hanford," he said.

Klein said Hanford was a balancing act of challenges and rewards.
The size of the site, the number of contaminants, criticism, inspections and the number of people breathing over his shoulder proved constant challenges.

"You can compare hanford to Forest Gump," said Klein. "It's like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're going to get. There have been missteps when you have several thousand people working with very hazardous, dangerous chemicals. There really is margin for error."

Klein said he underestimated just how hard it would be to clean up the spent fuel and left over sludge from K-basins.

"If I were to have done something differently, I would have paid attention to that more," said Klein.

But the job is not without rewards.

"There are a number of moments I am very proud of," he said.

Moving the first piece of spent fuel out of the K-basins.
Stabilizing the last package of plutonium-bearing materials.
And most recently, the applause of gratitude he received when he announced he was stepping down.

"Keith has been stalwart here for a number of years and he's done an outstanding job," said Johnson.

"We've set up a great infrastructure, with great momentum," Klein said. "Hanford won't miss a beat when I step down."

Klein said he wants to spend more time with his family before looking for another career challenge. He will step down in May.

His retirement leaves the D.O.E searching three new replacements.