Thought I'd ring in on the topic of Hanford, since I'm currently in a laid-off state from there. The big news at the moment is lay-offs at the Prime Contractor level. All of us sub-contractors ( I'm in the Tank Farm area) were laid off in July due to lack of funds in the budget. There were rumors that further lay-offs in the Prime Contractors might follow. Sure enough, last Friday the word came out that CH2MHill would be laying off 300 employees. As far as I know, these are not union positions, but I can't confirm that.
That having been said, I'd still go back there. Yes, it can be a long drive, but if you live in the north part of Richland, most of the site is within 45 minutes. The pay is good and the work isn't exactly taxing. There is the normal "DOE Frustration" for commercial techs, but all - in - all, the money and the good people make it a worthwhile venture.