WC Monitor
11/13/2013

Hanford TPA Comment Period Extended

The Department of Energy and its regulators have extended the comment period for proposed changes to Tri-Party Agreement milestones for much of the remaining work in central Hanford after requests from stakeholders. The comment period will close Jan. 15 rather than Dec. 11, as originally scheduled. Concerns were raised at the November Hanford Advisory Board meeting about the impact of the holiday season on comments and public meetings. Meetings are planned Nov. 17 in Seattle, Nov. 18 in Portland, and Nov. 19 in Hood River, Ore., with the Hanford Site-area meeting already held. The change package would extend the milestone for proposing deadlines for submitting dates for completion of cleanup of three large processing canyons – REDOX, PUREX and B Plant – from 2022 to 2026. The deadline to complete the remedial investigations and feasibility studies for about 400 buildings and 1,500 waste sites in central Hanford would be extended almost a decade to June 2026. The current Sepember 2024 deadline for completing that cleanup work would be replaced with deadlines to be determined after feasibility studies are completed. Three more years would be added to 2018 deadline to complete cleanup of the 618-11 Burial Ground and the 324 Building and the radioactive spill beneath it. Comments may be submitted to [email protected].