High-Level & Tank Waste

The first of up to two dozen containers of highly radioactive sludge was trucked Monday morning to storage in the center of the Hanford Site in Washington state. Workers have for nine years been preparing for the sludge transfer from underwater containers in the K West Reactor Basin, which is just 400 yards from the […]

Proposed amendments to a federal appropriations package last week from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), which did not get a vote, would have treated waste at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York as defense-related only under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, meaning the material would not be eligible for disposal at the […]

Respiratory protection requirements have again been eased at a Hanford Site double-shell tank farm, with directives in some additional radioactive waste storage tank farms expected to be reduced later this summer, according to contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). Workers now are allowed to use full-face air-purifying respirators equipped with filter cartridges as protection from […]

Respiratory protection requirements have again been eased at a Hanford Site double-shell tank farm, with directives in some additional radioactive waste storage tank farms expected to be reduced later this summer, according to contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS). Workers now are allowed to use full-face air-purifying respirators equipped with filter cartridges as protection from […]

Liquid waste operations at the Savannah River Site restarted this week following a 15-month layup that included multiple delays to resumption due to maintenance issues at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The DWPF is responsible for converting millions of gallons of radioactive liquid waste at the Energy Department facility in South Carolina into a […]

Watchdog group Hanford Challenge is objecting to a Department of Energy plan to classify the waste remaining in the Hanford Site’s C Tank Farm as residual waste, or waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR). The new classification would allow the remaining waste in the C Farm’s 16 tanks to be considered low-level radioactive waste and the […]

Three technologies are sufficiently developed for consideration to treat some of the low-activity radioactive waste stored at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a new report from a National Academies panel. The panel plans to issue four reports on supplemental treatment of Hanford low-activity waste. Congress ordered the study, which is […]

Workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state successfully transferred the first batch of highly radioactive sludge out of underwater storage in the K West Reactor Basin late Tuesday afternoon. The Department of Energy had a Tri-Party Agreement deadline, reset most recently in 2015, to start removing sludge from the basin by the end of […]

Liquid waste operations at the Savannah River Site restarted this week following a 15-month layup that included multiple delays to resumption due to maintenance issues at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The DWPF is responsible for converting millions of gallons of radioactive liquid waste at the Energy Department facility in South Carolina into a […]

Three technologies are sufficiently developed for consideration to treat some of the low-activity radioactive waste stored at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a new report from a National Academies panel. The panel plans to issue four reports on supplemental treatment of Hanford low-activity waste. Congress ordered the study, which is […]

Watchdog group Hanford Challenge is objecting to a Department of Energy plan to classify the waste remaining in the Hanford Site’s C Tank Farm as residual waste, or waste incidental to reprocessing (WIR). The new classification would allow the remaining waste in the C Farm’s 16 tanks to be considered low-level radioactive waste and the […]

Liquid waste processing at the Savannah River Site almost restarted last month after a 15-month outage, but is instead slated to begin next week after workers fix a seal at the site’s major waste processing facility that allows treated waste to properly pour into the storage canister. Chemical operations at the 310-square-muile site near Aiken, […]

The Department of Energy has approved the documented safety analysis required for hot commissioning of the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant. Completion of the 7,000-page document is a required milestone for plant contractor Bechtel National, worth up to $6.65 million in fees. Bechtel National nuclear safety engineers spent three years […]

Bechtel National, the construction and commissioning contractor for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, did not contest a preliminary notice of violation for a 2016 worker injury by the deadline at the end of last week. The Office of Enforcement within the Energy Department Office of Enterprise Assessments had given the company 30 days to […]

Bechtel National, the construction and commissioning contractor for the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, did not contest a preliminary notice of violation for a 2016 worker injury by the deadline at the end of last week. The Office of Enforcement within the Energy Department Office of Enterprise Assessments had given the company 30 days to […]

A record of decision was amended Friday as one of the regulatory steps needed for the Department of Energy to proceed with moving cesium and strontium capsules from underwater storage to dry storage at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The amended ROD specifies that interim storage of the capsules will continue, but in dry […]

The Department of Energy aims later this month to resume liquid waste processing at the Savannah River Site, two months after the initial March projection. Meeting that schedule would cap off a 15- month pause of waste processing at the DOE facility near Aiken, S.C. The two-month delay was caused by a malfunctioning diesel generator […]

The Department of Energy on June 4 will start taking comments on a draft evaluation on the strategy for closing the 16 tanks in the C Farm radioactive waste storage area. The announcement of the draft evaluation indicates DOE is interested in landfill closure of the single-shell tanks, likely by filling them with grout and […]

A new project baseline for the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) is expected in the next few months, according to the Department of Energy and contractor Parsons. The new baseline, which DOE requested in a March 7 notice of concern to Parsons SWPF Project Manager Frank Sheppard, should include a new projected date for […]

The Department of Energy on June 4 will start taking comments on a draft evaluation on the strategy for closing the 16 tanks in the C Farm radioactive waste storage area. The announcement of the draft evaluation indicates DOE is interested in landfill closure of the single-shell tanks, likely by filling them with grout and […]

The House of Representatives’ version of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize $65 million in funding to begin work on a new low-yield nuclear warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles as part of an overall $15.3 billion National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) budget, according to a bill summary provided Friday by the House […]

At least one member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said last week he supports giving the Hanford Site in Washington state the ability to pursue lower-cost options for disposal of millions of tons of radioactive waste. Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.) said he favors giving the Energy Department extra flexibility at Hanford […]

At least one member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said last week he favors giving the Hanford Site in Washington state the ability to pursue lower-cost options for disposal of millions of tons of radioactive waste. Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.) said he favors giving the Energy Department extra flexibility at Hanford […]

A House Armed Services subcommittee is seeking briefings every six months from the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management (EM) regarding ongoing problems with toxic vapors at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “Over the past several years, many workers have reported suspicious odors and subsequent health effects,” the HASC strategic forces subcommittee said in […]

The Department of Energy issued a preliminary notice of violation to Hanford Site contractor Bechtel National on Wednesday for a 2016 worker injury at the Waste Treatment Plant construction site. The incident occurred on Nov. 4, 2016, while a piping system for cooling water for the plant was being vented and filled in preparation for […]

Quality assurance problems continue to afflict the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) being built at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Tuesday. Some of the same quality assurance issues previously identified during a 2012 partial suspension of construction of the facility and a 2014 managed improvement plan […]

A House Armed Services subcommittee is seeking briefings every six months from the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management (EM) regarding ongoing problems with toxic vapors at the Hanford Site in Washington state. “Over the past several years, many workers have reported suspicious odors and subsequent health effects,” the HASC strategic forces subcommittee said in […]

Quality assurance problems continue to afflict the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) being built at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report Tuesday. “The project has faced persistent challenges, including quality assurance problems that have delayed it by decades and more than tripled its costs, to nearly $17 […]

The parties in the federal trial over vapors at the Hanford Site have requested another extension to the case, after failing to reach a settlement agreement before a deadline Monday for the plaintiffs to identify their expert witnesses. A joint motion requesting that Judge Thomas Rice delay the trial for a 10th time was filed […]

The parties in the federal trial over Hanford vapors have requested an extension yet again, after failing to reach a settlement agreement before a deadline Monday for the plaintiffs to identify their expert witnesses. A joint motion requesting that Judge Thomas Rice delay the trial for a 10th time was filed Friday in U.S. District […]