High-Level & Tank Waste

In an eventful week for the Hanford Site tank farms, unions issued a list of demand for better worker protection against chemical vapors and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) agreed to conduct a safety and health evaluation of the chemical vapors situation. On Monday, the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC) […]

The Department of Energy and Savannah River Site held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday to formally celebrate completion of the South Carolina site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). The facility will process the salt waste that is stored in SRS storage tanks and send the cesium and actinide portions of the waste to the site’s […]

Electrical work still tops a list of construction-related concerns at the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) contractor Bechtel National is building at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a Friday report from the agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA). “Electrical construction weaknesses were identified with completed wiring installations that did not […]

The Department of Energy and Savannah River Site held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday to formally celebrate completion of the South Carolina site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). The facility will process the salt waste that is stored in SRS storage tanks and send the cesium and actinide portions of the waste to the site’s […]

Electrical work still tops a list of construction-related concerns at the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) contractor Bechtel National is building at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to a Friday report from the agency’s Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA). “Electrical construction weaknesses were identified with completed wiring installations that did not […]

After laying off of 123 workers in January at the Savannah River Site, Parsons, the Department of Energy facility’s salt waste contractor, laid off an additional 200 workers since February en route to completing construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). Parsons still has a multiyear plan for work at SRS and hopes to […]

Some 35 cubic yards of radioactive sludge are officially headed inland in coming years to the Hanford Site’s T Plant from the K-West Basin near the Columbia River, according to a document released Monday by the Department of Energy and Washington state. The move is part of an Explanation of Significant Difference for the K Basins […]

The Department of Energy’s top nuclear cleanup official will be on hand July 21 for an official ribbon cutting at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., construction on which was officially declared complete last week. Monica Regalbuto, DOE’s assistant secretary for environmental management, will join other DOE and […]

Despite fanfare over the plant’s official completion last week, South Carolina has not forgotten the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site is now projected to start radioactive waste treatment three years later than mandated, and remains in talks with the agency over the repercussions of the blown deadline. “The Department […]

One leak-plugging effort is underway at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), and another did not quite work out as planned, the agency’s prime liquid waste cleanup contractor at the facility near Aiken, S.C., told a DOE-chartered citizens group late Tuesday. Both leaks could hamper DOE’s goal to process and store this year 1.5 […]

It is sometimes difficult to feel the ripple of a $10 million tweak to a $30-billion appropriations bill, but at a citizens-group meeting near the Savannah River Site (SRS) this week, an executive with the Department of Energy’s prime liquid-waste contractor there painted a clear picture of how such a seemingly small change could spell […]

WASHINGTON — After eight years of construction that cost nearly $1.3 billion, Parsons Government Services has finished building the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Now, the facility’s project manager said Wednesday, begins the really hard part. “What we’ve experienced over the last two months is a transition […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday declared construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at its Savannah River Site complete, setting the stage for the roughly $2-billion, Parsons-built plant in South Carolina to begin treating radioactive waste by December 2018 — three years later than planned as recently as 2009. SWPF is designed to treat […]

One leak-plugging effort is underway at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), and another did not quite work out as planned, the agency’s prime liquid waste cleanup contractor at the facility near Aiken, S.C., told a DOE-chartered citizens group late Tuesday. Both leaks could hamper DOE’s goal to process and store this year 1.5 […]

A stopgap salt-waste facility in operation since 2008 at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina marked a milestone by processing six million gallons of salt waste, DOE announced Monday. The Actinide Removal Process and Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (ARP/MCU), which removes most radioactive isotopes from salt waste distilled […]

Radiation readings that had Hanford officials checking for a possible leak in Hanford’s second oldest double shell tank have returned to normal, Mark Lindholm, president of Hanford tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), said in an update to employees as they were leaving for the Memorial Day weekend holiday Friday. Checks of the […]

The Energy Department’s Inspector General on Tuesday started a review of actions taken by the agency to address worker concerns about chemical vapors at the Hanford tank farms near Richland, Wash. The DOE IG held an entrance conference with Hanford officials to discuss the scope of the review and related matters, according to a memo […]

The Energy Department’s Inspector General on Tuesday started a review of actions taken by the agency to address worker concerns about chemical vapors at the Hanford tank farms near Richland, Wash. The DOE IG held an entrance conference with Hanford officials to discuss the scope of the review and related matters, according to a memo […]

Radiation readings that had Hanford officials checking for a possible leak in Hanford’s second oldest double shell tank have returned to normal, Mark Lindholm, president of Hanford tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), said in an update to employees as they were leaving for the Memorial Day weekend holiday Friday. Checks of the […]

The prime liquid-waste contractor at DOE’s Savannah River Site is still hunting for the source of a leak in the 3H Evaporator that helps make room for more liquid waste in the H-Area tank farm, a company spokesperson said Monday. Discovered in February, the leak in the evaporator pot has eluded personnel on site, who are now […]

Savannah River Site officials reported Tuesday the site’s Saltstone Disposal Unit 6 (SDU 6) failed a leak test this month and now will not be finished until March – about five months later than expected, but still about a year before DOE is expected to need it, in February 2018. The unit’s concrete cell has […]

The prime liquid-waste contractor at DOE’s Savannah River Site is still hunting for the source of a leak in the 3H Evaporator that helps make room for more liquid waste in the H-Area tank farm, a company spokesperson said Monday. Discovered in February, the leak in the evaporator pot has eluded personnel on site, who are now […]

Another possible chemical vapor incident was reported Tuesday at the Hanford Site in Washington state for the first time in five days. This one was different because it was reported about 7 miles away from where previous reports were made. Previous potential exposures in recent weeks were in or near the group of tank farms […]

Another possible chemical vapor incident was reported Tuesday at the Hanford Site in Washington state for the first time in five days. This one was different because it was reported about 7 miles away from where previous reports were made. Previous potential exposures in recent weeks were in or near the group of tank farms in the […]

The Department of Energy’s top nuclear-cleanup official on Thursday will mark the operational closure of Tank 12 at the Savannah River Site, and the 20th anniversary of Defense Waste Processing Facility operations at the facility, the liquid waste cleanup contractor for the Aiken, S.C., site announced Thursday. Tank 12 is the second at Savannah River’s H […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said this week they are each considering steps to hold the Department of Energy accountable at the Hanford Site tank farms. Both visited the Hanford area Thursday, dropping hints at a press conference about what their next steps may be. Ferguson, a Democrat up […]

The number of Hanford Site workers evaluated for possible exposure to chemical vapors from tank waste has reached 42 over seven days. Some 31 have reported symptoms and 11 requested checks as a precaution. All have been released to return to work. Five workers were sent to the on-site medical clinic Wednesday because of reported […]

More workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state came forward Friday saying they had experienced symptoms they suspected were tied to chemical vapors at the site’s radioactive waste tank farms Thursday. They bring the total number of workers receiving medical evaluations for possible chemical vapor exposure linked to work Thursday to 20. All were […]

Construction quality at the long-delayed Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) Bechtel National of San Francisco is building at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state is generally satisfactory, but “significant challenges” remain with regard to addressing deficiencies already discovered at the former plutonium production site, DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments stated in a report […]

A dozen workers were evaluated Thursday for possible exposure to chemical vapors during work to empty the Hanford Site double-shell tank with an interior leak and transfer the waste to a sturdier double-shell tank. Pumping to remove waste from Tank AY-102 has been stopped due to the possible vapor issues, according to the Department of […]