Demolition has resumed on the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant, more than a month after a radiation spread was discovered on Jan. 27. In another key step forward toward demolishing the Department of Energy plant, external power was shut off on March 5. “It’s the first time in 60 years that the PFP Facility has not been powered off the grid,” said Kelly Wooley, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. deputy project manager at PFP.
Demolition resumed on March 8. The restart took longer than expected, in part because of an unusually cold and snowy winter. The water spray used to help contain the spread of contamination during open-air demolition turns to snow at cold temperatures. Personnel also conducted work carefully and deliberately in handling the debris pile of demolition waste, which is believed to be the source of the contamination spread.
The contamination spread’s specific point of origin was not identified, Wooley said. Workers did surveys and spot checks of material as it was loaded into containers to be hauled to a central Hanford disposal facility and, in some cases, cut into smaller pieces to fit into or more efficiently pack containers. But it was ultimately decided not to put a worker close enough to the pile for a forensic investigation to determine what material was responsible for the contamination spread, Wooley said. Radioactive material spread outside the project’s radiological boundaries as the debris pile was being moved using heavy equipment. It did not spread outside of the PFP campus or contaminate workers, either on their skin or internally.
