DOE, Bechtel enhance simulant to test vitrification of liquid tank waste

The Department of Energy and Bechtel National said Tuesday they have taken another incremental step in cold commissioning of a multi-billion-dollar plant to convert liquid radioactive tank waste into a solid glass form at the Hanford Site in Washington state.

Ammonia and nitrous oxide-producing chemicals are being introduced into the melters for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at Hanford. The move should better enable testing of a simulant designed to mimic the less-radioactive liquid waste from underground tanks at the Hanford Site, according to a DOE press release.

Adding these chemicals to the simulant will better enable DOE and Bechtel to test the Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste Facilities at the Waste Treatment Plant, DOE said. DOE is obligated to start making glass at Hanford in August.

Hanford has roughly 56 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste left over from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.

“Leadership from DOE and strong partnerships with the trade unions, suppliers, regulators, other Hanford contractors and local community have helped make this happen,” said Bechtel ‘s project director and senior vice president Brian Hartman.