DOE LOOKING TO EXPAND HANFORD VIT PLANT TECHNICAL REVIEW

The Department of Energy is gearing up to expand a review now underway of technical issues at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. At an all-hands meeting at Hanford yesterday, Office of River Protection Manager Scott Samuelson outlined DOE’s plans to add additional technical teams to the review, which is being performed by a set of scientific experts selected by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. The makeup of the additional teams and what specific issues they will examine remains unclear. DOE did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

 

Chu’s team of experts were initially tasked to examine technical challenges related to the so-called “black cells” of the WTP—areas of the plant where vessels and other components are located that will be too radioactive for workers to enter for maintenance work or other purpose once the WTP goes into operation. The review, plans for which Chu announced during a visit to Hanford in June, was initially set to examine the WTP’s ability to detect equipment failures and make repairs in the black cells. Chu and his team made an initial visit to Hanford in early September. It remains to be seen when the review will be completed.