PHOENIX—— The Department of Energy could ultimately solidify between 20 million and 30 million gallons of lower-level radioactive liquid waste at the Hanford Site into a concrete-like grout form, a senior manager at the nuclear cleanup site said here Wednesday.
DOE managers at the Hanford Site in Washington state are talking with commercial providers on whether the grouting should be done locally, said Delmar Noyes. DOE should decide by the end of the year and will then be pursuing the appropriate permits from the Washington state Department of Ecology.
Grouting was endorsed in the recently-finalized Holistic settlement between DOE and the state on Hanford issues. Noyes, DOE assistant manager for tank waste, made his remarks during a panel on Hanford issues at the Waste Management Symposia here.
Last year, Hanford completed a 2,000-gallon demonstration where tank waste was pretreated to remove many radionuclides before being shipped to out-of-state disposal sites: EnergySolutions in Utah and Waste Control Specialists in Texas.
The 2,000-gallons will be shipped out of state in DOE-approved “totes” this spring, Noyes said. There has been opposition in the Pacific Northwest about the radioactive waste traveling over public roads before it is solidified, Noyes acknowledged. Before large-scale grouting is approved, DOE is looking at local grout options.
Perma-Fix, which worked with DOE on the Test Bed Initiative, has grout facilities at its local plant a mile outside the Hanford Site, officials here have said.
