Eight More Hanford Pu Finishing Plant Buildings Torn Down

Eight more buildings at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant are gone as workers make way for the eventual teardown of the production portion of the plant. “As we prepare to demolish the facility, we’re ensuring that there is enough space around the main buildings to bring in heavy equipment and stage demolition debris,” said Mike Swartz, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. vice president for the Plutonium Finishing Plant. The eight buildings gone over the past month bring the total to 61 buildings demolished or removed at the plant since 2008. Recent work has included tearing down the long, 13,302-square-foot administration building built in the 1990s. An old security building that was original to the plant, which started operating in 1949, also was torn down. It covered 3,924 square feet and was sided with shingles containing asbestos that had to be removed before the building was demolished, Swartz said. The Department of Energy has a Tri-Party Agreement milestone to have the plant demolished to slab on grade in 2016.