An ammonia leak prompted a take-cover alert Friday for 75 workers around the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, according to DOE.
The ammonia leak was reported by employees about 4:17 p.m. Pacific Time Dec. 20 around a holding tank for the plant, according to a press release Friday from Hanford’s emergency operations center. The plant is scheduled to start turning some of Hanford’s less-radioactive liquid waste into a glass form by August 2025.
The Hanford Fire Department responded to the call, isolated the leak and closed surrounding valves, DOE said in the release. Hanford managers issued a site alert, which is the lowest emergency level, and told workers in the 200 East Area to shelter in place.
The alert, and accompanying order to take cover, were lifted at 6:39 p.m., according to the release. No employees were hurt and there were no environmental impacts beyond the Hanford boundary, DOE said.
Once operational, the emissions control system for the Direct-Feed Low Activity Waste Facilities, will use ammonia to reduce the nitrogen oxides to levels allowed by the air permit. Currently, the Waste Treatment Plant ammonia system is not in operation, DOE said.
“As part of functional testing, the system is slightly charged with ammonia vapor and does not contain liquid ammonia,” DOE said in the Friday release.
Bechtel National, the builder of the Waste Treatment Plant, put out an ammonia fact sheet to employees in reaction to the leak. Ammonia is a colorless gas with many industrial applications, Bechtel said in the document. The plant is expected to use about 6,000 gallons of ammonia monthly once the low-activity waste facilities are operating. About 7,600 gallons will be stored on-site at any given time.
