The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management said Tuesday crews from an Amentum-led contractor have finished important work to mitigate risk at the highly-contaminated 324 Building at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash.
Crews from Central Plateau Cleanup have finished stabilizing four hot cells at the the 324 Building, DOE said in a Tuesday press release.
The stabilization work at Cells A, B, C and D started last year and involved grouting old equipment and debris, according to the release. In an effort to avoid the spread of contamination, the work crews also applied a fixative agent to the interior walls of the cells, a pipe trench and exhaust ventilation ducts. Workers used manipulators and the remote-operated crane system, DOE said.
The 324 Building in Hanford’s 300 area operated from 1966 to 1996 and supported research on highly-radioactive materials, according to DOE.
“Workers postponed demolition operations in 2010 after discovering significant contamination under a portion of the building, which likely came from a previous spill of highly radioactive waste within the building,” according to a DOE website. Because the building is close to the Columbia River, removing the contamination and demolishing the building is a top priority for DOE, according to the website.
The Tri-City Herald newspaper has editorialized against the Donald Trump administration’s budget request for Hanford, saying among other things, it does not do enough to address the long-term concerns about the 324 Building.