Hanford waste moved to double-shell tank

Crews at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state have relocated 430,000 gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste from an old single-shell underground tank into a newer double-shell one, DOE said Tuesday.

BWX Technologies-led contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) oversaw the transfer to a newer double-shell tank from Single-Shell Tank A-101, DOE’s Office of Environmental Management said in a news release.

Crews started the work in the summer of 2024. The workers broke up the waste using pressurized water and remote-controlled equipment, DOE said.

This makes the 22nd single-shell tank to undergo this type of waste transfer, according to the Office of Environmental Management release. The next such transfer is slated for this fall with Tank A-102 this fall.

The Hanford Site produced 74 tons of plutonium for the nuclear weapons program between 1944 and 1989. As a result, Hanford holds roughly 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous sludge in 177 underground tanks, several of which have leaked.

Current plans call for the most of the tank waste to be fed into the nearby Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant where it would be converted into a solid glass form for disposal.

“This work addresses some of the most challenging and hazardous waste at Hanford,” said Katie Wong, program manager with the Hanford Field Office Tank Farms Programs Division.