The Department of Energy and contractor Bechtel National at the Hanford Site in Washington state have heated up the second melter at the vitrification plant to its operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The agency announced the heat up of the second melter in a Tuesday press release, calling it a big step toward operation of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. The plant is expected to start converting some of Hanford’s less-radioactive tank waste into a glass form in the first half of next year.
DOE announced earlier this month it had started heating up the second 300-ton melter at the vitrification plant.
With both melters hot enough to operate, crews will start running a non-radioactive simulant through plant systems over the next several months, according to the DOE release.
Once a molten glass pool is established, the startup heaters will be removed and replaced with bubblers, equipment that will mix the molten glass with air and maintain an even temperature.
Bechtel started working on the vitrification plant in December 2000 under a contract that is now valued at $15.5 billion, and currently runs through September.
There are roughly 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical tank waste at Hanford, the remnants of decades of plutonium production for U.S. nuclear weapons.
