The Washington Department of Ecology is taking public comment through March 25 on proposed modifications to the state’s permit for key equipment used to help control liquid waste volume in underground tanks at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site.
The original transfer lines that connect double-shell tanks holding radioactive waste to the 242-A Evaporator flunked pressure tests in 2018 and need to be replaced, according to a notice from the state Department of Ecology.
The DOE and contractor Washington River Protection Solutions are seeking approval for facility upgrades associated with new transfer lines from double-shell tanks to the evaporator, according to a state notice.
The actual construction of the lines is occurring under interim status regulations for the double-shell tank system and is not part of the comment period, the state said.
“Specifically, this modification allows penetrating a wall to install the transfer lines and to perform modifications in the pump room,” according to the state notice. The new lines should allow the evaporator to continue treating waste from the double-shell tanks and reducing waste volume in those tanks.
The evaporator is located in the 200 East area of the former plutonium production complex. It heats liquid tank waste to evaporate water to reduce the volume of waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks that hold about 56 million gallons of waste.
The New Mexico Environment Department has scheduled a virtual community engagement meeting Thursday Feb. 25 to discuss issues on the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, including radioactive contamination found on a public road outside the federal complex.
The session, which will be held via Webex, is planned from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mountain Time.
The purpose of such regularly scheduled meetings is to encourage discussion of topics related to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) activity at the DOE lab. During the session there will be an update on air monitoring data associated with the DP Road contamination.
In February 2020, Los Alamos County workers digging up an old utility line as part of preparation for a new housing complex, unearthed unknown radiological materials near an old disposal site on land deeded from DOE to the county several years ago.
While some large debris has already been extracted from the DP Road site and taken to a disposal site in Texas, much analysis and reclamation remains to be done, state and local officials have said. The DOE has submitted a cleanup plan to the state.
In addition, NMED’s Department of Energy Oversight Bureau will provide an overview of how to search publicly available information on a database on the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
To submit questions ahead of time, contact NMED’s Oversight Bureau Chief Chris Catechis at 505-469-6521 or [email protected].
Questions can still be asked during the meeting. The Webex link and meeting information can be found here.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee plans a hearing Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time to consider President Joe Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to serve as secretary of the interior.
She was nominated by Biden on Jan. 20. Should she eventually be confirmed it would create a vacant set in New Mexico’s 1st congressional district, which includes Albuquerque and the Sandia National Laboratories facilities.
If Haaland is confirmed, a special election will be held in to fill the vacancy within 90 days.Because of the limited time, there will be no primaries but central committees of the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian Parties will select candidates for the race, according to a report by KRQE television.
A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Haaland was elected to congress in November 2018. She serves as co-chair of the House of Representatives Native American Caucus. She has voiced opposition to establishment of an interim nuclear waste storage facility proposed by Holtec in southeastern New Mexico.
