WRPS COMPLETES WASTE RETRIEVAL FROM 10th HANFORD TANK

Washington River Protection Solutions has completed waste retrieval activities at the tenth Hanford single-shell tank emptied to date, the Department of Energy announced yesterday. Waste retrieval activities began at the 530,000-gallon-capacity Tank C-109 in June 2007 using modified sluicing. By July 2008, bulk waste retrieval activities had been completed, leaving approximately 8,600 gallons of waste, and WRPS then switched to a chemical dissolution process to further remove waste. Now, the remaining material in the tank is “below the regulatory requirement of 360 cubic feet of waste remaining in the tank,” DOE said yesterday, adding that “a large percentage of the tank bottom is now visible.”