Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions released an expression of interest late last week seeking companies capable of removing cesium from tanks in preparation for eventual processing of the liquid waste at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. Out of the 57 million gallons of underground tank waste at Hanford, about 4 million to 6 million gallons will need to undergo treatment for cesium removal before it can be vitrified at WTP, according to the EIO. “A select volume of waste, primarily within AP tank farm, could be treated with commercial ion exchange processes at-tank to match low-activity waste acceptance criteria at WTP. This treatment effort would allow startup and operation of the WTP Low Activity Waste (LAW) facility much earlier than final WTP completion. Current construction progress and planning has established that the LAW sub-facility of the WTP will be available to vitrify low-activity waste by December 2017,” the EOI states.
Weapons Complex Monitor Vol. 31 No. 11
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Morning Briefing
Article of 13
March 17, 2014
WRPS SEEKING COMPANIES FOR AT-TANK CESIUM REMOVAL
The cesium-removal systems should be mounted on skids or be adapted to an approach that would allow waste to be treated by up to several modules. One option calls for waste to be pumped from the tank farm to the cesium-removal module and back to storage tanks until it is ready to be processed at WTP. Alternatively, the cesium removal system could be located “in-line the flow to WTP,” with a goal of pumping enough feed to produce one to five vitrified canisters a day. About 7,500 gallons of feed would be needed to generate one canister a day, according to the EOI. The system should be ready by Fiscal Year 2014, with operations anticipated by December 2017. Responses are due June 13.
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