Nearly two decades after design and construction began on what became a $17-billion multi-part facility set to treat millions of gallons of nuclear waste stored in below-ground tanks at the U.S. Dept. of Energy Hanford former weapons site in eastern Washington, work has largely finished on one facility to treat the least contaminated but largest volume of site wastes to meet a cleanup deadline.

Bechtel National的建设完成将储罐废物处理和固定厂的关键部分转移到启动阶段，下一步在2021年底之前，将在“玻璃化”过程中永久发射两个300吨熔体中的第一步将核和化学废物变成玻璃原木，以永久性地埋葬。

DOE副秘书马克·梅内兹斯（Mark Menezes）在1月6日在设施内举行的虚拟活动中，以标记建筑的完成。”

The construction completion of this first facility in the treatment complex comes as DOEconfirms a decision to cancel其130亿美元的现场废物管理合同授予了BWXT-Fluor团队，以将处理工厂运营管理组合到其范围并重新提供扩大合同。

Long Haul

DOE says the new Low Activity Waste facility (LAW) has a target of treating 90% of 56 million gallons of the site’s buried radioactive waste by the end of 2023—a deadline set five years ago under a state and federal consent decree that dates to 1989.

Along with the LAW plant, the Bechtel team also completed an analytical lab to insure glass log quality, an effluent waste facility to treat plant-generated waste and 14 other process support structures. About 50% of the effluent facility systems have completed startup testing and the lab and all 14 support structures have done so to ensure process systems integrate and are ready for operations.

联邦法院在12月的一名法官同意将2023年的截止日期延长了几个月，因为现场工作影响了Covid-19。DOE将现场劳动力限制在3月23日的总数的约10％，从那以后工人逐步返回。

Brian Vance, a DOE Hanford site manager, said crews still met the consent decree deadline on construction and believe they can reach “hot commissioning” in 2023 without needing the additional time.

'Critical Step'

In recent years, DOE has focused on treating the low level waste, shifting attention and resources from initial plans to also treat and dispose of highly-contaminated waste, because of major technical glitches in design of that treatment process.

DOE also is developing a system to separate the low-level and high-level waste streams from 177 storage tanks and pump the former into the now completed treatment plant in 9,000-gal batches.

在2020年末,贝克特尔和油库承包商hington River Protection Solutions successfully tested 7,000 ft of piping that will move condensate produced during vitrification to a liquid effluent retention facility. The transfer lines to move pretreated waste from underground tanks to the LAW facility are “being installed,” according to a DOE update.

Hanford officials did not respond yet to an ENR query for further detail on the scope and status of the waste separation and pumping infrastructure.

Valerie McCain, Bechtel plant project director and a senior vice president, said starting the first melter—which will heat waste materials to 2,100° F to form glass for long-term safe storage—“is the first critical step in our commissioning process.”

她指出，必须建立系统测试，程序和培训。

The construction of what is said to be the world's largest plant to treat radioactive waste "is truly a scientific and engineering feat," said Sen. Maria Cantwell. (D-Wash). She and Sen. Patty Murry (D-Wash.) vowed to continue to fight for federal resources to ensure the ongoing cleanup at the 560-sq-mile Hanford site.

Hot Stuff

The new treatment plant is a 330-ft-long, 240-ft-wide and 90-ft-high concrete structure designed to mix waste with silica and other glass-forming materials before it reaches the two melters

在大约20英尺x 30英尺和16英尺的身高约20英尺，世界上最大的废玻璃融化将形成7英尺长和4英尺二木的容器中静止的玻璃，每个玻璃重量超过7吨。

During plant operations, the two melters will produce 30 tons of glass daily, ten times the capacity of the melter in operation at DOE's Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

DOE仍然没有完成汉福德高级废物处理的设计或建设的最终计划。

汤姆木匠,执行utive director of leading site watchdog group Hanford Challenge, supports the vitrification process, but has concerns about unresolved technical issues that he believes will delay treatment of both waste categories.

Dan McDonald, state Dept. of Ecology tank waste disposal project manager, said while the new treatment facility is far-reaching, much is yet to be accomplished. Still, the state “anticipates the startup to go smoothly and looks forward to seeing the plant in operation, on time, as planned.”