Crews Ship Sludge Away from River at Hanford

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) and its contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) safely and successfully shipped the first load of highly radioactive sludge away from the Columbia River to safer storage on the Hanford Site.

   The first shipment of sludge occurred late last month, about two weeks after crews began transferring the sludge from the 105-K West Reactor Basin, near the Columbia River, into large casks specially designed for transport to and storage at T Plant, about 10 miles away from the river.

   “Moving the sludge away from the Columbia River is very important from an environmental standpoint. We’ve completed cleanup of most of the areas along the river, so removing the sludge will allow us to remove the basin and complete cleanup of the 100-K Area,” said Mark French, director of RL’s River Corridor division.

   T Plant is a former plutonium-processing canyon at the center of the site where crews recently added secondary containment basins and leak detectors to keep the sludge storage containers in a safe configuration. 

   “The team at T Plant has done a great job over the last couple of years preparing for receiving the first shipment of sludge,” CHPRC Waste and Fuels Project Manager Rene Catlow said. “This is a new mission for the team, and their hard work and commitment shows.”

   Over the next year, there will be about two dozen sludge shipments to T Plant as crews retrieve the 35 cubic yards of sludge from the reactor basin, allowing for the eventual decommissioning of the 105-K West Reactor. The sludge will remain at T Plant until final disposition decisions are made.

   “Filling the first container of sludge and shipping it to T Plant without any significant issues represents years of engineering, design, testing, development, fabrication, construction and startup readiness,” said Ray Geimer, vice president for CHPRC’s sludge removal project.

   Sludge removal is expected to be complete in 2019.