RICHLAND, Wash. – Ingenuity has led EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) to advance the challenging cleanup of highly contaminated underground vertical steel pipes containing radioactive waste.
December 15, 2016
minute read time
A worker uses an excavator to place a mixing box over the top of an exposed vertical pipe in mock testing.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Ingenuity has led EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) to advance the challenging cleanup of highly contaminated underground vertical steel pipes containing radioactive waste.
RL and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) devised a plan to expose the top portion of the 14 pipes, lower mixing boxes on them and cover the boxes with grout. Hydraulic shears will reduce the size of the thick-walled pipes and mix the pieces with the surrounding grout. Workers will move that material into steel shielding containers for disposal at the site’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF).
“Remarkable progress has been made on cleaning up the burial ground thanks to a committed team working safely and efficiently on this hazardous site,” EM River Corridor Closure Project Director Mark French said.
Workers finished mock-up testing to verify this remediation method and are on track to begin work this month.
The 7-5-acre site, known as the 618-10 Burial Ground, contains hazardous laboratory and other waste primarily generated at Hanford’s 300 Area, home to fuel manufacturing operations and experimental and laboratory facilities. The burial ground operated from 1954 to 1963.
The pipes are 14 to 15 feet high, requiring excavation in three 5-foot lifts to remove them. Once they’re taken out, workers can clean up the base soils.
Crews are remediating 80 other vertical pipes containing radioactive waste. Those pipes were constructed with welded-together 55-gallon drums or corrugated pipes. Their depth, unknown contamination levels, and difficult configurations make them challenging to treat and retrieve.
“We are making significant progress with our continued focus on safety and each other, our continued cooperation, our teamwork and our skillful approach to every task,” said Mike Jennings, CH2M’s 618-10 project manager.
Workers have removed 71 vertical pipes and disposed of them at ERDF. They also excavated a mass trench, pulling out more than 2,070 radioactive drums, with an estimated 180 drums remaining. The team is also remediating two adjacent waste sites, all expected to be completed in 2018.