RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Office of River Protection contractor Washington River Protection Solutions awarded a subcontract procuring a spare reboiler for the 242-A Evaporator in accordance with a milestone set in the April 12, 2016 federal court-issued S...
December 29, 2016
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The reboiler is key to the 242-A Evaporator, which creates needed space in Hanford’s tanks by concentrating liquid tank waste.
RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Office of River Protection contractor Washington River Protection Solutions awarded a subcontract procuring a spare reboiler for the 242-A Evaporator in accordance with a milestone set in the April 12, 2016 federal court-issued Second Amended Consent Decree between DOE and the Washington State Department of Ecology.
The purchase was completed on Nov. 15, 2016 through a subcontract with ABW Technologies of Arlington, Wash. to design, fabricate, test, assemble and deliver the reboiler to the Hanford Site. The consent decree requires DOE to purchase the spare reboiler by Dec. 31, 2016 and have it available for use by Dec. 31, 2018.
The evaporator is important to EM’s mission of safely and efficiently managing 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical wastes stored in 177 underground tanks. The facility creates needed storage space by periodically concentrating liquid tank waste. The reboiler is a key component of that process. As waste slurry passes through the reboiler’s 364 internal tubes, it is heated by steam and then flows into the main evaporator vessel, where water in the heated slurry is boiled off under a partial vacuum.