In coming months, Hanford crews will build new access roads and install lighting, utilities, and support buildings.
Office of Environmental Management
January 14, 2020
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RICHLAND, Wash. – In coming months, Hanford crews will build new access roads and install lighting, utilities, and support buildings to ready the site’s disposal facility for low-activity tank waste immobilized in glass and treated at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).
EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) is upgrading the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) to provide a permanent, environmentally safe disposition of mixed low-level radioactive waste from WTP, including the low-activity vitrified waste from Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program.
“Preparations to support DFLAW are occurring across the Hanford Site, including the IDF, where waste generated from the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant will be disposed of,” said Gary Pyles, IDF federal project manager. “The operation of IDF will be a key component in the success of DOE’s waste treatment initiative.”
CHPRC crews recently removed old steam lines from around the facility to allow the construction of new access roads. The landscape will continue changing in the coming months, as preparations for operations continue.
“It’s exciting to play a role in the site’s key priority,” said Randy Havenor, CHPRC IDF project manager. “We have a strong safety record in operating the site’s existing landfill for low-level radioactive waste, and we will bring those practices to IDF.”
The IDF also has a sophisticated groundwater protection system that collects leachate, which is water from dust suppression, rain, and snow, for treatment.
Crews expect to finish the IDF infrastructure upgrades this fall, with permitting and workforce training scheduled for completion in 2021.