Finishing the Job: Hanford Crews Complete Fuel Bunker Demolition Near River

Heavy equipment operators with Hanford Site contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company demolish a 1950s-era fuel oil bunker that supported operations at the K West Reactor.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Heavy equipment operators have dealt a final blow to an underground fuel oil bunker built 70 years ago at the Hanford Site. The demolition clears away the remaining structure and supports the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management’s risk-reduction activities near the Columbia River.

The more than 12,000-square-foot building once stored fuel for the K West Reactor. The fuel tanks were emptied decades ago, and most of the structure was demolished in 2022, but two 23-foot-tall concrete walls remained until this year. Crews from contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company recently tore down the remaining walls and roof supports.

The rubble was hauled to Hanford’s regulated disposal facility, and nearly 300 truckloads of clean soil were used to backfill the dig site, leaving the area in a safe configuration.