The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is draining the last large concrete basin at the Hanford Site that stored reactor fuel rods during the World War II and Cold War era plutonium production mission.
Workers are pumping out contaminated water from the 1.2m gallon basin in the K West Reactor and hauling it by tanker truck to a nearby treatment facility. Completing this project improve protection of groundwater and the Columbia River as the cleanup effort at Hanford progresses.
“Getting the contaminated water out of this basin is a key step in our risk-reduction mission,” said Andy Wiborg, EM’s Acting Deputy Assistant Manager for River & Plateau Clean-up. “This effort will eliminate the risk of a leak of contaminated water to the groundwater about a quarter-mile from the Columbia River.”
The K West Reactor and nearby K East Reactor were built in the 1950s and operated through the early 1970s to irradiate uranium fuel rods for chemical processing to produce plutonium. The basins in both reactors also stored irradiated fuel from the last operating nuclear reactor at Hanford, N Reactor.
The Hanford team will drain the basin and stabilise it with grout for future demolition. Teamwork among Hanford contractors is a key factor in the ongoing success of the project.
EM contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) is leading the project and has filled more than 60 tanker trucks to date holding about 8,000 gallons each. Contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions is driving them to an onsite treatment facility. Washington River Protections Solutions will process the wastewater at Hanford’s Effluent Treatment Facility to remove contaminants for disposal in lined, engineered trenches.
The K West Reactor basin is 125 feet long and 65 feet wide and was filled with 16 feet of water when operating. The water cooled the uranium fuel pushed out of the reactor core and shielded workers from radiation as they stood above on grates to move the fuel into storage bins.
To prepare the basin for draining, clean-up workers stood on the same grates and used long-handled tools to move radioactive equipment and debris into underwater bins and steel tubes. The debris included canisters that held used fuel, canister racks, pumps, hoses, hand tools, construction materials, and components of a water treatment system.
“The work by multiple teams to characterise, sort and stage debris in the basin has made it possible for us to begin to remove the water and prepare for grouting the basin,” said CPCCo’s Mike Kruzic, who manages closure projects at the reactor area. “It is also great to see the teamwork between three Hanford contractors committed to advancing this risk-reduction project.”
In addition to the K East and K West reactors the Hanford Site is also home to approximately 56m gallons of radioactive tank waste stored in 177 underground tanks, representing one of DOE’s largest environmental risks and most complex challenges. The tank waste is a result of nearly five decades of plutonium production during World War II.
