The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management Hanford team has advanced the cleanup of the Hanford Site, Washington State, after completing seven months of removing radioactive waste from a 24th underground storage tank.
Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure (H2C) staff transferred about 79,000 gallons of waste from single-shell Tank A-106 to a double-shell tank for safer storage and added leak protection. To date, around 3.5 million gallons of waste has been removed from 24 single-shell tanks at the Hanford Site, which was used as a production plant for the US’ nuclear weapons programme.
Hanford field office manager Ray Geimer comments: ‘We’re not just emptying tanks, we’re creating momentum. Every completed retrieval reduces the risk in the single-shell tanks and positions more waste for treatment through our dual glass-plus-grout strategy, allowing us to safely increase the pace of progress.’
Phil Breidenbach, H2C’s chief operating officer, says: ‘This achievement reflects the expertise and determination of the H2C workforce, who continue to push the limits of available technology to safely retrieve this challenging waste. We’re proud to support the DOE in making steady, measurable strides toward a cleaner Hanford for future generations.’
