Final steps. Eastern Washington radioactive waste tanks linked to treatment plant

The last piece of piping has been installed to move radioactive waste to the Hanford site vitrification plant, as final preparations are made to begin treating waste for disposal that has been stored since as early as World War II.

Construction started on the Waste Treatment Plant, or vit plant as it is called at Hanford, in 2002.

This summer the first radioactive waste from underground storage tanks is expected to be piped to the vitrification plant for treatment.

Linking the waste storage tanks to the vit plant was one of the final steps to ready the plant for turning radioactive waste into a stable glass form for disposal.

The Hanford nuclear site was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce almost two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

Among other waste left from that work are 56 million gallons of radioactive waste held in underground tanks, with the oldest of the tanks prone to leaking. The waste also includes hazardous chemicals left from chemically processing irradiated uranium fuel to extract the plutonium.

Initially, the least radioactive waste is being separated from the stew of waste in the tanks for treatment at the vitrification plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility.

Under a federal court order, the Department of Energy also must start treating high level radioactive waste from the tanks by 2033.

The vitrification plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility is currently producing glass that incorporates a nonradioactive waste simulant to verify the facility’s safe and reliable operation and to give the plant’s operators experience.

Some final testing also is being done on the exhaust system before the plant begins glassifying radioactive waste, said Brian Harkins, acting manager of the Hanford site for DOE.

Piping has been installed in recent years to connect the tank farms to the vitrification plant, including installing a 3,500-foot underground transfer line between the vitrification plant and Tank AP-106, one of 27 newer double-shell tanks in operation at Hanford.

Low activity waste, which has been separated out from the high-level waste in underground tanks, is staged there to be fed to the vitrification plant.

Tank AP-106 holds about 830,000 gallons of waste that has been pretreated and is ready for vitrification.

During routine vit plant operations, two waste transfers a day are expected to be sent from Tank AP-106 to the plant, totaling about 10,000 to 12,000 gallons.

DOE contractor Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure, called H2C, waited until shortly before waste treatment is to begin to install the last piece of piping to connect a radioactive waste tank to the vitrification plant.

“Installing this last piece of equipment involved months of coordination with treatment plant staff for awareness and safety,” said Carol Johnson, H2C president, in a statement.

Hanford workers now are practicing the procedures that will be used to transfer waste.

The initial waste treatment at the plant will be considered part of the process of commissioning the vitrification plant, which is under Bechtel National’s contract with DOE.

H2C’s contract includes not only managing underground tanks but also operation of the plant.

However, that transition is not expected for six to 18 months. Bechtel National will treat waste until DOE decides the timing is right for H2C to take over.

This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Final steps. Eastern Washington radioactive waste tanks linked to treatment plant."