Perma-Fix Looks to Add Evaporator System That Could Aid Hanford Cleanup
WC Monitor
9/26/2014
Perma-Fix Northwest is proposing adding an evaporation system to its suite of systems used to treat and package waste at its Richland, Wash., plant near Hanford. The new system would be used to treat water contaminated with mixed low-level radioactive waste, which could include metals and organics. “It could come from any location, but the real driver is water from Hanford,” said Richard Grondin, general manager of Perma-Fix Northwest. Hanford has used the Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) in central Hanford to treat up to 28 million gallons of waste water each year. The contaminated water comes from groundwater projects, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility and central Hanford mixed waste trenches, and secondary waste at the 242-A Evaporator. However, treatment operations are on hold at ETF until a heat exchanger can be replaced, said Department of Energy spokesman Geoff Tyree. The state said at a public meeting on the Perma-Fix proposal this week that a crack in the equipment there was fixed at least a year ago but another crack developed and it was shut down several months ago. “The department plans to continue operating ETF for the long term, and repairing the heat exchanger in the next year or so will put it back into service,” Tyree said.
DOE plans eventually to use ETF to treat the secondary waste from the Waste Treatment Plant, and it will be upgraded over the next few years to prepare for that. Having a facility at Perma-Fix to provide additional waste water treatment will give DOE flexibility should it need the capacity during long-term maintenance work, during upgrades or for other reasons, Tyree said. Although ETF is not treating waste water now, waste water continues to be stored in the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility, which is designed to hold 23 million gallons of liquid.
Perma-Fix Could Receive Hanford Water for Three-to-Four Years
Perma-Fix anticipates that Hanford wastewater could be sent to its proposed evaporation facility for three or four years, with Perma-Fix seeking other clients to help support its investment long-term, Grondin said. He estimated four tanker trucks a week could bring Hanford wastewater to its plant. The trucks would travel the same route from Hanford now used for contaminated debris sent to Perma-Fix, which includes 12 miles of public roads mostly across Hanford but with the last 1.5 miles in the city of Richland in an area that is mostly industrial. Shipments of liquid waste are not the same as shipments of solid waste, Grondin agreed, echoing comments made at the public meeting. But the Hanford “liquid that would come to us would have very low contamination,” he said. Contamination would include minimal amounts of low level radioactive waste, metals and organics. The shipments would meet Department of Transportation requirements and would not require road closures, he said.
Perma-Fix Wants to Have Facility Operating By End of 2015
The evaporator system would be added inside Perma-Fix’s Mixed Waste Facility, which has adequate space without an expansion, Grondin said. It would replace unused vitrification equipment installed by a previous owner of the plant. The new system would include two evaporators with the capacity of 260 gallons per hour each, with one available as back up. The waste water would be heated with natural gas to reduce the volume by at least 95 percent, Grondin said. The remaining brine would be grouted elsewhere in the Perma-Fix plant and if it came from Hanford, it would be returned to Hanford. The system would also include four storage tanks to hold a maximum 40,000 gallons combined and a smaller tank to hold brine. Tanker trucks would drive inside the building to unload liquid waste to provide containment in case of a spill.
Perma-Fix would like to have the evaporator facility ready to operate by the end of 2015 and expects to add four to six employees to the 53 it now has. The Washington State Department of Ecology has just started to review the Perma-Fix proposal, said Ron Skinnarland, a Department of Ecology manager. After issuing a draft modification to Perma-Fix’s existing permit, it will hold another public comment period. The first public comment period extends through Oct. 31 and comments may be submitted to [email protected]. Perma-Fix’s existing capabilities in Richland include systems to repackage transuranic waste, systems to compact or grout mixed low level waste and systems to reduce the volume of low level waste by burning or compacting.
