The Department of Energy and its Amentum-led contractor have suspended work stabilizing the 324 Building within the Hanford Site in Washington state after discovering far more radiologically-contaminated soil underneath than previously thought.
Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have confirmed that “a much larger volume of highly contaminated soil will need to be remediated at the site,” a DOE spokesperson said by email late Friday, June 30.
The federal agency did not say how much contaminated soil is now believed to be under the building and merely said the situation was discovered “earlier this year.”
As a result, DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal regulator for DOE cleanup at the former plutonium production complex, agreed to suspend work pending development of a plant to ensure safety of workers as well as protection of the nearby Columbia River, the spokesperson said.
Updated cleanup plans will be developed and vetted through the usual review processes, DOE said in a followup email on Monday, July 3. “Any changes to the cleanup approach will follow applicable regulatory processes including, as appropriate, soliciting tribal and public input.”
“Hanford’s 324 Building remains in a safe and stable configuration,” the spokesperson said. “Despite contaminated soils beneath the structure that have existed and remained stable for decades, existing monitoring indicates no migration of contamination into groundwater,” the spokesperson said.
Demolition of 324, a former research building used between the 1960s and 1996, has been held up since 2010 after workers discovered significant contamination under one of the building’s hot cells, according to a DOE fact sheet. Addressing the 324 building is a priority for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a Senate Appropriations Committee member.
This latest setback to cleanup of the building, within Area 300 at the Hanford complex, was reported late last week by the Tri-City Herald.
The Biden administration in its DOE appropriation request language for fiscal 2024 sought $131 million for decommissioning and demolition of facilities along the river corridor, down from $171 million in fiscal 2023, including money for “preparation and cleanout necessary” to support remote excavation of the 324 building.
