The U.S. Department of Energy and the Washington state Department of Ecology on Wednesday kicked off talks they hope will result in a mutually agreeable future plan to address key issues in management of radioactive tank waste at the Hanford Site.
While scant details were available at deadline, a DOE spokesperson confirmed the talks were underway.
“The discussions between DOE and Washington Department of Ecology began today,” the spokesperson said in a Wednesday evening email. “The Department appreciates the discussions with the Washington Department of Ecology regarding our shared objective of advancing this difficult cleanup in a manner that provides long-term benefits for local communities, the region, the state, and the nation.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also participating in the talks as the third signatory to the Tri-Party Agreement that sets milestones and schedules for cleanup of the complex that produced plutonium from the days of World War II through the Cold War.
There are currently 56 million gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical waste stored on-site in 177 underground storage tanks. Bechtel is building the Waste Treatment Plant at Hanford to convert much of that material into a glass form for disposal.
Ecology Department Director Maia Bellon in May called for a frank discussion about remediation of tank waste at Hanford, and said the state could take DOE to court if they cannot work things out. The state is dismayed by DOE’s ability to meet deadlines set in the Tri-Party Agreement, as well as a federal court consent decree issued in 2010 on cleanup deadlines.
The Energy Department manager for both the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection at Hanford, Brian Vance, formally agreed to joint negotiations on Sept. 11. In agreeing to the talks, Vance said the goal is to conclude negotiations by July 31, 2020.
The state is concerned that DOE has already missed certain deadlines, and that it will miss a 2040 Tri-Party deadline for removing 56 million gallons of waste from single-shell tanks and then fail to treat all the waste by 2047. It also wants to ensure Bechtel meets the court-ordered deadlines of 2023 to begin vitrifying low-activity waste and 2036 to start treating high-activity material.
