By John Stang
Hanford might not finish solidifying its most radioactive tank wastes until 2062 to 2084, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report released Thursday.
Right now, Hanford’s legal deadline is 2052 to solidify the 56 million gallons of waste held in 177 underground tanks at the former plutonium production complex. Between 5 million and 6 million gallons of those wastes are high-level radioactive wastes while roughly 50 million gallons are less radioactive, low-activity wastes.
The report, dated Jan. 13 and officially called an analysis of alternatives, looked at 20 scenarios for separating the high-level wastes from the rest of the material in the tanks and immobilizing it into a benign, glass-like solid. The scenarios cover different engineering permutations of separating the wastes, preparing it for glassification, and then sending the material through melters to be mixed with glass.
The analysis report concluded 11 of these scenarios are viable.
The report then looked at each option under two financial criteria. One assumes an annual construction and operations budget for the high-level rate melting plant of $2.5 billion a year. The second assumes an “unconstrained” budget, meaning the high-level waste facility will receive as much funding from Congress as it needs each year.
According to a July 2022 Government Accountability Office report, Hanford’s glassification budget for 2022 was $861 million. The estimated need for 2023 was $2.1 billion. This will increase to $3.7 billion by 2029, the office estimated.
Hanford’s glassification complex is supposed to eventually consist of one high-level waste facility and two low-activity waste facilities.
So far, only one low-activity waste melting facility has been built, but it is still undergoing ramping-up tests and repairs. It is legally supposed to be operating by no later than mid-2025, though Hanford hopes it will begin making glass sooner. No schedules have been nailed down on building the second low-activity-waste melting facility and the high-level waste facility.
Thursday’s analysis report assumes the yet-to-be-built high-level-waste plant will glassify wastes beginning in 2033. The 11 scenarios have finish-glassification dates ranging from 2062 to 2084 — assuming unconstrained annual budgets. With limits set at $2.5 billion a year, the completion dates will be farther in the future, according to the analysis of alternatives.
The cost estimates for the 10 best scenarios range from $20 billion to $41 billion to cover the construction and operating costs through the life of the plant. The 11th scenario would cost only $9 billion for construction and lifetime operations. But this was rated much weaker in effectiveness than the other 10, according to the analysis.
The analysis of alternatives does not make a recommendation about which option to take.
The Washington Department of Ecology and DOE have been in closed-door talks on numerous Hanford clean-up matters for three years, with both sides silent on specifics. Last August, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the results of those talks will determine how much money DOE will request annually for the glassification project.
