A worker at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state used a fire extinguisher to snuff out a small blaze within an administrative office at 242-A Evaporator facility, a federal safety board reported Feb. 3.
An initial investigation identified the cause as “a lit candle that ignited combustible material while briefly left unattended,” according to the regular weekly staff report from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB).
Amentum-led contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is doing additional investigation and auditing workspaces for similar hazards, according to the DNFSB report. A sprinkler system at the building is not currently operational due to maintenance, according to a DOE spokesperson. Regular fire watches are taking place every four hours, the spokesperson added.
The 242-A Evaporator, located within Hanford 200 East Area, boils liquid tank waste to evaporate water and reduce the volume of waste stored in the site’s underground tanks, according to DOE. According to DOE, the evaporator facility, which has been undergoing upgrades in preparation for a return to service, was offline at the time of the fire.
The same DNFSB report also said a sprinkler system at Hanford’s Solid Waste Operations Complex is not currently operational because of corrosion. Two contractors, Amentum-led Central Plateau Cleanup and Leidos-led Hanford Mission Integration Solutions are working with DOE to fix the problem there, according to the DNFSB report.
The Solid Waste Operations Center has four main areas that store transuranic, low-level and mixed radioactive waste, in drums or boxes until final disposal, according to DOE.
