The Hanford Site’s Richland Operations Office estimates it needs a budget of $1.015 million in fiscal 2018 to meet Tri-Party Agreement and other regulatory requirements for the ongoing cleanup of the former plutonium production installation in Washington state. That would be an increase of more than $200 million above the Obama administration’s fiscal 2017 request, putting it a little above the current budget of $990 million. The fiscal 2018 proposal assumes deadline extensions will be approved for the Tri-Party Agreement for some work in central Hanford. The Office of River Protection has yet to release its fiscal 2018 estimate, but has prepared a list of work planned for the year.
The proposed Richland Operations Office work plan for fiscal 2018 would include a significant increase for river corridor cleanup work, after the fiscal 2017 budget request listed just $29 million for those operations. Some $173 million is included in the fiscal 2018 proposal. DOE is proposing that long-lead procurements be started next year for the highly radioactive spill under the 324 Building, which will require a robotic system to be installed within the structure. In fiscal 2018 procurements would continue, with mock-up testing also done to prepare to retrieve the spill. The remediation of the 618-10 Burial Ground vertical pipe units would continue next year and be completed in fiscal 2018. The budget for the K Area sludge work would drop from about $69 million proposed for fiscal 2017 to $53 million in the following budget. Next year, cold commissioning and startup and readiness activities to remove the sludge are planned, with sludge removal possibly started in fiscal 2018.
Spending in the Central Plateau would increase from the $632 million in both the current budget and in the latest budget request to $678 million under the fiscal 2018 proposal. Work to tear down the Plutonium Finishing Plant should be completed by 2018, freeing up the $148 million in the present budget. Numbers for specific projects are difficult to compare with current spending as DOE moves to a new budgeting system for site-wide services and infrastructure upgrades. However, proposals show DOE would plan to increase spending on soil and water remediation from $140 million requested for the next budget year to $177 million in fiscal 2018. Work in fiscal 2018 would include completing a design for a pad to hold nearly 2,000 capsules of cesium and strontium in dry storage and starting procurement of the storage casks. The capsules now are stored underwater in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility in central Hanford, but questions have been raised about possible damage to the facility in a severe earthquake. More money also would be spent on soil and water remediation, with work continuing on characterization and decisions needed for final records of decision. The fiscal 2018 proposal also includes funds for demolition of the U Plant Canyon, but that is expected to be delayed because the plant does not pose a high environmental risk.
The Office of River Protection plans to conduct five 242-A Evaporator campaigns in fiscal 2018 to reduce liquid waste in double-shell tanks and free up space for waste retrieval from single-shell tanks. It would initiate waste retrieval at two single-shell tanks in the AX Farm. Work at the Waste Treatment Plant would move forward in fiscal 2018 to support waste processing at the Low-Activity Waste Facility (LAW) as soon as 2022. Construction would start on the Low-Activity Waste Pretreatment System to prepare certain tank waste for direct feed to LAW. Construction and engineering of LAW would be completed and it would be turned over from construction to startup of systems teams. Startup testing of the Analytical Laboratory to support LAW also would begin in fiscal 2018.
