Staff Reports
WC Monitor
12/11/2015
Bechtel National has reached at least the 80 percent mark for design, procurement, and construction of the buildings at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant that will not deal with high-level radioactive waste, according to an update from the Department of Energy. DOE and Washington state would like the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the vitrification plant to be treating low-activity radioactive waste for disposal at Hanford in 2022. The facility, the third largest on the vitrification plant’s 65-acre campus, would be supported by the Analytical Laboratory and about 20 support facilities that DOE calls the Balance of Facilities. Work to resolve technical issues at the Pretreatment Facility and the High-Level Waste Facility – which are not included in the 80 percent figure — is not projected to be completed until September 2019, according to documents filed in federal court for the Hanford consent decree case. Some redesign might be required before construction can resume after technical issues are resolved.
Design, procurement, and construction of the Low-Activity Waste Facility is at least 75 percent complete, according to DOE. The building is 330 feet by 240 feet and 90 feet tall. Bechtel National employees have been working on the refractory for the lids of the facility’s two glass melters in recent months. Workers mix cement-like castable refractory until it resembles wet concrete. It hardens to provide superior heat resistance for the glass melters, according to Bechtel. The melters will weigh 300 tons each and will be the largest waste glass melters in the world, the company says.
Also this year, the last of the bulk piping for the Low-Activity Waste Facility arrived at Hanford. The first piping was shipped to the site in 2003. More than 110,000 feet of piping, or nearly 21 miles, has been installed in the facility. Installation of all 115,000 feet should be completed in 2017, according to Bechtel.
Washington state considers construction of the Analytical Laboratory substantially complete, according to documents it has filed in the consent decree case. However, the purchase of hot cells and other equipment needed only for high-level radioactive waste will be delayed until closer to the start of processing of that waste. The lab will ensure the glass produced at the plant meets regulatory standards and requirements. Lab workers will analyze samples to create “recipes” for glass-forming materials for batches of waste and also will analyze samples collected throughout the vitrification process to ensure a high-quality product.
The construction of the Balance of Facilities, which provide the support infrastructure for the plant, is at least 80 percent complete, according to DOE. However, a new facility, the Effluent Management Facility, must be added to process secondary waste from the Low-Activity Waste Facility when proposed direct feed to that plant is started. The new facility is now being designed. The direct feed plan calls for some low-activity waste to be pretreated outside the vitrification plant rather than being sent to the plant’s Pretreatment Facility for processing as technical issues delay operation of the Pretreatment Facility.
Civil construction is proceeding on the High-Level Waste Facility, despite some work being temporarily halted for resolution of technical issues. The building will be 440 feet by 275 feet and stand 95 feet tall. This year, concrete work has been done at the 58-foot elevation of the building, which is the fifth of sixth levels planned at the facility.
