A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has scheduled a data-gathering meeting for May 16 near the Hanford Site in Washington state. This will be the panel’s sixth meeting the committee to study supplemental treatment of low-activity radioactive waste at the Hanford Site in Washington state.
The Waste Treatment Plant being built at Hanford was never planned to be large enough to treat all low-activity waste held in underground tanks at the former plutonium production complex. About 90 percent of the 56 million gallons of waste is estimated to be low-activity material. A supplemental treatment method is expected to be needed to treat half or more of the low-activity waste.
The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017 recommended the Department of Energy commission an analysis of supplemental waste treatment options at Hanford and a peer review of the analysis by the National Academies. The analysis is considering vitrification, grouting, and steam reforming as treatment methods.
The Waste Treatment Plant will use vitrification, converting radioactive waste into a glass form for disposal. Under a federal court order, Hanford must begin treating low-activity waste by 2023.
The all-day meeting will start at 8:30 a.m. at the Three Rivers Convention Center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd. in Kennewick. Public comment will be heard at 5:15 p.m. The public can also view the meeting online.
