Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
5/23/2014
Top Department of Energy and contractor officials from Hanford said this week they are working to achieve “a final answer” to address long-standing concerns over tank vapors at the site. Savannah River National Laboratory has been tasked with conducting a review of the issue after more than 25 workers at Hanford received medical evaluations this spring for possible exposure to chemical vapors from the site’s underground waste tanks. The SRNL review “once and for all get us to a predictable workspace relative to vapors,” Dave Olson, President and Project Manager for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, said at a House Cleanup Caucus briefing on the DOE Office of River Protection. “We’ll get to the final answer relative to a symptom-free vapor work space,” Olson said.
The SRNL review is set to begin work at Hanford in early June, and to report its findings in September. It will be the third review performed on the tank vapor issue in recent years. When asked at this week’s briefing how the SRNL review will differ from its predecessors, DOE Office of River Protection Manager Kevin Smith said, “We need to take a fundamental look at the entire solution, not just parts of it. … We need to look at the engineering requirements of how do we design it and how do we fix it once and for all.” Olson added, “This time around we have to make the engineering investments in the infrastructure. … How do you practically make those [exhaust] stack extensions? How do you practically scrub out vapors to get them down to even 10ths of a percent … and then if you have concerns at that point, how do you protect the worker in a safe way that doesn’t require a 35-[pound] air [system] on their back?”
Some of the potential solutions to the tank vapor issue could be “simple things,” Smith said, such as the use of orchard fans. “Some of these solutions may just be innovative. Some may be things that are available to us today,” he said. And while DOE has come under some criticism for its choice of SRNL to perform the review, Smith defended the lab’s participation. “You can’t get any more independent than a national laboratory, particularly a national laboratory from another location,” he said. “They pride themselves on their integrity, their peer review status for holding each other accountable, and Savannah River National Lab is just the ideal one with its own waste tanks.” Smith also noted that a member of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trade Council labor union will be on the review team. “We’re going to be transparent to the workforce. We’re going to be transparent to the union. So I think they were pleased to be invited to participate and be a full participant in the activity,” he said.
