The Tri-Party agencies have approved extending milestones for much of the central Hanford Site cleanup work under the Department of Energy Richland Operations Office, but not before incorporating changes in response to public comments.
The Tri-Party agencies – DOE and its regulators, the Washington state Department of Ecology, and the Environmental Protection Agency – proposed the sweeping change package to the legally binding Tri-Party Agreement in October. At the time, John Price, the Tri-Party Agreement section manager for the Department of Ecology, said it would be among the 10 most significant change packages in the history of the 27-year-old document addressing cleanup from plutonium production operations at Hanford. The approved milestone changes were made public Thursday.
The Tri-Party agencies had proposed removing a milestone requiring most cleanup on the Hanford Central Plateau – with the exception of waste storage tanks and fuel processing canyons – to be completed in 2024. It would be replaced with “to be determined,” so that a milestone could be set with confidence after work plans had been prepared and records of decision signed, the agencies said. But at public meetings and in written comments the agencies heard that the public wanted a firm date. In response, the Tri-Party Agreement now requires that work to be completed in 2042.
The Tri-Party agencies have long known that the Central Plateau milestones as they stood before the new extensions were approved were not achievable. The Richland Operations Office has been focused on River Corridor cleanup at Hanford under a plan to accomplish most of that work first and then concentrate on the Central Plateau. Approval of the new milestones reflects that focus.
Three new milestones were added to the change package due to public concerns. The agencies’ October proposal had called for cleanup of the 324 Building, which sits atop a highly radioactive spill into the ground, to be completed in 2021, a three-year extension. That change was added to the Tri-Party Agreement. But to reassure the public, an additional milestone of September 2019 was added for the excavation of the spill that must be performed by workers operating equipment remotely.
Another milestone was added to address public concerns over what might be in the waste storage tunnels at the PUREX processing plant. It requires submission of data quality objectives report for assessing the structural integrity of the tunnels by September 2017. Also added was a milestone to by September 2018 initiate characterization of unlined trenches used for the burial of possible transuranic waste before 1970. A proposed milestone to complete cleanup of the 618-11 Burial Ground by September 2021, an extension of three years, was adopted despite much public feedback to allow either more or less time. The schedule for work on the burial ground is somewhat uncertain as it requires discussion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The burial ground is adjacent to the parking lot for the Northwest’s only operating commercial nuclear reactor, the Columbia Generating Station.
Other central Hanford milestones were adopted as proposed in October. The milestone to complete the remedial investigation and feasibility study process for Central Plateau cleanup units, other than tanks and processing canyons, has been extended from the end of 2016 to mid-2026. DOE must submit dates for completion of canyon cleanup in mid-2026, an extension from September 2022.
“The public was really clear on its values during the public comment period,” Price said. “We appreciate the feedback form the public and agree on the new milestones DOE added.”
Dennis Faulk, the EPA Hanford program manager, said officials heard similar comments both from the public who live near Hanford and those elsewhere in the Northwest, which is not usually the case. The public also recognized that the timeline for completing work was tied to available funding, he said.
The extended milestones were set with a goal of being achieved with realistic budgets, Faulk said. In the past, regulators have proposed milestones and told DOE to find the money. Had the milestones not been changed, the Richland Operations Office would have needed $1.7 billion this year. Its budget is just under $1 billion. The revised milestones have been estimated to require an annual Richland Operations Office budget of about $1.2 billion.
