Crews have started heating up the second melter for the Department of Energy’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the agency said Wednesday.
“Last year, the Hanford team successfully completed heat up of the first melter and poured the first non-radioactive test glass,” at the Waste Treatment Plant built by Bechtel, DOE said in an announcement.
Crews have started to heat up the second melter, which will continue over the next several weeks until the melter reaches its operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to DOE.
Heating up the second melter is considered a big step by DOE toward solidifying less radioactive tank waste at Hanford’s Direct-Feed-Low-Activity Waste Facilities during the first half of 2025.
“Heating up our second melter is a significant accomplishment – even more so as we are doing it while operating melter 1 and performing system grooming in the process cell,” said Bechtel’s Waste Treatment Plant project manager Brian Hartman in an email to employees.
