Most work resumed Monday on the Hanford Site’s SX Tank Farm after a stop-work order was lifted.
One or more workers called a halt to work Friday in the radioactive waste storage area out of safety concerns that a hole discovered the day before could impair the integrity of a nearby underground tank. However, a camera lowered into the hole showed it was just 3-feet deep.
“It is believed the cause of the hole is poor soil compaction and water drainage around a rock in the ground,” Hanford tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions said Monday. It concluded that a planned video inspection of the interior of the tank nearest the 2-foot-diameter hole was not needed and canceled it.
The hole was discovered after some initial work had been done to compact soil at the SX Tank Farm to prepare for laying an asphalt cover intended to keep precipitation out of the ground. Precipitation can drive contamination from past spills and leaks deeper into the ground at the Department of Energy cleanup site in Washington state.
Work had yet to resume as of Tuesday afternoon in a limited area, the 20-foot exclusion zone around the hole. Surveys have found no unexpected radiation or chemical vapors near the hole.