The Washington Department of Ecology is taking public comment through March 25 on proposed modifications to the state’s permit for key equipment used to help control liquid waste volume in underground tanks at the Department of Energy’s Hanford site.
The original transfer lines that connect double-shell tanks holding radioactive waste to the 242-A Evaporator flunked pressure tests in 2018 and need to be replaced, according to a notice from the state Department of Ecology.
The DOE’s Office of River Protection at Hanford and contractor Washington River Protection Solutions are seeking approval for facility upgrades associated with new transfer lines from double-shell tanks to the evaporator, according to a state notice.
The actual construction of the lines is occurring under interim status regulations for the double-shell tank system and is not part of the comment period, the state said.
“Specifically, this modification allows penetrating a wall to install the transfer lines and to perform modifications in the pump room,” according to the state notice. The new lines should allow the evaporator to continue treating waste from the double-shell tanks and reducing waste volume in those tanks, in turn allowing for continued waste retrievals from single-shell tanks.
The evaporator also collects and stores the condensate, and transfers it to the Liquid Effluent Retention Facility for further treatment.
The evaporator is located in the 200 East area of the former plutonium production complex. It heats liquid tank waste to evaporate water to reduce the volume of waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks that hold about 56 million gallons of waste from plutonium production.
A public hearing is not currently scheduled but the state will hold one if there is sufficient interest, according to the notice.
