Workers at the Hanford Site are preparing to start filling the PUREX Plant’s second waste storage tunnel with concrete-like grout as soon as this week, after the Washington state Department of Ecology on Friday approved the interim stabilization work to prevent collapse.
In May 2017, there was a partial collapse of the older and shorter of the two tunnels storing railcars loaded with failed and obsolete equipment contaminated with radioactive waste. That tunnel was quickly under emergency conditions with no public input.
The Department of Ecology, a Hanford regulator, ordered a structural review of the second tunnel after the collapse at the first tunnel was found. The second tunnel, which is 1,700 feet long and holds 28 railcars, was also determined to be at risk of collapse. Concerns increased this spring when a video inspection of the interior found corrosion in steel beams and in bolts used to anchor the beams to concrete arches.
The Energy Department asked the state to waive the public comment period so it could start grouting as soon as possible, which it said was early September. The Ecology Department refused to waive the public comment period, but permitted DOE to start preparing for grouting – warning that it would do so at its own risk since there was no guarantee that grouting would be approved.
“Communities in Washington state have a right to review and weigh in on important Hanford decisions,” Alex Smith, manager of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program, said on Friday. “We need to hear from the public to ensure that we made the best public decision.”
She said the state agency received about 70 comments, all of which were immediately reviewed. “In the end we must protect Hanford workers, and the surrounding communities and environment,” Smith said. “Grout is the best way to ensure the tunnel and its contents are safe until final decisions are mad on how to deal with the waste.”
On Sunday, Seattle-based Hanford watchdog group Heart of America Northwest criticized Ecology’s decision, saying it should have taken longer to consider public comments. The group’s executive director, Gerry Pollet, called it “the most outrageous and insulting disregard of public comment in the sad history of Hanford cleanup.”
