The Washington state Department of Ecology has postponed, for now, a second public meeting to seek input on management of waste storage tunnels at the PUREX Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, after the older of the two tunnels was found to be partially collapsed last May.
Since then work crews had by November 2017 stabilized the damaged tunnel with a concrete-like grout. The first public hearing was held March 14 in Richland, Wash., to discuss whether grouting would also be a good option for the other tunnel, which also has structural problems posing a risk of collapse.
The state had previously expected to start taking comments for 45 days in early May on future work plans at the tunnels by the U.S. Energy Department’s Richland Operations Office at Hanford and cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation. The comment period has been delayed, the Department of Ecology said in a May 1 email announcement.
Ecology agreed to the plan to grout Tunnel 1 as the best way to quickly respond to an emergency, the state said on its PUREX tunnel website. However, it says the Tunnel 2 situation is not an emergency and provides more time for study. “We’ll review Energy’s plans, then hold a second public comment period before deciding whether to allow the grouting,” the state agency said.
Public notices will be issued when dates for the meeting and comment period are determined, the state agency said. The tunnels store radioactive waste, mostly parts of large equipment, from the PUREX Plant. During the Cold War, the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant was used to process irradiated fuel rods to collect plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The Energy Department has yet to firm up an agreement to extend the existing liquid waste management contract at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina beyond its current May 31 expiration.
“The proposed extension of the liquid waste services contract has not been finalized at this point,” a DOE spokesperson said by email Thursday.
In March, DOE posted a public notice of its intention to extend the current contract for incumbent Savannah River Remediation for up to 10 months, through March 31, 2019. It is widely assumed the contractor will be given an extension of some duration. Savannah River Remediation got a five-month extension in December 2017.
Last October, DOE awarded of a 10-year, $4.7 billion follow-on contract to Savannah River EcoManagement: a partnership comprised of BWX Technologies, Bechtel, and Honeywell. But in February, the Government Accountability Office upheld a bid protest by a team made up of AECOM and CH2M. The GAO concluded DOE hadn’t received sufficient evidence to show the winner’s technology would work.
In April, DOE called upon all three bidding teams – the third being comprised of Fluor and Westinghouse – to submit their last best proposals for the SRS liquid waste management contract. A source has indicated DOE looking to announce the second-time-around winner by September.
A contract extension for Savannah River Remediation would bridge any gap in coverage.
The Savannah River Site has roughly 36 million gallons of Cold War era radioactive waste stored in underground tanks. The long-term contract covers liquid waste stabilization and disposal, and, eventually, operating the Salt Waste Processing Facility built by Parsons.
