WRPS Release Two-Phase Plan to Address Tank Vapor Issues

Washington River Protection Solutions released a two-phase plan Tuesday to better protect Hanford workers from chemical vapors from tank waste. By the end of the first phase in September 2016, 30 of 47 recommendations made in an independent review of issues, the Hanford Tank Vapor Assessment Report, should be completed. The proposed strategies should reduce the current high reliance on administrative controls, such as ropes strung to keep workers away from potentially hazardous areas, and personal protective equipment, according to WRPS. Worker protection will move toward engineered controls, such as new ventilation systems, and technologies, such as new methods to detect vapors.

The implementation plan addresses all 47 recommendations, but results from Phase I will be used to inform the potential actions outlined in Phase II of the report and make sure the best actions are being pursued. The second phase will be highly dependent on the outcome of Phase I activities, the Department of Energy said. As vapor protection is improved, workers will continue to wear supplied-air respirators for most of the work in the Hanford tank farms. “We will take a very technical approach to any changes” to that requirement and make them for specific tank farms and specific activities, said Tom Fletcher, DOE assistant manager of the Hanford tank farms. Phase I is estimated to cost about $61 million, with $20 million of that spent this fiscal year and $41 million spent in fiscal 2016 as work ramps up to hire industrial hygiene workers, buy equipment and determine its capabilities, and collect and analyze data. A panel of experts named by DOE will monitor implementation of the plan, serving as an extra set of eyes, Fletcher said.