Bechtel National has begun pouring the concrete basemat for a new facility that will do some of the work of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility a decade before it is expected to be operating. To start vitrifying low-activity waste at the Waste Treatment Plant as soon as 2022, the new Effluent Management Facility will be needed to handle secondary waste from vitrification, work that had been planned to be done at the Pretreatment Facility. The Pretreatment Facility is not expected to be operating until 2033 due to technical issues. The Low-Activity Waste Facility, which is not affected by technical issues, will mix low-activity radioactive waste with glass-forming material and heat it to 2,100 degrees to produce a stable glass product for disposal at Hanford. Waste captured in the off-gas system during waste processing at the Low-Activity Waste Facility will be sent to the new Effluent Management Facility, which is being built on the vitrification plant campus. It is expected to be used from the cold commissioning phase of the Low-Activity Waste Facility, which is required to start by the end of 2022, until the Pretreatment Facility is operating.
Fluids containing low levels of radioactive material will be concentrated at an evaporator at the Effluent Management Facility, with the concentrated material sent back to the Low-Activity Waste Facility for vitrification. Some condensate from the evaporator will be piped about a mile to Hanford’s Effluent Treatment Facility, where other site wastewater is treated. The Effluent Management Facility will have an 18,400-square-foot concrete building with steel vessels. An 8,400-square-foot building will house utilities, including electrical cabinets. A 1,300-square-foot area will be used as a low-point drain for waste transfer line flushing. Earth work for the building began in December when the design was 30 percent complete. DOE is pursuing a design-build strategy, with construction starting before the design is complete. It is the same strategy picked for the vitrification plant when construction started in 2002, but it is no longer approved by DOE for large, complex projects. The department said it was suitable for the Effluent Management Facility because the project uses known technologies already developed for the full-scale Pretreatment Facility.
Design currently is at about 45 percent complete and some long-lead procurement of equipment has begun. “Right now it is progressing well,” said Jason Young, federal project director for the vitrification plant balance of facilities and Analytical Laboratory, in a statement. “Construction and design are on schedule, and we are looking for opportunities to improve schedule where possible.” DOE will need a secondary containment permit from Washington state before it can move forward with construction beyond the basemat. The permit could be approved in November. The state is working closely with DOE and vit plant contractor Bechtel to develop permit documents and a schedule to meet project objectives, it said. The state supports starting treatment of low-activity waste to make progress on preparing waste for disposal while treatment of high-level radioactive waste is delayed by technical issues. DOE now is submitting draft permit documents informally for the state’s review. DOE declined to estimate the cost of the Effuent Management Facility while it is in contract negotiations with Bechtel. The department also is working toward a second new facility to do some of the work of the Pretreatment Facility while its operation is delayed. The second new facility will prepare waste feed for the Low-Activity Waste Facility and is planned to be built off the vitrification plant campus.
