RADWASTE SOLUTIONS MISSION ACCOMPLISHED AT HANFORD SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL (SNF) REMOVAL CONCLUDES IN HUGE VICTORY
Removing the largest collection of radioactive materials bordering the Columbia River at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hanford Site in southeast Washington state was successfully completed on a glorious autumn morning in 2004. The Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Project, managed for DOE by prime contractor Fluor Hanford, removed more than 2,300 tons (2,100 metric tons [MT]) of irradiated uranium fuel--just over 4.65-million pounds--from a historic reactor area along the river's shore, called the ''Hanford Reach.'' The Project also dried the fuel and placed all of it in safe, dry, interim storage in central Hanford, nine miles from the Columbia and hundreds of feet above the groundwater table, effectively neutralizing the risks formerly posed by the decaying fuel. Removing the nearly 105,000 irradiated, solid metal uranium fuel assemblies--stored for decades underwater in the aging K Basins--marked a cornerstone event in Hanford's long farewell to arms. It was the third major triumph in a ''trifecta'' year at the old site, during which a Fluor Hanford-managed project completed stabilizing and safely packaging nearly 20 tons of plutonium-bearing materials, and another project finished pumping all liquids out of degrading, underground waste tanks. All three successful projects give traction to the vision and promise of DOE's Richland Operations Office (RL), to move wastes and special nuclear material away from the river and into Hanford's Central plateau.
- Research Organization:
- Fluor Hanford, Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-96RL13200
- OSTI ID:
- 833518
- Report Number(s):
- HNF-22996, Rev.0; TRN: US0406715
- Journal Information:
- Radwaste Solutions, Other Information: PBD: 6 Oct 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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