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Title: RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT SYSTEM PLAN

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) manages the River Protection Project (RPP). The RPP mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the tank farms to protect the Columbia River. As a result, ORP is responsible for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of approximately 57 million gallons 1 of radioactive waste contained in the Hanford Site waste tanks and closure2 of all the tanks and associated facilities. The previous revision of the System Plan was issued in May 2008. ORP has made a number of changes to the tank waste treatment strategy and plans since the last revision of this document, and additional changes are under consideration. ORP has contracts in place to implement the strategy for completion of the mission and establish the capability to complete the overall mission. The current strategl involves a number of interrelated activities. ORP will reduce risk to the environment posed by tank wastes by the following: (1) Retrieving the waste from the single-shell tanks (SST) to double-shell tanks (DST) and delivering the waste to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). (2) Constructing and operating the WTP, which will safely treat all of the high-levelmore » waste (HLW) fraction contained in the tank farms. About one-third of the low-activity waste (LAW) fraction separated from the HLW fraction in the WTP will be immobilized in the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility. (3) Developing and deploying supplemental treatment capability assumed to be a second LAW vitrification facility that can safely treat about two-thirds of the LAW contained in the tank farms. (4) Developing and deploying supplemental pretreatment capability currently assumed to be an Aluminum Removal Facility (ARF) using a lithium hydrotalcite process to mitigate sodium management issues. (5) Developing and deploying treatment and packaging capability for contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) tank waste for possible shipment to and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. (6) Deploying interim storage capacity for the immobilized high-level waste (IHLW) pending determination of the final disposal pathway. (7) Closing the SST and DST tank farms, ancillary facilities, and all associated waste management and treatment facilities. (8) Optimizing the overall mission by resolution of technical and programmatic uncertainties, configuring the tank farms to provide a steady, well-balanced feed to the WTP, and performing trade-offs of the required amount and type of supplemental treatment and of the amount of HLW glass versus LAW glass. ORP has made and continues to make modifications to the WTP contract as needed to improve projected plant performance and address known or emerging risks. Key elements needed to implement the strategy described above are included within the scope of the Tank Operations Contract (TOC). Interim stabilization of the SSTs was completed in March 2004. As of April 2009, retrieval of seven SSTs has been completed and retrieval of four additional SSTs has been completed to the limits of technology. Demonstration of supplemental LAW treatment technologies has stopped temporarily pending revision of mission need requirements. Award of a new contract for tank operations (TOC), the ongoing tank waste retrieval experience, HLW disposal issues, and uncertainties in waste feed delivery and waste treatment led to the revision of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PM B), which is currently under review prior to approval. 6 This System Plan is aligned with the current WTP schedule, with hot commissioning beginning in 2018, and full operations beginning in late 2019. Major decisions regarding the use of supplemental treatment and the associated technology, the ultimate needed capacity, and its relationship to the WTP have not yet been finalized. This System Plan assumes that the outcome of these decisions will be to provide a second LAW vitrification facility. No final implementation decisions regarding supplemental technology can be made until the Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement is completed and a Record of Decision is issued by DOE. Technical solutions are being developed to mitigate the impact from substantially increased estimates of sodium to be added during pretreatment of the tank waste solids. This may involve one or more of the following options: (1) refining or modifying the flowsheet to reduce the required amount of additional sodium, (2) increasing the overall LAW vitrification capacity, (3) increasing the incorporation of sodium into the LAW glass, (4) increasing the incorporation of aluminum in the HLW glass to reduce caustic leaching requirements, or (5) implementing other technical solutions. For planning purposes, the PMB assumes that option (5) above, in the form of an ARF, will be successful in reducing the sodium required to be added during pretreatment of the tank waste.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM)
OSTI Identifier:
973951
Report Number(s):
ORP-11242 Rev 4
TRN: US1002203
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC27-08RV14800
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; ALUMINIUM; CAPACITY; COLUMBIA RIVER; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS; GLASS; MANAGEMENT; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; RIVERS; SODIUM; STORAGE FACILITIES; TANKS; VITRIFICATION; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WASTE PROCESSING; WASTE RETRIEVAL; WASTE STORAGE

Citation Formats

CERTA PJ, KIRKBRIDE RA, HOHL TM, EMPEY PA, and WELLS MN. RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT SYSTEM PLAN. United States: N. p., 2009. Web. doi:10.2172/973951.
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CERTA PJ, KIRKBRIDE RA, HOHL TM, EMPEY PA, & WELLS MN. RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT SYSTEM PLAN. United States. doi:10.2172/973951.
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CERTA PJ, KIRKBRIDE RA, HOHL TM, EMPEY PA, and WELLS MN. Tue . "RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT SYSTEM PLAN". United States. doi:10.2172/973951. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/973951.
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@article{osti_973951,
title = {RIVER PROTECTION PROJECT SYSTEM PLAN},
author = {CERTA PJ and KIRKBRIDE RA and HOHL TM and EMPEY PA and WELLS MN},
abstractNote = {The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) manages the River Protection Project (RPP). The RPP mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the tank farms to protect the Columbia River. As a result, ORP is responsible for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of approximately 57 million gallons 1 of radioactive waste contained in the Hanford Site waste tanks and closure2 of all the tanks and associated facilities. The previous revision of the System Plan was issued in May 2008. ORP has made a number of changes to the tank waste treatment strategy and plans since the last revision of this document, and additional changes are under consideration. ORP has contracts in place to implement the strategy for completion of the mission and establish the capability to complete the overall mission. The current strategl involves a number of interrelated activities. ORP will reduce risk to the environment posed by tank wastes by the following: (1) Retrieving the waste from the single-shell tanks (SST) to double-shell tanks (DST) and delivering the waste to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). (2) Constructing and operating the WTP, which will safely treat all of the high-level waste (HLW) fraction contained in the tank farms. About one-third of the low-activity waste (LAW) fraction separated from the HLW fraction in the WTP will be immobilized in the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility. (3) Developing and deploying supplemental treatment capability assumed to be a second LAW vitrification facility that can safely treat about two-thirds of the LAW contained in the tank farms. (4) Developing and deploying supplemental pretreatment capability currently assumed to be an Aluminum Removal Facility (ARF) using a lithium hydrotalcite process to mitigate sodium management issues. (5) Developing and deploying treatment and packaging capability for contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) tank waste for possible shipment to and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. (6) Deploying interim storage capacity for the immobilized high-level waste (IHLW) pending determination of the final disposal pathway. (7) Closing the SST and DST tank farms, ancillary facilities, and all associated waste management and treatment facilities. (8) Optimizing the overall mission by resolution of technical and programmatic uncertainties, configuring the tank farms to provide a steady, well-balanced feed to the WTP, and performing trade-offs of the required amount and type of supplemental treatment and of the amount of HLW glass versus LAW glass. ORP has made and continues to make modifications to the WTP contract as needed to improve projected plant performance and address known or emerging risks. Key elements needed to implement the strategy described above are included within the scope of the Tank Operations Contract (TOC). Interim stabilization of the SSTs was completed in March 2004. As of April 2009, retrieval of seven SSTs has been completed and retrieval of four additional SSTs has been completed to the limits of technology. Demonstration of supplemental LAW treatment technologies has stopped temporarily pending revision of mission need requirements. Award of a new contract for tank operations (TOC), the ongoing tank waste retrieval experience, HLW disposal issues, and uncertainties in waste feed delivery and waste treatment led to the revision of the Performance Measurement Baseline (PM B), which is currently under review prior to approval. 6 This System Plan is aligned with the current WTP schedule, with hot commissioning beginning in 2018, and full operations beginning in late 2019. Major decisions regarding the use of supplemental treatment and the associated technology, the ultimate needed capacity, and its relationship to the WTP have not yet been finalized. This System Plan assumes that the outcome of these decisions will be to provide a second LAW vitrification facility. No final implementation decisions regarding supplemental technology can be made until the Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement is completed and a Record of Decision is issued by DOE. Technical solutions are being developed to mitigate the impact from substantially increased estimates of sodium to be added during pretreatment of the tank waste solids. This may involve one or more of the following options: (1) refining or modifying the flowsheet to reduce the required amount of additional sodium, (2) increasing the overall LAW vitrification capacity, (3) increasing the incorporation of sodium into the LAW glass, (4) increasing the incorporation of aluminum in the HLW glass to reduce caustic leaching requirements, or (5) implementing other technical solutions. For planning purposes, the PMB assumes that option (5) above, in the form of an ARF, will be successful in reducing the sodium required to be added during pretreatment of the tank waste.},
doi = {10.2172/973951},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009},
month = {Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009}
}
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DOI:  10.2172/973951
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  • The purpose of this review is to verify the implementation status of the Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) for the River Protection Project (RPP) facilities managed by Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. (FDH) and operated by Lockheed Martin Hanford Company (LMHC). This review will also ascertain whether within RPP facilities and operations the work planning and execution processes are in place and functioning to effectively protect the health and safety of the workers, public, environment, and federal property over the RPP life cycle. The RPP ISMS should support the Hanford Strategic Plan (DOERL-96-92) to safely clean up and manage the site'smore » legacy waste and deploy science and technology while incorporating the ISMS central theme to ''Do work safely'' and protect human health and the environment.« less

  • The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection (ORP) is responsible for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of the radioactive wastes contained in the Hanford Site waste tanks, and closure of all the tanks and associated facilities. Currently, the ORP is committed to completing the treatment of all the tank wastes by 2028, and closure of all facilities by 2034. The current strategy for completion of the mission uses a number of interrelated activities. The ORP will reduce risk to the environment posed by tank wastes by: (1) Removing pumpable liquids remaining in single-shell tanks (SSTs) to the extentmore » practical (will be completed in 2004); (2) Retrieving wastes remaining in SSTs to double-shell tanks (DSTs) for staging to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), or directly to transuranic (TRU) packaging or supplemental treatment; (3) Aggressively managing DST space so that the retrieval and closure of SSTs can be accelerated to maximize overall risk reduction; (4) Constructing and operating the WTP which will pretreat and immobilize the most hazardous wastes contained in tank farms, and maximizing its capability and capacity; (5) Deploying packaging capabilities for tank waste that is TRU for shipment and disposal in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP); (6) Developing and deploying supplemental treatment capacity that can safely treat and immobilize a significant fraction of the low-activity waste (LAW) contained in tank farms; (7) Disposing of immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) in an integrated facility on site; and (8) Closing SST and DST tank farms, ancillary facilities, and all waste management and treatment facilities. The ORP has established contracts to implement this strategy to accelerate overall risk reduction and establish a basic capability to complete the overall mission. Major decisions regarding the supplemental treatment technology, the ultimate needed capacity, and its relationship to the WTP have not yet been made. A major programmatic decision point has been established in 2005 that will determine the ultimate deployment strategy for supplemental treatment versus additional capacity added to the WTP. This System Plan investigates the impacts of potential innovations associated with the WTP ILAW facility; and alternative configurations of supplemental treatment.« less

  • The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) manages the River Protection Project (RPP). The RPP mission is to retrieve and treat Hanford's tank waste and close the tank farms to protect the Columbia River. As a result, the ORP is responsible for the retrieval, treatment, and disposal of the approximately 57 million gallons of radioactive waste contained in the Hanford Site waste tanks and closure of all the tanks and associated facilities. The previous revision of the System Plan was issued in September 2003. ORP has approved a number of changes to the tank waste treatmentmore » strategy and plans since the last revision of this document, and additional changes are under consideration. The ORP has established contracts to implement this strategy to establish a basic capability to complete the overall mission. The current strategy for completion of the mission uses a number of interrelated activities. The ORP will reduce risk to the environment posed by tank wastes by: (1) Retrieving the waste from the single-shell tanks (SST) to double-shell tanks (DST) for treatment and disposal; (2) Constructing and operating the WTP, which will safely treat all of the high-level waste (HLW) and about half of the low-activity waste (LAW) contained in the tank farms, and maximizing its capability and capacity; (3) Developing and deploying supplemental treatment capability or a second WTP LAW Facility that can safely treat about half of the LAW contained in the tank farms; (4) Developing and deploying treatment and packaging capability for transuranic (TRU) tank waste for shipment to and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP); (5) Deploying interim storage capacity for the immobilized HLW and shipping that waste to Yucca Mountain for disposal; (6) Operating the Integrated Disposal Facility for the disposal of immobilized LAW, along with the associated secondary waste, (7) Closing the SST and DST tank farms, ancillary facilities, and al1 waste management and treatment facilities, (8) Developing and implementing technical solutions to mitigate the impact from substantial1y increased estimates of Na added during the pretreatment of the tank waste solids, This involves a combination of: (1) refining or modifying the flowsheet to reduce the required amount of additional sodium, (2) increasing the overall LAW vitrification capacity, (3) increasing the incorporation of sodium into the LAW glass, or (4) accepting an increase in mission duration, ORP has made and continues to make modifications to the WTP contract as needed to improve projected plant performance and address known or emerging risks, Key elements of the implementation of this strategy are included within the scope of the Tank Operations Contract, currently in procurement Since 2003, the ORP has conducted over 30 design oversight assessments of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The estimated cost at completion has increased and the schedule for construction and commissioning of the WTP has extended, The DOE, Office of Environmental Management (EM), sanctioned a comprehensive review of the WTP flowsheet, focusing on throughput. In 2005, the TFC completed interim stabilization of the SSTs and as of March 2007, has completed the retrieval of seven selected SSTs. Demonstration of supplemental treatment technologies continues. The ongoing tank waste retrieval experience, progress with supplemental treatment technologies, and changes in WTP schedule led to the FY 2007 TFC baseline submittal in November 2006. The TFC baseline submittal was developed before the WTP schedule was fully understood and approved by ORP, and therefore reflects an earlier start date for the WTP facilities. This System Plan is aligned with the current WTP schedule with hot commissioning beginning in 2018 and full operations beginning in 2019. Major decisions regarding the use of supplemental treatment and the associated technology, the ultimate needed capacity, and its relationship to the WTP have not yet been finalized. This System Plan assumes that the outcome of this decision will be to provide a supplemental LAW treatment system using in-container vitrification (ICV{trademark}) as the enabling technology. No final implementation decisions regarding supplemental technology can be made until the Tank Closure and Waste Management Environmental Impact Statement is completed and a Record of Decision is issued by the DOE.« less

  • The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in accordance with the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, established the Office of River Protection (ORP) to successfully execute and manage the River Protection Project (RPP), formerly known as the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS). The mission of the RPP is to store, retrieve, treat, and dispose of the highly radioactive Hanford tank waste in an environmentally sound, safe, and cost-effective manner. The team shown in Figure 1-1 is accomplishing the project. The ORP is providing the management and integration of the project; the Tank Farm Contractor (TFC) ismore » responsible for providing tank waste storage, retrieval, and disposal; and the Privatization Contractor (PC) is responsible for providing tank waste treatment.« less

  • The Office of River Protection (ORP) Project Management Plan (PMP) for the River Protection Project (RPP) describes the process for developing and operating a Waste Treatment Complex (WTC) to clean up Hanford Site tank waste. The Plan describes the scope of the project, the institutional setting within which the project must be completed, and the management processes and structure planned for implementation. The Plan is written from the perspective of the ORP as the taxpayers' representative. The Hanford Site, in southeastern Washington State, has one of the largest concentrations of radioactive waste in the world, as a result of producingmore » plutonium for national defense for more than 40 years. Approximately 53 million gallons of waste stored in 177 aging underground tanks represent major environmental, social, and political challenges for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These challenges require numerous interfaces with state and federal environmental officials, Tribal Nations, stakeholders, Congress, and the US Department of Energy-Headquarters (DOE-HQ). The cleanup of the Site's tank waste is a national issue with the potential for environmental and economic impacts to the region and the nation.« less