Environmental Assessment: Waste Tank Safety Program
The US Department of Energy (DOE) needs to take action in the near-term, to accelerate resolution of waste tank safety issues at the Hanford Site near the City of Richland, Washington, and reduce the risks associated with operations and management of the waste tanks. The DOE has conducted nuclear waste management operations at the Hanford Site for nearly 50 years. Operations have included storage of high-level nuclear waste in 177 underground storage tanks (UST), both in single-shell tank (SST) and double-shell tank configurations. Many of the tanks, and the equipment needed to operate them, are deteriorated. Sixty-seven SSTs are presumed to have leaked a total approximately 3,800,000 liters (1 million gallons) of radioactive waste to the soil. Safety issues associated with the waste have been identified, and include (1) flammable gas generation and episodic release; (2) ferrocyanide-containing wastes; (3) a floating organic solvent layer in Tank 241-C-103; (4) nuclear criticality; (5) toxic vapors; (6) infrastructure upgrades; and (7) interim stabilization of SSTs. Initial actions have been taken in all of these areas; however, much work remains before a full understanding of the tank waste behavior is achieved. The DOE needs to accelerate the resolution of tank safety concerns to reduce the risk of an unanticipated radioactive or chemical release to the environment, while continuing to manage the wastes safely.
- Research Organization:
- Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- OSTI ID:
- 10144204
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/EA-0915; ON: DE94010370; NC: NONE; TRN: 94:008606
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Feb 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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