RICHLAND, Wash. - Hanford Site workers recently shut off the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) ventilation system, moving the main processing facility closer to demolition this summer. Watch a brief video about the work here.
Since the plant began operating in 1949, the ventilation system had helped keep employees and the environment safe from contamination inside the building by pulling air from process areas and glove boxes and filtering out contaminants. Past and present PFP employees removed hazards from the building, so the ventilation system is no longer necessary.
With the fans no longer operational, workers shut power off to the fan house and stack. EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company is scheduled to begin demolishing the fan house this month and the stack in mid-July. An outside firm experienced in the controlled use of explosives will implode the stack. That company has safely demolished several structures at Hanford using this method.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
