RICHLAND, Wash. - ILAW transporter system - it sounds like it could have been part of the Starship Enterprise from the 1960s television series, "Star Trek."
But instead of “beaming" space explorers to and from various locations, this system will move immobilized low-activity waste (ILAW) to its final resting place at EM’s Hanford Site.
Now in design, the ILAW transporter system has two major components: engineered pallets for steel containers filled with vitrified low-activity waste from Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP); and the trailer for hauling the waste 1.5 miles to Hanford’s Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) for permanent disposal.
During WTP operations, a remotely operated gantry crane will load glass-filled ILAW containers from WTP’s Low-Activity Waste (LAW) facility into the single-container pallets secured to the trailer. The pallets will provide shielding for workers and a cost-effective and flexible system to allow the containers to cool before they go to the IDF.
There, workers will off-load the pallets onto a staging pad for further cooling to avoid damaging the IDF liner. When cooled, the pallets will be transported by forklift to the IDF trench bottom where a mobile crane will remove the ILAW containers and deposit them in the ILAW disposal area. Workers will return the empty pallets to the IDF staging area and load them into the trailer for return to WTP and restart of the shipment cycle.
Every major Hanford contractor and both EM Hanford field offices are involved in the ILAW transporter system project:
* WTP contractor Bechtel National - finalizing the documented safety analysis and loading operations program;
* Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company - finishing the permitting plan, developing a safety document for the ILAW transporter, and designing and completing a new IDF staging area;
* Hanford Site services contractor Mission Support Alliance - upgrading roads and managing the transport fleet;
* Office of River Protection (ORP) and RL - oversight; and
* ORP tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions - project management and solid waste management coordination.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
