RICHLAND, Wash. - Startup activities at the EM Office of River Protection ’s (ORP) Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) received a boost when permanent power was supplied to the Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility’s switchgear building last month.
ORP contractor Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) energized the main LAW Facility switchgear and transformers. Electrical power will be sent sequentially to the lower voltage motor control centers and panels throughout the facility as startup testing of electrical systems occurs over the next several months.
The LAW Facility is key to achieving the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach to tank waste treatment in advance of the court-ordered milestone date of 2023.
“Providing permanent power to the facility is a significant accomplishment and marks a change in methodology at the LAW Facility," said Roy Tyrie, WTP startup director for BNI. “It’s symbolic of a change from construction to startup and kicks off a waterfall of startup work in the LAW, including testing the permanent plant equipment in the facility."
The LAW Facility is on track to reach physical plant completion in 2018. When fully operational, the facility will annually produce approximately 1,100 containers of vitrified low-activity waste from Hanford’s underground storage tanks.
“ORP is encouraged by continued progress at WTP," said Wahed Abdul, ORP federal project director for low-activity waste. “Energization of the LAW Facility is one more key step toward beginning treatment of Hanford’s tank waste."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
