RICHLAND, Wash. - Crews with Hanford ’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) safely unloaded more than 40 tons of structural steel for construction of a tower to house evaporator equipment that supports EM’s plans to begin treating tank waste through its Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) vitrification approach.
The tower will serve as structural support for evaporator equipment to be installed inside the Effluent Management Facility (EMF). EMF works along with robust underground double-walled transfer pipes as part of the WTP Balance of Facilities (BOF) support infrastructure.
Once fully erected, the tower will stand 45 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 20 feet long. When fully assembled with its internal evaporator equipment, construction crews will hoist the entire unit and safely set it inside the EMF.
“We recently completed the concrete walls for the EMF," said Brian Reilly, project director for the WTP Project at Bechtel National Inc., an EM Office of River Protection (ORP) contractor. “Receiving the necessary permit authorization will open the gateway to install equipment into the building and continue Balance of Facilities construction progress."
During low-activity waste vitrification operations, secondary liquids will be generated from the melter off-gas system and when transfer pipes are flushed. These liquids will then go to the EMF where excess water will be evaporated away and the remaining concentrate sent back into the vitrification process.
“The arrival of the evaporator tower steel is yet another sign of progress for the EMF facility, which is critical to achieving the start of DFLAW," said Jason Young, ORP BOF federal project director.
The DFLAW approach is expected to enable treatment of low-activity waste to begin in advance of the court-ordered milestone date of 2023. This approach will increase available double-shell tank space and provide valuable lessons learned to aid startup and commissioning of other portions of the WTP.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
