RICHLAND, Wash. - Workers at the Hanford Site continue to make significant strides toward moving nearly 2,000 radioactive capsules to dry storage.
Currently, 1,936 cesium and strontium capsules are stored in 13 feet of water at the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF). WESF is an aging facility, and moving the capsules to dry storage will reduce risk on the site.
“Moving the capsules to dry storage will protect workers, the public, and the environment, while allowing for the eventual deactivation of WESF," said Al Farabee, EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) project director for waste management.
At WESF, RL contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) recently completed activities that include crane inspections to improve reliability and canyon lighting upgrades to improve visibility. Workers also upgraded lighting in the WESF hot cell where they will package capsules into sleeves for dry storage.
Workers recently finished verifying that all 1,936 capsules meet the dry storage design criteria.
A design review of the system that will load the cesium and strontium capsules in casks for storage in an outdoor area is underway. The team recently completed the final design for the storage area.
“I’m very proud of the WESF team and the progress made toward our mission of preparing the facility to safely remove and transport the capsules to safer interim storage," said Kalli Shupe, vice president of CHPRC’s waste and fuels management project, which includes WESF. “A tremendous amount of coordination is necessary to make this happen and I couldn’t be more proud of the team."
The next phase of work is finalizing the design, construction, mock-up testing, and readiness activities prior to moving the first set of capsules. The Tri-Party Agreement milestone is to have moved all capsules from wet to dry storage by 2025.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
