RICHLAND, Wash. - Components for a specialized 60-ton-capacity crane were delivered to Hanford ’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) earlier this month. The crane was delivered in three shipments due to its size. When fully assembled and installed, the overhead bridge crane will become the High-Level Waste (HLW) Facility’s primary cask-handling crane. During HLW vitrification, stainless steel canisters will be filled with vitrified tank waste before being placed inside an overpack shell, or cask, for radiological shielding. The crane is designed to lift empty transport casks and move them into the HLW Facility. Inside the facility, a different crane will load filled canisters into the transport casks. The cask-handling crane will then safely lift the filled casks onto a transport trailer where final radiological surveys will be performed. The crane delivery is part of the HLW Facility design and purchasing work being done by EM Office of River Protection contractor Bechtel National Inc.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
