RICHLAND, Wash. - In the blink of an eye, as this time-lapse video shows, crews with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company last month completed pouring 11 truckloads - or about 120 cubic yards - of concrete for a new transfer pad outside the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility truck port at the Hanford Site. The 18-inch-thick, rebar-reinforced slab is designed to support loads up to a half-million pounds.
The work is part of ongoing upgrades and modifications to get ready for the movement of 1,936 radioactive capsules from an underwater basin in the facility about a quarter-mile to a new dry storage area. Moving the capsules to dry storage will enable the planned deactivation of the aging storage facility and save as much as $6 million in annual operating costs.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
