The U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management Office of River Protection and Washington River Protection Solutions are resuming processing tank waste at the Hanford Site using the Tank-Side Cesium Removal System.
The processing continues after a second, planned maintenance outage, according to a March 14 news release. The treatment system has reportedly processed more than 25,000 gallons of waste that week, treating 406,000 gallons of radioactive liquid since operations began last year.
"The cesium removal system is a demonstration project, and this is the first time we are treating tank waste on an industrial scale at Hanford," EM Office of River Protection Tank Farms Project Assistant Manager Delmar Noyes said in the release. "We are learning, strengthening our processes and adding improvements that we can use in future, similar systems."
During the outages, workers changed out the filter columns that normally remove radioactive solids during waste processing, and also performed maintenance and applied "lessons learned from operations," the news release said. The second planned maintenance outage began in July.
Those lessons included treatment system improvements during outages during the last year, per recommendations by workers, contractors and federal staff working on the project team, according to the release.
Workers also replaced a valve indicator, addressed two small leaks, installed additional cameras and added an area for workers to put on and take off their personal protective equipment, the release reported.
"The TSCR team is doing a great job of being cautious, putting safety first and stopping when encountering unexpected conditions," Washington River Protection Solutions President and Project Manager Wes Bryan said in the news release. "This commitment to safety is expected as we learn, adapt to and overcome project challenges."
Additionally, the TSCR team was honored in January when they received the 2022 Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for "significant accomplishments with DOE and the team's dedication, strong coordination, innovative problem-solving and dedication to safety," the release reported.
