Location The Hanford Site comprises 358,388 acres (560 square miles)of semiarid desert in southeastern Washington State. The Hanford Site, located due north of Richland, Washington, is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, and on the south by the Yakima River, which joins the Columbia River near Richland.

Date Established: 1943

Present Mission:

Primary - Conduct site cleanup; provide scientific and technological excellence to meet environmental cleanup global needs.

Secondary - Partner with the community in economic diversification of the region.

Employees: About 14,000 Department of Energy (DOE) and contractor personnel are on site.

Annual Budget: A budget of $4.8 B is projected for the initial five year period of the Project Hanford Management Contract, which started October 1, 1996.

Cognizant Secretarial Office: Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM); principal EM offices--Office of Hanford Waste Management Operations (EM-38), Office of Northwestern Area Programs (EM-44), and Northwestern Office (EM-65).

Responsible Operations/Area Office: DOE Richland Operations Office (RL). Project Hanford Management Contractor: Fluor Daniel Hanford Team (FDH)
Team Members:

• Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc.
• Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation
• Rust Federal Services of Hanford, Inc.
• Duke Engineering & Services Hanford, Inc.
• Babcock & Wilcox Hanford Company
• Numatec Hanford Corporation
• DynaCorp Tri-Cities Services, Inc.

Other Major Site Contractors:

• Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (Sitewide Health Support)
• Battelle Memorial Institute (operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
• Bechtel Hanford, Incorporated (Environmental Restoration)

Fissile Material: 11.0 metric tons of plutonium and 1,522 kg of plutonium waste (February 6, 1996); 3,842 metric tons of enriched uranium.

Major Site Activities/Initiatives:

• Removal of 2,100 metric tons of spent fuel from K Basins.
• Continuation of facility transition program.
• Decontamination and decommissioning of 139 facilities in the 100 Area and 44 facilities in the 200 Area.
• Remediation of over 1,400 waste sites.
• Construction of the Waste Receiving and Processing Facility, the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory, the Hazardous Materials Management Emergency Response Training Facility, the Fast Flux Test Facility Sodium Storage Facility, the Tank Farms Ventilation Upgrades, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, and the Canister Storage Building.

 Just one month after Enrico Fermi and his team conducted the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, the leaders of the top secret Manhattan Project chose a place to build the world's first, full scale plutonium production plants. It was a remote, arid site near the farming village of Hanford in southeast Washington.

Three plutonium production reactors quickly took shape along the banks of the Columbia River, 35 miles north of the town of Richland. Fuel fabrication, chemical reprocessing, waste management, research and other support facilities sprang up in other parts of the site.

Thirty months later Hanford produced the plutonium used for the world's first nuclear detonation. Soon after, U.S. planes dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan to end World War II. One was triggered by concentrated plutonium made at Hanford. The unexpected onset of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race brought an urgent demand for plutonium that led to major expansions of Hanford throughout the 1950s. By the end of 1963, nine production reactors and a variety of facilities spanning the nuclear production cycle were operating at the 1,450 square kilometers (560 square mile) site.

Production cutbacks started in 1964. Eight of Hanford's nine plutonium production reactors closed by early 1971. The last production reactor built, N Reactor, was placed on 'cold standby' in February 1988. In 1991, Hanford's owner, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), retired N Reactor.

While defense production has been a prime mission of the Hanford Site, Hanford's activities now focus on environmental restoration and waste management; scientific and environmental research; development and application of radioactive and hazardous waste management technologies; and the design, construction, and operation of major energy-related test and development facilities.

Nearly 80 percent of DOE's inventory of spent fuel is stored at Hanford, and almost all of that is in the aging K East and K West water basins a few hundred yards from the Columbia River. Although new double shell tanks have been put into service and high- level radioactive waste (HLW) transferred to the tanks, a large volume of HLW is stored in structurally deteriorating single-shell tanks that have exceeded their design life by 30 years. Efforts to reduce liquids and stabilize tank sludges reduce the potential for significant impact to ground water and the Columbia River.

The Hanford Site is divided into several areas, each of which is devoted to specific types of facilities and activities. Nine older plutonium production reactors are located in the 100 Areas, which are situated along the Columbia River. All nine of the reactors have been retired: eight have been deactivated and are in storage and mothballed (S&M); the ninth (N Reactor) will complete deactivation in fiscal year 1997 and will move to S&M. Chemical processing and waste management facilities (including the PUREX Plant, 222S, the Plutonium Finishing Plant [PFP], and the Tank Farms) are concentrated in the 200 Areas, East and West. The 300 Area, located in the southeast corner of the site, contains laboratories, technical shops, engineering offices, and support facilities that focus on research and development (R&D) associated with waste management and energy technologies. The 400 Area is north of the 300 Area and includes the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), a shutdown sodium-cooled fast flux test reactor, and the Fuels Material Examination Facility (FMEF). This latter facility meets current seismic qualifications and was to be used for FFTF fuel fabrication and processing. To date, FMEF has had no nuclear materials. This facility is used by onsite personnel for non-nuclear activities (e.g., office and training activities).

Contractor activities at Hanford are managed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Richland Operations Office (RL). DOE and contractors employ more than 14,500 persons (as of October 1995, with an expected workforce of 13,000 by the third quarter of fiscal year 1996). This reflects staff reductions (from decreasing environmental restoration and waste management budgets) from the previous year's employment high of 18,700 persons. Contractor functions are conducted under a Project Hanford Management Contract that is a performance-based contract designed to pay only if the contractor achieves specific, designated results. The contractor team (Fluor Daniel Hanford Team) was awarded the contract August 6, 1996. In addition to Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc.), the team members and their principal areas of responsibility are: (1) Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation - tank waste remediation systems project; (2) Rust Federal Services of Hanford, Inc. - waste management project; (3) Duke Engineering & Services Hanford, Inc. - spent fuel project; (4) Babcock & Wilcox Hanford Company - facility stabilization project; (5) Numatec Hanford Corporation - technology implementation and nuclear engineering; and (6) DynaCorp Tri-Cities Services, Inc. On October 1, 1996, the Fluor Daniel Hanford Team replaced the Westinghouse Hanford Corporation (WHC) - maintenance and operations (e.g., operation of 200 East and West Areas); ICF Kaiser Engineers - Hanford (KEH) is a subcontractor to WHC responsible for all major constructionand renovation activities.

Bechtel Hanford, Inc. (BHI) has the principal contractual responsibility for environmental restoration and remediation activities. BHI is responsible for planning, managing, exe- cuting, and integrating a full range of programs and project activities included in the Richland environmental restoration project at the Hanford Site.

Battelle Memorial Institute operates the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL). PNNL's core mission is to deliver environmental science and technology support to meet Hanford Site as well as key national needs. The laboratory also applies its capabilities to meet selected energy, health, and national security needs.

Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (HEHF) is a support contractor for the Hanford Site. HEHF provides medical services to all contractors and is directly contracted by RL.

About 2,100 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel will be moved from the aging K Basins, away from the Columbia River, and into storage. The preferred alternative selected in the record of decision for the K Basin environmental impact statement (EIS), is dry storage in multi-canister overpacks in a canister storage building. Fuel removal is scheduled to start in December 1997 and to be completed in December 1999. Fuel conditioning and storage are scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000. Sludge removal is also planned.

The facility transition program is a long-term program to deactivate several old weapons production and nuclear energy facilities. These facilities are being transitioned to a safe, stable condition, with a significant reduction in surveillance and maintenance costs. These facilities include the UO3 Plant (already transitioned), PUREX (pilot transition plant), B Plant, K East and K West, FFTF, and PFP. In addition, all dispersible material from the 324 Building B Cell is being removed and emplaced in PUREX tunnels.

Approximately 70 construction projects are ongoing in various stages. Major active construction projects include the Waste Receiving and Processing Facility (WRAP) Module 1, Hazardous Materials Management Emergency Response (HAMMER) Training Facility, the FFTF Sodium Storage Facility, the Tank Farms Ventilation Upgrades, and the ERDF facility. The former site of the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant is to be used for construction of a Canister Storage Building for K Basin spent fuel.

Two contracts have been awarded for the Hanford Tank Waste Remediation System contracts, the first phase of the nation's largest environmental remediation project for the treatment and stabilization of radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford. Two teams, BNFL Inc., and Lockheed Martin Advanced Environmental Systems, were each awarded the contracts to solidify as much as 14 million gallons of radioactive and chemical wastes. Contractors will finance and build the remediation facilities while the department will pay only for solidified waste.

The entire project consists of two phases: Demonstration and full-scale production. These contracts will fulfill Parts A and B of Phase I. Part A is a 20-month period to establish the technical, operational, regulatory, business, and financial elements required by privatized tank treatment facilities. Phase II would be the full-scale production phase, in which the facilities would be configured so all of the remaining waste can be processed on a schedule that will accommodate removing the waste from single-shelled tanks by the year 2018.

The BNFL Inc. Team includes Bechtel National Inc., GTS Duratek, and SAIC. The Lockheed Martin Advanced Environmental Systems team is composed of M4 Environmental L.P., Fluor Daniel Inc., Numatec, Duke Engineering and Services, Inc., Babcock and Wilcox, Nukem Nuclear Technologies Corp., Los Alamos Technical Associates, Inc., AEA Technology, and OHM Remediation Services Corporation.

KEY FACILITIES

DEFENSE PRODUCTION REACTORS
B, C, D, KW, KE, DR, F, AND H

B REACTOR

In less than a year, made theory a reality. On December 2, 1942, under the stadium at the University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi demonstrated that a nuclear chain reaction could be sustained and controlled. Within weeks of the Chicago demonstration, President Roosevelt made the decision to produce larger versions of the Fermi reactor. Several sites were studied, but for a variety of reasons, Hanford was chosen. The Columbia River provided the many thousands of gallons of water per minute needed to cool the reactors, while Grand Coulee Dam supplied the electric power the project demanded. Construction of B Reactor began June 7, 1943, just six months after the Fermi demonstration. Fermi and a team of engineers and technicians first started the reactor only 15 months later on the evening of September 26, 1944.

The reactor was started and was gaining power. Then, inexplicably, power began to drop until the reactor shut down. Several hours later, it spontaneously recovered, then shut down again just as it had before. This cycle occurred several times. Fermi spent several hours calculating on a slide rule. His conclusion was that an isotope (Xenon 135), produced during the fission process, was shutting the reactor down. He determined that adding more uranium fuel would solve the problem. It did. Fortunately, when engineers had originally designed the reactor, they had created a symmetrical pattern of pressure tubes that actually included more tubes than scientists thought they would need. Without those extra tubes, there would have been no place to put the additional uranium fuel.

B Reactor was the first wartime reactor to go into operation at Hanford. By the following summer, enough plutonium had been produced to manufacture two nuclear weapons. The goal of the Manhattan project had been achieved, a goal which helped bring to end the war with Japan.

C REACTOR

The C Reactor Interim Safe Storage Project involved placing the 46-year-old reactor in an interim safe-storage mode. When the work was completed at the end of fiscal year (FY) 1998, the C Reactor became the first production reactor in the U.S. Department of Energy complex to be placed in safe storage. The new smaller, safer facility will shield the reactor's core from the environment for up to 75 years or until final disposition. Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) personnel completed demolition and removal of the C Reactor pumphouse facility. This large building housed 10 giant pumps that provided the reactor with cooling water from the Columbia River. Today, all that remains of the pumphouse is a large, empty, clean lot. Demolition work that was originally scheduled for FY98 was accelerated, and the northwest and southwest portions of the reactor building were demolished.

N REACTOR

N Reactor operated as a graphite-moderated, water-cooled reactor in Hanford's 100 Area on the bank of the Columbia River. It was the only dual-purpose reactor in the United States. N Reactor's primary purpose was to produce special nuclear materials for national defense programs. Its steam byproduct was used to generate electricity at the adjacent Hanford Generating Plant facility owned by the Washington Public Power Supply System. It produced up to 4,000 megawatts of heat and up to 13 million pounds per hour of low pressure steam to generate 860 megawatts of electricity.

The reactor first went critical on December 31, 1963. It achieved full power by December 9, 1964. The first generation of electrical power occurred on April 8, 1966, with the completion of The Hanford Generating Plant. The Safety Enhancement Program was started in 1987. N Reactor was ordered placed in cold standby in February 1988, with cold standby achieved in October 1, 1989. The fuel fabrication portion of the plant was placed in standby January 1989. After evaluating the United States defense needs, DOE directed deactivation activities to begin September 1991.

Deactivation activities are in the final stages at N Reactor, the last of the Hanford Site's nine production reactors to cease operations. By the end of fiscal year (FY) 1997, the majority of the deactivation work at N Reactor was complete. When deactivation work finished in FY98, N Reactor's annual surveillance and maintenance costs were reduced from $1,400,000 to $400,000.

The 105-N Fuel Storage Basin cleanup represents a major portion of N Reactor Deactivation. It involves removing fuel-handling equipment, consolidating basin sediments in a single basin location, characterizing and then removing the sediment, removing, treating, and disposing of basin water, and stabilizing basin surfaces to prevent re-suspension of radioactive particulates into the air.

Fast Flux Test Facility

The FFTF is a sodium-cooled, 400 megawatt fast flux test reactor that has been shut down and defueled. About 75 percent of the plant's systems are still operating (e.g., cleanup system, effluent monitoring system, primary and secondary coolant pumps, air handling units, nitrogen inerting of cells, argon process). These processes will all terminate and be transitioned to D&D when the reactor plant is deactivated. Approximately 75 metric tons of irradiated mixed oxide reactor fuel, as well as 320,000 gallons of radioactive liquid sodium, are stored at FFTF. The sodium is in the reactor loops, but will eventually be drained from the reactor into storage vessels outside the power block. The fuel will be washed, placed in dry storage casks, and stored outside the power block. The Secretary of Energy recently announced that a group will be convened to evaluate the viability of producing tritium at FFTF. The results of this evaluation may alter the shutdown status of FFTF.

Separation Plants

B Plant and Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility (WESF)

The B Plant was one of the three large scale chemical separations plants built at Hanford during World War II to recover plutonium from nuclear fuel irradiated in Hanford reactors. The Plant operated until 1952 when the Reduction Oxidation (REDOX) facility came on line. After modifications, the Plant took on a new mission that lasted from 1967 to 1985: removing cesium and strontium from liquid radioactive waste stored in Hanford's underground tanks. The Waste Encapsulation Storage Facility (WESF) was added in 1974 to encapsulate and store the cesium and strontium.

B Plant and WESF share a common plant wall, but have separate missions. B Plant is in transition to deactivation, with no production processes operating. A project management plan is being developed for disposing of organics, eliminating steam use, decontaminating the facility cold side and parts of the canyon, and performing filter isolation and stabilization. B Plant has radiological (nonfissile material) contamination in the canyon cells and in the ventilation HEPA filters. A few hazardous chemicals (acids and caustics) are stored to treat liquid wastes sent to the tank farms.

The WESF mission was conversion of solutions (nitrates) of strontium (Sr-90) and cesium (Cs-137) recovered at B Plant to suitable stable forms (e.g., strontium fluoride and cesium chloride salts). WESF is the custodian of 1,871 capsules (73 million curies of Cs-137 and Sr-90) stored in a water basin. Another 16,000 curies are in the K-3 ventilation ducting.

PUREX Plant

The Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant in Hanford's 200 East Area was constructed in 1953, at an original capital cost of $77,100,000, including the 202-A Building, with initial operation beginning in 1955. The building is 100 ft (with 40 ft being underground) x 1,080 ft, the size of three and a third football fields. The structure is made of three components: a heavily shielded process canyon; a pipe, sample, and storage gallery section; and a steel and transite annex which houses support services.

The PUREX solvent extraction (tributyl phosphate) system was operated from January 12, 1956 until the end of September 1972, to separate and decontaminate uranium, plutonium, and neptunium produced by the Hanford reactors. The uranium was sent in a liquid form to the Uranium Trioxide (UO₃) Plant. The UO₃ Plant converted the liquid to a solid uranium oxide powder. The Plutonium Nitrate and Plutonium Oxide were sent to the Plutonium Finishing Plant.

On two separate occasions during the mid-1960s, the process was used to separate 233^u from irradiated thorium. Operation resumed in November 1983 to process irradiated N Reactor fuels.

PUREX has been in deactivation status since 1993 and is the Hanford Facility Transition Plan pilot to formulate and demonstrate deactivation procedures for old, but recently operated, facilities. The transfer of nitric acid to British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., Sellafield, England, was completed in December 1995. Current activities include: (1) complete flushing of canyon vessels; and (2) continued deactivation of PUREX canyon, N Cell, Q Cell, and PR room. There are about 226 employees; 113 of these are craft workers.

UO₃ Plant

The UO₃ Plant in Hanford's 200 West Area converted uranium nitrate liquid from the Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant into uranium oxide powder, which was then processed into reactor fuel. The liquid was concentrated in the 224-U Building, and converted to a powder in the 224-UA Building.

The 224-U Building was completed in 1944 for fuel reprocessing as part of the U-Plant complex. This facility was never used for its original planned purpose, the building was a training facility from 1944 to 1950. In 1952, 224-U was converted to a Uranium Reduction Facility, and in 1955 to the current UO₃ Plant. The 224-UA Building was added in 1957. This plant was shutdown in 1972 while various environmental control and monitoring upgrades and equipment modifications were made. Operation resumed in 1984. DOE issued the final deactivation orders in December 1992.

Deactivation means removing the bulk of the radioactive and chemical materials from the plants, stabilizing them inside and out, and shutting off ventilation and other systems and utilities. Deactivation is complete, the buildings are unoccupied and locked. Periodically they are monitored and inspected, and can remain in a safe condition for many years until final D&D takes place.

Plutonium Finishing Plant / Z Plant

The PFP provides diversified plutonium processing, handling, storage, and support operations. Construction on the Plutonium Finishing Plant (formerly called Z Plant) began in 1949 and was completed 1951. The PFP was the final link in the plutonium manufacturing chain at Hanford, processing plutonium-bearing chemical solutions and converting them into metal and oxide. This process ended in May 1989.

The plutonium finishing included three operations: (1) Plutonium Metal Production--the remote mechanical C (RMC) metal fabrication line, started in 1959, converted plutonium nitrate solutions to metal form, (2) Plutonium Reclamation Facility--added in 1964, recycled scrap plutonium from Hanford and the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado, and (3) Plutonium Storage and Support Facility--plutonium was received, analyzed, stored, packaged, and shipped.

The "buttons" of plutonium metal are about the size of a hockey puck and weighed 4 ½ pounds each. The buttons were sealed in cans and shipped to the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado, where nuclear components for weapons were made.

PFP has approximately 4 metric tons (net weight) of plutonium distributed among approximately 8,038 items. The plutonium in the items appears in many forms and has a wide range of chemical and physical properties, including metals, oxides, sludges, solutions, combustibles, other residues, and ash. The facility does contain other transuranic materials (such as Am-241).

PFP is storing plutonium safety in the near term in forms that are not suitable for long- term storage because the material can generate a flammable gas (hydrogen), which is given off through radiolysis. After the material has been thermally stabilized (by furnace), it is stored as a dry oxide in food pack cans. This design was intended for interim or inprocess storage during weapons production. No data exists on the service life of this storage configuration.

Waste Facilities

T Plant

T Plant construction began in Hanford's 200 West area on June 22, 1943 and was completed October 8, 1944. This was the first and largest of the separations plants at Hanford. The first batch of irradiated fuel rods from B Reactor was processed on December 26-27, 1944. Fuel reprocessing activities were terminated in 1956. In 1957, T Plant resumed service as a decontamination and repair facility.

Equipment with high-level contamination enters T Plant's huge work area, known as the 221-T canyon, through a railroad tunnel. The equipment is hoisted, by a crane, off the rail car and placed in the decontamination area on the canyon deck. T Plant workers then utilize several types of decontamination processes to clean up the equipment, depending on the type and level of contamination. For example, the equipment can be sprayed with a high pressure liquid or sand blasted. A major piece of eqipment can be disassembled down to the last screw and bolt, decontamined, repaired, painted and reassembled in like-new condition. Once decontaminated, repaired and tested, the equipment is returned to the original owner on the site or stored until it is needed.

T Plant currently provides high-level and low-level decontamination and repair. Most old process equipment in the 221-T Canyon cells is decontaminated. High-level decontamination is performed on drill strings (sampling equipment) from the tank farms. The 2706-T Facility is used to decontaminate railroad equipment, buses, automobiles, road building equipment, and plant processing equipment containing low-level contamination. Items exceeding 100 mrad/hour near the surface or having detectable alpha contamination are not allowed in 2706-T unless approved. Canyon pool cell number 2, 221-T Building, stores roughly 132 kilograms of fissile uranium and plutonium, distributed throughout 16,600 kilograms of fuel (72 Core II blanket assemblies). The 221-T Canyon contains contaminated debris from other facilities (e.g., PUREX and REDOX chemical separation towers). Dry chemicals in quantities less than 2,000 pounds are potassium permanganate, sodium nitrate, potassium hydroxide, ammonium oxalate, oxalic acid, citric acid, sodium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate. There are 114 employees, including 27 crafts and 24 health physics personnel.

U Plant - 221-U Facility

The 221-U Facility is a multi-storied building approximately 246.9 m (810 feet) in length. The building and equipment were originally designed in support of the production of plutonium. However, it was never used for this purpose. After construction, it was remodeled and used for the recovery of uranium from tank farm wastes. The foundation is constructed of reinforced concrete varying from 1.8 to 2.4 m (6 to 8 feet) thick. The outside walls are reinforced concrete varying from 0.9 m (3 feet) to 1.5 m (5 feet) thick. It has a concrete roof varying in thickness from 0.9 m (3 feet) to 1.2 m (4 feet) thick. The building is divided into two main portions by a concrete wall 1.5 m to 2.7 m thick (5 to 9 feet) thick running the full length of the building. One portion is called the canyon, and the other is called the galleries. The length of the building is divided into twenty sections, at approximately 12.2 m (40 feet) intervals.

This building is not being used for any processing activities. However, the cells and canyon deck are being used for storage of contaminated process equipment. The 30,000-cfm ventilation system is still active. Exhausting is possible through the 291-U exhaust facility by activating the electrically driven exhaust fans.

The electrical gallery (below grade) is split into two separate parts by a railroad tunnel entering the building. The clearance from the floor to the ceiling inside the gallery is approximately 4.6 m (15 feet). As the name implies, this gallery houses electrical switchgear and controls for controlling process equipment located on the canyon side of the building. The pipe gallery is also split into two separate sections by the railroad tunnel and has essentially the same dimensions as the electrical gallery. Clearance is restricted by the mass array of piping suspended from the ceiling and leading through the barricade wall into the canyon side of the building. Like the electrical gallery, there are no openings into the canyon from the pipe gallery. The operating gallery is located above the pipe gallery and is similar to the electrical and pipe galleries, but is unique in that the railroad tunnel does not divide it into two parts. It runs the full length of the building and contains instrumentation and piping manifold stations for controlling the process in the canyon. The crane gallery (crane way) is directly above the operating gallery. The crane gallery is partitioned from the canyon by a 1.5 m (5 feet) thick wall, but it has no ceiling and is open to the process canyon. There are two cranes in the canyon, both are traveling cranes and ride a common track. The main crane is a 75-ton capacity bridge crane and it has a ten-ton capacity auxiliary hoist attached. It has an 18.3 m (60 feet) span, and travels a maximum rate of 48.8 m (160 feet) per minute.

The canyon cells housed the processing equipment for feed concentration and centrifugation, solvent-extraction, waste treatment and solvent treatment. Stepped, removable 1.8 m (6 feet) thick concrete blocks cover and provide access to the cells. The canyon portion of the building is approximately 11.0 m (36 feet) wide and is divided into twenty sections. Each section is approximately 12.2 (40 feet) wide and contains two process cells. The cells contain process equipment, such as vessels, centrifuges, piping etc. The cells measure approximately 3.4 x 4.9 m (11 x 16 feet) and are 8.5 m (28 feet) deep from the top of the concrete cell covers to the bottom of the cell. Exceptions are cells in sections 1, 2 and 5. Sections 1 and 2 have slightly larger cells, and one of the two cells in section 5 (cell 10) is designed to accumulate water in the canyon. This cell is 14.3 m (47 feet) deep. All cells and the pipe trench drained to this cell via a 61 cm (24 inch) concrete-encased tile sewer pipe. Stepped, removable concrete blocks cover the cells.

 The tops of the cell covers form the deck of the canyon. The deck is level with the floor of the operating gallery. Height from the deck to the ceiling is approximately 12.2 m (40 feet). The canyon deck is a regulated work zone. Entrance into the canyon is possible through air-lock doors at ground level located at each of the odd-numbered sections. These entrances are at the deck level.

The Canyon Disposition Initiative (CDI) Project is a collaborative project that includes participation across the DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM). The CDI Project is evaluating the feasibility of using the five chemical processing facilities (canyons) as assets for disposal of low-level wastes, instead of a mortgage liability to the Environmental Restoration (ER) Program. The U Plant facility is being used as a pilot for this evaluation.

K Basins

Nearly 80 percent (2,100 metric tons) of the DOE's nationwide inventory of spent nuclear fuel is in the K Basins, located adjacent to the K East and K West Plutonium Production Reactors, which were shut down in 1970 and 1971. The function of the K Basins is the safe storage of irradiated reactor fuel until it can be disposed or transferred to a safer location. The fuel in the K West Basin is encapsulated; the fuel in K East Basin is not. Some laboratory processes, such as qualitative analyses, are conducted in the laboratory area, but only to identify radioisotopes. The only ongoing processes are treatment of the water and water filtration that occurs in the basin filtration system. Periodically, radioactive sludge from the basin floor is moved from one section of the basin to the other to concentrate this material.

The basins were built in 1951 and designed for a 20-year life. They were not designed for long term storage of spent reactor fuel, and they do not meet commercial nuclear or DOE safety and quality standards. The rectangular, reinforced concrete basins are 125 feet long, 67 feet wide, 21 feet deep and are divided into three sections. Each basin holds 1.1 million gallons of water. Nominal water depth above the fuel is 16 feet. The water provides a radiation shield for facility workers. A closed water treatment system maintains water purity. The water treatment system withdraws water from one end of each basin section, circulates it through filters and an ion exchange system to remove impurities, and discharges it back into the basin at the opposite end.

Beginning in 1975, the basins were used for spent nuclear fuel storage. PUREX was shutdown during the 1970s, but N Reactor continued to operate. The spent fuel assemblies from N Reactor each weigh about 52 pounds. The 26-inch long, 2.5-inch diameter fuel assemblies consist of metallic uranium within a zirconium cladding. The fuel was not designed for long term storage. It was to be stored for a short period of time (a maximum of 180 days) before being transported to PUREX, dissolved, and reprocessed to extract uranium and plutonium. The K West basin was drained, cleaned, and given an epoxy coating before spent fuel from N Reactor was placed there. The 1,000 metric tons of fuel in the K West basin were encapsulated in leak-proof canisters. Less than 1 percent of the spent fuel in K Basins is old aluminum-clad, single-pass reactor fuel slugs 6 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter.

Of greater concern is the 1,100 metric tons of spent N Reactor fuel in the K East basin. K East basin was not refurbished, and the fuel in K East basin is stored in open canisters. Some of the fuel has been stored at the K East basin since 1975. Thousands of the spent fuel assemblies have broken cladding, allowing the basin water to reach the uranium metal fuel, which contains plutonium and highly radioactive fission products. Water corrodes the fuel, and the corrosion products are released into the basin water. Many corrosion products have been distributed around the K East basin as sediment. Enough sediment has accumulated over the years to form a sludge on the basin floor.

Between 1974 and 1979, an estimated 15 million gallons of contaminated water from K East basin leaked into the soil through a construction joint in the discharge chute area of the basin. The construction joint was repaired in 1980. Another leak of about 50 gallons per hour occurred in February 1993. It continued for several months and leaked an estimated 94,000 gallons of water before it stopped on its own.

The basins were not designed for either long- term spent reactor fuel storage or to maintain their integrity during a seismic event. The K Basins have, however, been qualified to current seismic standards. (During the winter and spring of 1995, barrier doors were installed between the discharge chutes and the basins in both the K East and K West basins.) The fuel continues to corrode and be deposited as sludge across the floor of the K East basin. The basins are located 1/4 mile from the Columbia River. The potential release of radioactive material to the environment is a serious concern. RL has received permission to place this fuel in dry storage in the Canister Storage Building; this facility is being constructed on what was to be the site of the Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant.

Tank Farms

The principal function of the tank farms is the safe storage of byproduct material left over from plutonium extraction operations prior to permanent disposal. This byproduct material has no useful purpose and is stored in 177 underground storage tanks with capacities ranging from 500,000 gallons to 1,000,000 gallons (for a cumulative total of 55 million gallons). This waste material is composed of toxic chemicals that were used to remove fission products from irradiated reactor fuel. The more hazardous materials can be divided into four groups: (1) the high heat load tanks, where water must be added periodically to keep tank temperatures within allowable limits, (2) ferrocyanide tanks, which are explosive at certain elevated temperatures, (3) hydrogen generating tanks, and (4) tanks with organics that are flammable. Little is known about the exact chemical content of the tanks; as a result, tank characterization is a crucial, ongoing activity. Approximately 2,300 personnel support tank farm activities; about 700 are in the operations organization and are at the tank farms regularly.

The TWRS has 177 underground HLW storage tanks containing approximately 55 million gallons of caustic wastes. This waste accumulation is the result of more than 40 years of nuclear weapons and reactor-fuel- grade plutonium production. The wastes are stored in 149 single-shell tanks (SSTs) and 28 double-shell tanks (DSTs).

The waste stored in these tanks came from (1) plutonium and uranium recovery processes from irradiated fuel; (2) three radionuclide recovery processes from waste; and (3) miscellaneous sources (laboratories and reactor decontamination solutions). The wastes were concentrated and mixed together in order to minimize the number of storage tanks required. The tank contents vary between relatively homogeneous to highly heterogeneous mixtures of liquids, slurries, saltcakes, and sludges.

Knowledge of the waste material in specific tanks is poor and requires further evaluation (i.e., sampling). To date, an effective sampling program has not been designed and requires resolution of two issues. First, the required number of samples has not been established. Sample size impacts worker health and safety and the confidence level associated with sample results. Second, there have been problems in taking samples. The waste is highly radioactive and requires special precautions for personnel and handling of equipment and samples. Sampling equipment has not been readily available, and there have been problems fitting the equipment through the access holes (risers) in the tanks.

TWRS tanks contain about half the curies (250 of 500 million) of radioactivity and mass of hazardous chemicals found on the Hanford Site. The HLW is stored in 149 SSTs and 28 DSTs that are covered with about 10 feet of soil and gravel and located in groupings call "tank farms" in the 200 West and 200 East areas of the Site. The SSTs were built from 1943 to 1964 with a design life of approximately 30 years. The domes of the SSTs are made of concrete without a steel inner liner. The DSTs were built from 1968 to 1986 with a design life of approximately 50 years. The air space between the inner and outer shells is monitored for leaks.

The SSTs contain approximately 150 million curies of radioisotopes (mostly Cs-137 in saltcake and interstitial liquids, and Sr-90 in sludge). Of the older SSTs, 67 have leaked or are assumed to have leaked approximately 1 million gallons of wastes (containing approximately 1.2 million curies of radio-isotopes) into the ground.

A TWRS Single-Shell Tank Interim Stabilization Project is under way and is designed to minimize the amount of HLW leaked from SSTs through interim stabilization and intrusion prevention. Interim stabilization of SSTs is the removal of pumpable supernatant and interstitial liquid from SST systems into DST systems. Interim stabilization has been completed on 111 SSTs. The completion of SST interim stabilization is a TPA milestone. Intrusion prevention is the disconnecting and blanking or capping of pipelines from SST systems and installing barriers to avoid inadvertent liquid addition. Intrusion prevention is completed on the SSTs after interim stabilization. Interim stabilization and intrusion prevention will continue through fiscal year 2000, with an overall budget of over $60 million. Planned actions for fiscal years 1996 and 1997 include completion of a new cross-site transfer line (to be privatized) and pumping of 12 SSTs.

Canister Storage Building

Full-scale construction on the facility that will provide interim storage of 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel is underway. Completion of the Canister Storage Building is a major step in moving the highly radioactive and corroding fuel from water filled basins near the Columbia River to a dry storage facility near the center of the Hanford Site. On March 25, 1996, DOE Richland Operations Office manager John Wagoner signed the documentation formally granting substructure design approval and authorizing construction of the below ground portion of the building.

Laboratories

William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

The William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory will focus attention on DOE's science and technology needs in environmental restoration and waste management, especially those vital to Hanford cleanup. The high-tech lab cost $230 million -- $50 million for the laboratory construction and the balance to equipment and other costs. The EMSL began operations in the summer of 1997.

A national, one-of-a-kind, user facility, the EMSL attracts scientists around the world to the Tri-Cities. Scientists from industry, the academic community and other government agencies collaborate with EMSL staff on research. The 200,000-square foot building includes a single-story laboratory and conference area and a two-story office area, and will be located near the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) main complex. Because it is a national collaborative scientific research facility, the EMSL accommodates visiting scientists and students as well as permanent staff--about 250 in all.

Building 222S Laboratory Complex

This chemical laboratory performs sample analysis of high-level radioactive and mixed waste. Chemical process development at a bench scale is also performed. Cs-137 and Sr-90, in quantities of hundreds of curies, are the major radioisotopes used. Small quantities (less than the limit for an "isolated facility") of plutonium are also used.

324 Building, Waste Technology Engineering Laboratory

The 324 Building provides a diversified capability for high-level radioactive chemical processing and metallurgical engineering studies and nonradioactive waste treatability pilot scale studies. This building is an R&D facility; therefore, the work being done in the building changes as programs are concluded and others are started. Typically, 30 to 50 projects are ongoing. Work processes include cutting and machining of nuclear materials and handling and working with hazardous chemicals and materials. Nuclear materials, special nuclear material (SNM) in excess of 1 kg, spent reactor fuel for research purposes, and significant quantities of dispersible and nondispersible radioactive and fissionable material are in Building 324.

Since the late 1960s, the 324 Building B Cell has been used to demonstrate chemical engineering pilot-scale processes for high- and low-level waste management. These pilot-scale activities have left B Cell filled with highly contaminated equipment, cell waste, potentially hazardous waste, and radioactive materials. A major process equipment leak involving about 500 liters of liquid-fed ceramic melter feed occurred in B Cell in October 1986. This leak resulted in the accumulation of significant quantities of fission products, predominantly Sr-90 and Cs-137.

325 Building, Applied Chemistry Laboratory

This facility provides specially shielded, ventilated, and equipped laboratories for analyses and nuclear process development studies. There are ongoing nuclear related production processes (e.g., recovery of Y-90 for medical purposes, spent fuel support, waste treatment) for which workers are required to wear personal protective equipment.

327 Building, Post Irradiation Testing Laboratory

This facility examines irradiated fuels and materials via destructive and nondestructive testing. This involves cutting, machining, and drilling materials and requires workers to wear extensive personal protective equipment. The facility uses or contains irradiated mixed oxide, oxide, metal, and carbide fuels and mixed fission products.