Hanford Team Gears Up for Vitrification Operations

RICHLAND, Wash. - Control room personnel monitor systems at the Hanford Site's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant after recently adding the first batch of "tuning feed" to one of the plant's large melters. The feed combines powdered glass-forming materials, water and sodium hydroxide and supports testing processing equipment in the plant's Low-Activity Waste Facility. The testing is an important step in preparing to vitrify, or immobilize in glass, millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from Hanford's large underground tanks.