Collaboration is Key to Hanford Cleanup

RICHLAND, Wash. - A One Hanford contractor partnership has developed a new process to ensure radioactive and chemical tank waste is ready for pretreatment quickly and efficiently at the Hanford Site.

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management contractors are focusing on improving waste sample analysis and increasing efficiency of future tank waste treatment. They include Navarro-ATL, operator of the site's 222-S Laboratory, and tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS).

In a new approach, lab workers will analyze samples from the tank waste staged to be processed in the Tank-Side Cesium Removal System (TSCR) much earlier in the process. This reduces the amount of sampling required and accelerates the process of qualifying the waste for processing through TSCR.

"This is a substantial improvement to the waste qualification process," said Delmar Noyes, Hanford assistant manager for Tank Waste Operations. "It will significantly increase the amount of feed available and reduce cost by cutting the amount of sampling needed in half."