RICHLAND, Wash.-Radioactive waste has been removed from the 21st underground tank at the Hanford site.
A total of about 3 million gallons of toxic waste has now been removed from the 21 tanks at the AX Farm at Hanford, according to the Department of Energy.
“This is another important moment in our Hanford cleanup work,” said Brian Vance, the Department of Energy’s top manager at Hanford. “Safely and efficiently transferring waste from older to newer tanks continues to reduce risks to our workforce and our community as we progress our cleanup mission on behalf of the nation’s taxpayers.”
The reinforced concrete tanks lined with steel were built to store the radioactive and chemical byproducts of plutonium production at Hanford.
Contractors are moving the waste out of the older tanks with a single steel liner into newer tanks that have a second liner for leak protection, according to the DOE.
The newer tanks will feed the waste to the nearby Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant that will treat the waste for safe disposal starting next year.
“We continue to make great progress in retrieving tank waste because the teams are dedicated to working safely, efficiently and keeping up their skills through continuous training,” said Peggy Hamilton, Retrievals manager for Washington River Protection Solutions.
