Washington: waste tanks connected to glass plant at Hanford site

Workers at the Hanford site near Richland, Washington, have connected the underground tanks storing radioactive waste to the waste treatment plant, which will begin solidifying it into glass later this year. Indeed, the plant will use vitrification technology, which involves mixing the waste with glass-forming materials and heating it at high temperatures inside large melters. The mixture will then be poured into stainless steel canisters to cool and solidify. In this glass form, the waste will be safe and stable, and its radioactivity will dissipate over hundreds to thousands of years.
The project was designed and built by Bechtel National. Hanford hosts 177 underground waste storage tanks from nuclear weapons development and nuclear energy research during the last century. The tanks, some of which are reportedly leaking, hold 56 million gallons of waste. Brian Harkins, Acting Manager of the Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office, stated that advancing the tank waste mission safely is a top priority, and the recently constructed connection brings Hanford closer to solidifying tank waste in glass.