Hanford Waste Treatment Plant reaching new heights on largest facility

Richland, Wash. — Last week, crews at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) finished installing the Pretreatment (PT) Facility’s fourth elevation of concrete walls. Completing the fourth elevation, which reaches 77 feet at the top, is a significant step towards completing civil construction activities for the facility.

Once we finish concrete and steel construction, we can fully transition …

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Hanford Waste Treatment Plant completes critical system design for High-Level Waste Facility

Richland, Wash. — Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) engineers recently completed the design for the High-Level Waste (HLW) Vitrification Facility’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Critical to facility operations, the HVAC system will ensure contamination boundaries are maintained by directing the flow of contaminated air through the appropriate channels. It will also regulate the temperature of the facility, which will …

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Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Project’s Analytical Laboratory mechanical systems design completed

Richland, Wash. — Engineers working on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), also known as the "Vit Plant," recently completed the mechanical systems design for the Analytical Laboratory (Lab), one of the five major nuclear facilities that compose the Vit Plant, bringing the facility another step closer to startup activities in 2013.

When operational, the Lab will be …

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Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Project finishes setting series of massive shield doors

Richland, Wash. — Last week, the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Project, the “Vit Plant,” finished setting the last of four massive shield doors in its High-Level Waste (HLW) Vitrification Facility. The first was set this spring. These four doors are located in a key area of the facility and are crucial to advancing construction.

“By successfully completing these …

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Hanford Vitrification Plant Project begins complicated cooling panel installations

Richland, Wash. — Earlier this month, crews at the Hanford Vitrification Plant began a series of complicated cooling panel installations in the Low-Activity Waste Vitrification (LAW) Facility. The panels are being installed in the area of the facility where the 2,100-degree-Fahrenheit waste-glass mixture, the final product of the vitrification process, will be poured into stainless steel containers for permanent …

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Massive shield door installed at the Vit Plant

Richland, Wash. — Construction crews with Bechtel National, Inc. have successfully completed the precision installation of a massive 50-ton shield door at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) in southeastern Washington State. Bechtel is designing and building the WTP for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection.

The shield door is in a key area of the …

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Hanford Vit Plant begins key interior installation in Analytical Laboratory

Richland, Wash. — This week, crews at the Hanford Vitrification Plant began installing key equipment essential for safely transporting analyzed waste within its Analytical Laboratory (Lab). The equipment is part of a waste-transfer system that, when the Vit Plant is operational, will move waste that has already been tested through the Lab.

“These components are critical to safely …

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Bechtel announces Frank Russo as new Vit Plant project director

Richland, Wash. — Effective January 18, the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project announces Frank Russo as the new project director. In this position, Russo is responsible for oversight of the $12.2 billion nuclear waste cleanup project in Richland, Wash.

Russo brings 37 years of experience in engineering, procurement, construction, startup, commissioning and business management to …

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Hanford Vit Plant finishes 2009 with major accomplishments

Richland, Wash. — The Hanford Vitrification Plant finished 2009 with major accomplishments in three of its primary nuclear facilities—the High-Level Waste (HLW) Vitrification Facility, Pretreatment (PT) Facility and the Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Vitrification Facility. These accomplishments included fabricating keyequipment, placing a 36-ton rebar curtain and completing a support building, respectively.

“The Vit Plant reached 50 percent complete this …

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Vit Plant’s Pretreatment Facility expands interior installations

Richland, Wash. — The Pretreatment (PT) Facility at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (Vit Plant) now reaches an impressive 77 feet in places and continues to rise steadily as concrete and steel are installed. Recently, the facility marked additional achievements when crews began installing a massive HVAC duct inside the facility’s hot cell. The duct is part …

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Vit Plant celebrates surpassing 50 percent complete

Richland, Wash. — This month, the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project celebrated surpassing the 50-percent-complete mark.

“Over the years, nearly 10,000 people have touched this historic project,” WTP Project Director Ted Feigenbaum said. “Each of these people, whether a skilled craft, engineer or other professional, has contributed to the project meeting this milestone. It is …

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Hanford Vitrification Plant continues to meet milestones at Pretreatment Facility

Richland, Wash. — Crews working on the Pretreatment (PT) Facility recently reached a significant milestone when they finished installing the structural steel that raises the facility’s elevation from 28 feet to 56 feet.

“By completing this milestone, we are demonstrating the increasing momentum and mounting accomplishments for the PT Facility and the project as a whole,” Gary Brunson, …

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Energy Secretary Chu visits the Vit Plant

Richland, Wash. — With the ongoing construction of the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) in the background at the Hanford Site, Energy Secretary Steven Chu joined Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, acting U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Cruden and other officials today to announce a …

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Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant installs key vitrification process equipment

Richland, Wash. — Last week, crews at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) installed two large mixing vessels, which are key to the vitrification process, in the Low-Activity Waste Vitrification (LAW) Facility.

Fabricated by Dynamic Air in St. Paul, Minn., each vessel is approximately 15 feet long, 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall and weighs …

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Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant completes complex door liner installation

Richland, Wash. — Today, crews at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) lifted a massive door liner into place in the High-Level Waste (HLW) Vitrification Facility, demonstrating continued progress at the Vit Plant.

This is a significant accomplishment for the HLW Facility and the Vit Plant as a whole,” Ty Troutman, area project manager for the …

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Hanford Waste Treatment Plant piping protection system put into service

Richland, Wash. — The Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), also known as the vit plant, reached a major milestone when most of its cathodic protection system was placed into service last month. The cathodic protection system, which protects miles of underground piping from corrosion, is the last of three such WTP systems selected for early turnover from construction to …

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Tests completed at Hanford’s Pretreatment Engineering Platform

Richland, Wash. — Installed and fully operational, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pretreatment Engineering Platform (PEP) is fulfilling its intended function – confirming the effectiveness and throughput of essential waste pretreatment processes for Hanford’s vitrification plant, also known as the vit plant. Advanced testing, known as phase one testing, began January 31, 2009, following completion of startup testing.

The …

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Pretreatment Facility shield doors installed at Hanford Waste Treatment Plant

Richland, Wash. — Two massive shield doors were recently installed in the Pretreatment (PT) Facility at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), or vit plant, demonstrating steady construction progress. The 22-ton steel doors are each 10 feet high, 11 feet wide and approximately eight inches thick. Installed late last week and early this week, they are the …

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Construction progresses on Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Pretreatment Facility

Richland, Wash. — The third elevation of concrete walls was recently completed on the Pretreatment (PT) Facility at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), demonstrating the continued progress on the WTP since full construction resumed in 2007. Construction was curtailed on the PT Facility and the High-Level Waste Facility in 2005 to address and finalize seismic design …

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Melter assembly completed for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant

Richland, Wash. — The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project reached a major milestone when the first melter assembly was recently completed by Petersen Inc., a custom-steel fabricator, in Ogden, Utah. The melters are at the heart of the vitrification process, which turns radioactive and chemical wastes into a sturdy glass form that is impervious to the environment. …

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