Richland, Wash. — The proposed planetarium at Columbia Basin College should be open for students in October thanks to a $100,000 donation by Bechtel National Inc.
“Most of us can remember with wonder the first time we visited a planetarium,” said Frank Russo, project director for the Hanford Waste Treatment plant, which is being built by Bechtel.
“This planetarium can help turn a student’s first spark of excitement into a passion for science, technology and mathematics. That makes this planetarium a critical element in helping to create the next generation of scientists and engineers, which is fundamental to Bechtel’s business and that of many others,” said Russo.
“CBC is a dynamic institution that serves the diverse needs of the region and is in a unique position to train the employees Bechtel will need in the future,” said Russo. “In addition to stimulating inquiry and young minds, we see the planetarium as a legacy project that children, the scientific community and the general public will enjoy for years to come.”
CBC plans to renovate an existing building to become the planetarium. The 2,700-square-foot building will include three classrooms and a 30-foot-diameter dome. A multi-media system will allow staff to project images of the night sky onto the inside surface of the planetarium dome.
Bechtel has a long history of support to CBC which began in 1995. The most recent contribution of $100,000 will go toward construction of the planetarium dome. It brings the total of Bechtel support to CBC to more than $600,000.
About the Waste Treatment Plant:
Bechtel National Inc. is designing and building the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state. The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the “Vit Plant,” will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste stored in 177 underground tanks using a process called vitrification.
Vitrification involves blending the waste with molten glass and heating it to high temperatures. The mixture is then poured into stainless steel canisters. In this glass form, the waste is stable and impervious to the environment, and its radioactivity will dissipate over hundreds to thousands of years.
The Vit Plant will cover 65 acres with four nuclear facilities — Pretreatment, Low-Activity Waste Vitrification, High-Level Waste Vitrification and Analytical Laboratory — as well as operations and maintenance buildings, utilities and office space. Construction of the Vit Plant began in 2001 and is now more than 65 percent complete.