Richland, Wash. — A team of executive-level nuclear safety experts is now conducting an independent and comprehensive review of the nuclear safety and quality culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).
Members of the independent panel bring many decades of high-level experience working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy (DOE), and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) at both commercial and DOE nuclear sites. The team includes David Amerine, Joseph Callan, Nils Diaz, Gerald Garfield, Roger Mattson, Luis Reyes and Michael Sellman.
In an announcement to WTP employees last week, contractor Bechtel National, Inc. encouraged employees and managers at all levels to be open and responsive to the review panel as part of the company’s commitment to safely designing and building WTP facilities that meet the highest standards of nuclear safety.
“Nuclear safety and quality are without question the most important considerations in achieving the vital cleanup mission at Hanford,” says WTP Project Director Frank Russo.” While we believe that our nuclear safety and quality culture here at WTP is strong, we also believe in continuous improvement. We welcome the opportunity for a full and open review of the project by these experts, and we will accept and implement any actions they identify.”
The panel is defining the scope of its review and determining the actions it deems necessary to provide independent conclusions and recommendations. It has already informed WTP leadership that it will use several sources of information to conduct its review including all-employee surveys, interviews with employees, and review of other project information including numerous other recent evaluations conducted by external experts.
The panel’s independence and experience, coupled with its thorough examination of nuclear safety and quality at WTP, will help ensure that the highest standards of nuclear safety and quality culture are met every step of the way in cleaning up and stabilizing the 56 million gallons of nuclear waste in the underground storage tanks at Hanford.
Complete and detailed biographies for each member are attached to this release.
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 $12.2 billion Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), also known as the “Vit Plant,” will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste currently 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 WTP 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 WTP began in 2001 and is now 60 percent complete. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2016; will reach commissioning in 2019 and achieve full operations in 2022.