Richland, Wash. — Employees at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, also known as the “Vit Plant,” heard the plea of the local Toys for Tots organization, which announced over the weekend that area demand was exceeding donations this year. At an event this morning, Vit Plant employees, Bechtel and URS presented the Toys for Tots organization and U.S. Marines from Bravo Company, 4th Tank Battalion with more than 3,500 toys and nearly $8,000.
“I am extremely impressed with this project and everyone who contributed,” Captain Christopher Johnson said. “Your donation is the largest from a single employer in this area, and it will go a long way to help many of our local families. Thank you on behalf of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.”
The Vit Plant’s 3,400 employees rallied to collect the toys, which include 200 bicycles, and several Vit Plant managers issued challenges to further encourage donations. For the second consecutive year, Vit Plant Manager of Construction Dave Leeth promised to dress as Santa if construction site employees reached his goal of 3,000 toys, an increase from the 1,000-toy-goal he set last year.
“Toys for Tots identified that there was a significant need for toys this year, and it became very important that we step up,” Leeth, donning the red hat and suit, said. “And we did. I’m very proud of what our employees have done. He went on to thank the U.S. Marines for their service to our community through the Toys for Tots program and to our country.
Local business Griggs/Ace Hardware also contributed to the Vit Plant’s efforts by transporting the toys and bikes from the construction site to the Toys for Tots distribution center using a large trailer and cargo van.
Bechtel and URS, the contractor and principle subcontractor for the Vit Plant, also made $5,000 in corporate donations to the Toys for Tots organization. Employees raised an additional $3,000.
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 58 percent complete. The plant will be operational in 2019.