Vit Plant Completes Final Safety System Test

Crews at the Hanford Vit Plant's Low-Activity Waste Facility recently completed the final test of key safety systems, demonstrating that the facility’s emissions treatment system can remain functional, even during an emergency loss of power.

“This was the ultimate test to demonstrate that the emissions treatment system can respond to this worst-case scenario,” said Mat Irwin, Hanford’s acting assistant manager for the Vit Plant Project. “The test was true to life, and the plant responded exactly as it would during full operations.”

Vit Plant crews prepared for the test by adding a mixture of powdered glass-forming materials and simulated tank waste into both melters at the facility, creating conditions nearly identical to full operations. Workers then cut power to the facility and watched as the safety systems automatically activated the backup power and isolated the emissions system to prevent leakage.

“This test was exceptionally complex. It included running both melters with a cold cap for the first time ever, which is an achievement in its own right,” said Chris Musick, deputy project director for the Vit Plant. “It also spanned over a shift change for our operations team, adding another layer of complexity to the test. It demonstrated that our team, and the facility, are ready and able to respond to a loss of power.”

A cold cap is a floating mass of glass-formers and simulated, and eventually real, tank waste that forms shortly after the mixture is fed into a melter. The cold cap slowly melts into the glass pool, producing the gasses the emissions treatment system addresses.

The completion of this test demonstrates the reliability of the Low-Activity Waste Facility’s safety systems, and that the emissions treatment system is ready for the next stages of operation.

About the Vit Plant

In southeastern Washington state, Bechtel National, Inc. is designing, constructing, and commissioning the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). When complete, the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant, will process and stabilize millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste currently stored at the Hanford Site.