For more than 40 years, reactors located at Hanford produced plutonium for America’s defense program. The process of making plutonium was extremely “inefficient” in that a massive amount of liquid and solid waste is generated, while only a small amount of plutonium is produced. Additionally, all the facilities and structures that were associated with Hanford’s defense mission must also be deactivated, decommissioned, decontaminated, and demolished. That environmental cleanup project is the work that about 13,000 Hanford workers are involved in today.
| Risk Reduction |
|
Tank Waste Treatment |
|
Groundwater |
|
Crews responsible for Site cleanup are dealing with several different kinds of waste in several different forms, with many of the wastes being potentially harmful to people and the environment. Precautions have been taken so that the waste does not contaminate the air, the ground, the water table underneath the ground, the Columbia River, the people who are doing the cleanup work, or the people and environment near the Hanford Site.
Learn more
|
|
Of the liquid wastes generated at Hanford, much of the waste that is currently stored in the underground tanks will ultimately be transformed into a stable, glass product in a process called vitrification. In order to vitrify the waste, it is mixed with glass-forming materials and then introduced to high heat so that the waste bonds with the glass.
Learn more
|
|
The liquid waste that had been poured onto the ground or held in ponds or trenches has long since evaporated or soaked into the soil on the Site. Hanford employees are actively involved in projects designed to prevent any more of the contamination from reaching the river. Several different strategies are being used in that effort.
Learn more
|
°F