The Department of Ecology proposes a modification to the Hanford Facility Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit, Dangerous Waste Portion for the Treatment, Storage, and Disposal of Dangerous Waste for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). Located east of Hanford’s 200 East Area, WTP is under construction. It will treat the 56 million gallons of waste in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks to convert it to a stable glass form in a process called vitrification. It consists of four main facilities: Pretreatment, Low-Activity Waste, High-Activity Waste, and a Laboratory to support this work. The co-permittees are the U.S. Department of Energy Office of River Protection and Bechtel National, Inc.

What changes are being proposed?
The proposed change to the WTP Permit includes the following permit design package that will allow new construction in the Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility. The LAW Facility permit package LAW-026A addresses the design of offgas/vessel vent process (LVP) system. The design focuses on miscellaneous unit subsystems in the LAW Facility at the +48 ft.-elevation for the HEPA preheaters. Offgas is a gaseous radioactive and hazardous byproduct of tank waste treatment.

The offgas is treated to remove mercury, iodine, and acid gases. It is then directed through the LAW melter offgas caustic scrubber, which removes residual acid gases and provides final offgas cooling. The exhausters are fans that pull offgas through the primary and secondary offgas treatment systems. The exhausters safely discharge the offgas, treated to meet regulatory emission standards, to the atmosphere through the LAW stacks.

Submit comments by October 20 to:
Heather John
Hanford@ecy.wa.gov
3100 Port of Benton Blvd.
Richland, WA 99354

Public Meeting:
A public meeting is not scheduled, but if there is enough interest, we will consider holding one. To request a meeting or for more information, contact:

Heather John
Hanford@ecy.wa.gov
800-321-2008

Documents for review:
Please visit Ecology's WTP Permit website or one of the Hanford Public Information Repositories to review documents.