Office of River Protection 2015 Hanford ORP Site Status Report Robert Elkins, WRPS 2015 ASP Workshop 14-17 September, 2015 Charleston, SC

Hanford Site Map The Hanford Site, which covers roughly 586 square miles in southeastern Washington state, was home for the facilities which produced the majority of the nuclear materials for the nation’s defense program. As a result, nearly 55 million gallons of mixed waste generated during 40 years of production are stored in 177 underground storage tanks in the Central Plateau (purple) area. 149 of these are older single-shell tanks and 28 are the newer double-shell tanks. The Office of River Protection (DOE ORP) directs tank farms and Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) activities in the Central Plateau region whereas the Richland Office (DOE RL) administers clean up activity along the River Corridor (green).

Here is a breakdown of the underground storage tanks in the Central Plateau area of the Hanford Site. There are 149 single shell tanks ranging in size of 55,000 to 1,000,000 gallons and 28 double shell tanks which are all roughly 1,000,000 gallons in size.

Mount Mount Adams Rainier REDOX & 222-S Lab T-Plant U-Plant B-Plant PUREX A view toward the west of the majority of the Central Plateau with the Cascade Mountains in the distance. The Waste Treatment Plant is in the foreground and the 222-S laboratory complex is located next to the REDOX facility which is one of five canyons located on the Hanford Site. The REDOX, U-Plant, T-Plant, B-Plant, and PUREX canyons are where the original objective was plutonium removal from the uranium fuel rods after the rods had been subjected to the nuclear chain reaction in the Hanford reactors.  Officially, each of these five facilities was called a “plutonium processing facility” or a “chemical separations plant” because chemicals were required to separate the plutonium from the rest of the irradiated fuel rod. A great deal of the waste in the underground storage tanks came from the separations performed in these facilities. All of these chemical separations plants look similar to one another.  They are hundreds of feet in length, with most of them standing about 80 feet high and 70 feet wide.  If you were to go inside the main work area of one of these facilities, it’s kind of like going into a long warehouse.  There’s lots of open space with high walls.  It’s similar to being on the floor of a canyon, where you could look up and see the mountains on either side of you.  Because of the similarity to how a canyon looks, the workers who built these chemical separations plants started to call them processing “canyons”.  They remain highly contaminated after years of removing plutonium from irradiated fuel rods.  Ultimately, all five will be decontaminated and demolished. Waste Treatment Plant

T-Plant Of the five canyons, the T-Plant is the most historic as it’s where the plutonium used in both the world’s first atomic explosion (the Trinity Test) and in the Fat Man bomb dropped over Nagasaki, Japan in World War II was processed. It is also the oldest remaining nuclear facility in the country that is still operating with a current mission.  This facility is the only Hanford processing canyon that remains in operation, although its mission today does not have anything to do with producing plutonium for weapons. Today, T- Plant is a decontamination and repair facility where employees treat, verify, and repackage waste, as well as sample gases trapped inside drums of waste which have been removed from burial grounds throughout the Site. Radioactive and hazardous wastes are processed and packaged at the facility to meet state and federal regulations as well as criteria associated with transporting waste to certain specific waste disposal facilities.

DOE ORP Mission Statement Our mission is to safeguard the nuclear waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks, and to manage the waste safely and responsibly until it can be treated in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for final disposition. The DOE ORP Mission Statement is to safeguard the nuclear waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks, and to manage the waste safely and responsibly until it can be treated in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for final disposition.

DOE ORP Tank Operations Contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) manages all tank farms operations as well as the 222-S Laboratory Complex. As the ORP Tank Operations Contractor Washington River Protection Solutions manages all tank farms operations as well as the 222-S Laboratory complex.

222-S Analytical Laboratory Complex 11A Hot Cell Annex Here is an aerial view of the 222-S Analytical Complex in the Hanford Site 200 West Area. At the left is the 11A Hot Cell Annex where tank samples are received for analysis. Tank, environmental, and industrial hygiene samples are analyzed in the 222-S Laboratory. The REDOX canyon building has been deactivated. REDOX Canyon

222-S Analytical Laboratory The entrance to the 222S Laboratory.

222-S Laboratory Hot Cells The 222-S Laboratory 11A Hot Cell Annex has five hot cells used for high activity tank waste samples.

222-S Analytical Laboratory WRPS performs analytical method development, tank farm process support, and organic analysis of vapor samples (AIHA-LAP accredited). WRPS also administers 222-S complex operations for areas such as procurement, maintenance, waste disposal, and health & safety. A separate analytical service provider at the 222-S Analytical Laboratory performs routine inorganic, organic, and radioanalytical analysis of tank farm and environmental samples as well as inorganic analysis of industrial hygiene samples to support day to day tank farms operations. Washington River Protection Solutions is AIHA accredited. IH analysis are for Volatiles, Furans, Semi-volatiles, and Aldehydes. A separate analytical service provider at the 222-S Analytical Laboratory is Washington State Department of Ecology (WSDOE) and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) accredited and participates in the MAPEP program. IH analyses are for Beryllium, Ammonia, and Mercury.

Laboratory Quality Standards On-Site – Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Requirements Documents (HASQARD) Similar to DOECAP QSM but does not include IH analysis Based partly on NQA-1 for application at nuclear facilities Allows flexibility when dealing with high level rad samples Includes sampling and field analysis activities Includes process chemistry analysis Includes research & development projects related to environmental cleanup Off-Site – HASQARD for environmental laboratories and DOECAP QSM for industrial hygiene laboratories For all Hanford on-site contractor laboratories and off-site subcontractor environmental laboratories the Hanford Analytical Services Quality Assurance Requirements Documents (HASQARD) is the quality standard. For off-Site subcontractor industrial hygiene laboratories it is the DOECAP Quality Systems Manual (QSM).

WRPS Varied Analytical Needs Industrial Hygiene (IH) Vapor and Bulk Analyses General Analytical Support for Waste Tank Retrieval General Process Chemistry and Solubility Studies Tank and Pipe Corrosion Studies Tank Waste Phase Characterization Studies Separation, Stabilization and/or Treatment of Selected Waste Streams Forensics Solids Analysis Vadose Zone Characterization Miscellaneous Environmental or Waste Characterization Washington River Protection Solutions’ analytical needs as the tank operations contractor cover a wide spectrum of services not offered by any one laboratory.

Projected New Sources of FY 16 WRPS Analytical Work Tank Farm Vapor Management System Project (analysis of tank headspace gases to address both environmental and industrial hygiene concerns) Effluent Treatment Facility (analysis of waste water samples to determine acceptability for discharge to a state approved land disposal site) The Tank Farm Vapor Management System Project and the Hanford Site Effluent Treatment Facility may be new sources of analytical work for FY 16.

Types of Samples Analyzed by Offsite Laboratories Miscellaneous Industrial Hygiene Vapor Asbestos Fiber Counting and beryllium analysis Low or Non-Radioactive Regulatory Environmental Miscellaneous RCRA Waste These are the types of samples currently being submitted to our offsite subcontract laboratories.

Number of WRPS Samples Analyzed Off-Site Fiscal year 2015 includes estimates for the months of August and September. Fiscal year 2016 is projected to have a slight increase over 2015. You can see that there was a noticeable increase in samples starting in FY 14.

Reasons for Sample Load Increases Beginning in FY14 DOE RL’s decision to close the onsite Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility laboratory that performed environmental and IH analyses Concerns about vapor exposures in the tank farms Start-up operations at the evaporator in the tank farms to reduce the volume of highly radioactive tank waste Closure of the Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility, increased concerns over vapor exposures of tank farm workers, and start up of the tank farm evaporator are reasons for the sample load increases beginning in fiscal year 2014.

WRPS Off-Site Commercial Laboratories WRPS utilizes six DOECAP audited Laboratories for industrial hygiene or environmental sample analyses WRPS contracts with two laboratories which are not DOECAP participants for specialty industrial hygiene and vapor analyses Washington River Protection Solutions utilizes six DOECAP audited laboratories for industrial hygiene or environmental sample analyses, and two non-DOECAP audited laboratories for specialty industrial hygiene and vapor analyses.

Qualified DOECAP Laboratory Auditors WRPS provides three DOECAP laboratory auditors, two of whom are lead auditors ORP provides one DOECAP laboratory auditor Washington River Protection Solutions provides three DOECAP laboratory auditors and the DOE Office of River Protection provides one laboratory auditor.

Future DOECAP Laboratory Participation Provide audit support for laboratories used by ORP contractors Provide support for revision of the DOECAP QSM and checklists The Hanford Site Office of River Protection will continue to provide audit support for laboratories used by ORP contractors, as well as support for revision of the DOECAP QSM and checklists.

DOECAP Laboratory Points of Contact Jeff Cheadle, DOE ORP Glen Clark, WRPS Here are the DOE Office of River Protection DOECAP Laboratory Points of Contact.

Non-Radiological TSDF Audits WRPS utilizes one off-site, non-radiological TSDF vendor for tank farm, 222-S laboratory and contracted WTP hazardous wastes WRPS has conducted its own audit of this vendor The vendor sends waste to several different facilities Some of these facilities are audited by DOECAP Washington River Protection Solutions utilizes one off-site, non-radiological Treatment Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) vendor for tank farm, 222-S laboratory and contracted Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant hazardous wastes. WRPS has conducted its own audit of this vendor. The vendor sends waste to several different facilities, some of which are audited by DOECAP.

Radiological TSDF WRPS utilizes four off-site radiological TSDF facilities All four facilities are audited by DOECAP WRPS participates annually in the DOECAP audit of the local facility in Washington state Washington River Protection Solutions utilizes four off-site radiological TSDF facilities which are all audited by DOECAP. WRPS participates in the DOECAP audit of the local facility in Washington state.

Qualified DOECAP TSDF Auditors WRPS provides three DOECAP TSDF auditors Washington River Protection Solutions provides three DOECAP TSDF auditors.

DOECAP TSDF Points of Contact Jeff Cheadle, DOE ORP Here is the DOE Office of River Protection DOECAP TSDF Point of Contact.