Workers recently installed manipulator equipment at a full-scale mock-up of areas of the Hanford Site’s Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility that will be used to move nearly 2,000 radioactive capsules from underwater storage, into steel and concrete casks and loaded onto a truck for a short trip to a secured storage area near the facility.
Workers recently installed manipulator equipment at a full-scale mock-up of areas of the Hanford Site’s Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility that will be used to move nearly 2,000 radioactive capsules.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Preparations are well underway to transfer nearly 2,000 highly radioactive capsules from the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) to interim dry storage at the Hanford Site.

Over the past several months, workers with EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) completed a number of modifications to the facility needed to install a system that will move the capsules from the underwater basin, into dry-storage casks, onto trucks and into a new storage area close to the facility.

Last fall, crews completed final construction activities at the dry-storage area. Additional upgrades are needed at WESF’s truck transfer area to enable the half-mile trip to the dry-storage concrete pad.

Jason Beaver and Pedro Ramirez with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company construct wooden forms for a new concrete pad outside the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility.
Jason Beaver and Pedro Ramirez with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company construct wooden forms for a new concrete pad outside the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility.

The 1,936 capsules have been stored in an underwater basin at WESF since the mid-1970s. Cesium and strontium were removed from Hanford waste tanks to reduce the internal temperature. While the capsules are currently in safe storage in the underwater basin, moving them to dry storage eliminates a longer-term risk of a radioactive release in the unlikely event of a loss of water from the basin during a larger-than-expected earthquake.

Check out this animation to learn more about the capsule transfer process.

“We’re encouraged by the pace of progress on this critical risk-reduction project,” said Gary Pyles, RL project manager. “Transferring the capsules to the new dry-storage pad will not only enable the planned deactivation of the aging WESF facility, but also save as much as $6 million in annual operating costs.”

Progress also continues at a full-scale mock-up about 15 miles south of WESF at Hanford’s Maintenance and Storage Facility. It is designed to replicate the areas of WESF that the capsules will be moved through while transferring them into dry-storage casks and putting the casks on trucks. The mock-up includes a replica shielded hot cell, an operating “canyon,” and a truck loading area. It is designed to look and feel exactly like the real thing, so workers can test and practice to get comfortable with the system before going live in the WESF facility.

Mock-ups are used extensively at Hanford to allow workers to safely train, test equipment and develop procedures before performing the work in a contaminated environment. The use of mock-ups has been proven to reduce potential worker exposures to hazards in radiological zones and significantly reduce the potential for delays during the fieldwork due to modifying procedures, processes or equipment.

Workers at the mock-up recently installed four mechanical manipulators that are part of a system that will transfer the underwater capsules from the basin to stainless-steel-and-concrete casks for transfer to the new storage area.

Fabrication of other capsule transfer test equipment is almost complete, with the system components expected to arrive at the mock-up for installation and testing this spring.

“There has been a ton of activity going on at WESF, the mock-up and at our offsite equipment fabricators this fall and winter,” said Mark Buckmaster, CPCCo capsule transfer project manager. "Our talented teams are making terrific progress on all fronts to prepare to safely move these capsules into dry storage. We’re excited to keep moving forward on one of Hanford’s priority risk-reduction projects.”