EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently resumed processing high-level tank waste through the Tank-Side Cesium Removal System at the Hanford Site following a maintenance outage.
Office of Environmental Management
June 28, 2022
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RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently resumed processing high-level tank waste through the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) System at the Hanford Site following a maintenance outage.
The TSCR System finished processing the first batch of nearly 200,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste in March. The system removes radioactive cesium and undissolved solids from the waste, leaving low-activity waste. This waste is then stored until it can be fed to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for vitrification, or immobilization in glass.
When the cesium-removal media in the system’s ion exchange columns reaches its capacity, the columns must be replaced, which completes a batch.
“TSCR represents the first time tank waste has been treated on an industrial scale at Hanford,” said Delmar Noyes, ORP assistant manager for tank farms project. “During the outage we strengthened our processes based on what we’ve learned to date to add improvements to the treatment system.”
In addition to changing out the columns, workers reviewed all operational aspects of the first batch, including treatment processing data, equipment configuration and performance, as well as worker feedback. This information was used to make improvements to the system.
“One of the lessons we learned through worker input was that we needed longer connection hoses for the columns to make reinstallation easier,” said Wes Bryan, WRPS president and project manager. “These changes not only improve safety but should reduce the duration of future outages to replace columns.”
During the outage, workers also evaluated and confirmed the design of existing connection equipment and strengthened radiological protection practices. They added cameras to the system’s process enclosure to make it easier to take readings when TSCR operates.
Processing of the second batch is scheduled to take several weeks before the column-replacement process begins again.
The cesium removal system is scheduled to treat seven batches of tank waste in a one-year period, totaling approximately 1 million gallons of treated waste.
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