Hanford Team Brainstorms, Implements Vehicle Updates to Support Mission

RICHLAND, Wash. – An innovative team of truck drivers, engineers, mechanics and others has revamped trucks to make them more functional while transporting samples to support the tank waste mission at the Hanford Site.

In the collaborative effort among EM contractors, Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) installed a reengineered lift system on trucks used by tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to haul samples of tank waste to the site’s 222-S Laboratory for analysis.

“Our contractors routinely operate as a team to complete important work on the Hanford Site in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner,” said Brian Harkins, RL assistant manager for mission support. “This integrated approach reduces risk and effectively advances our cleanup mission.”

Before the overhaul, the trucks were designed to hold two shielded sample containers. They didn’t have dedicated space for both heavy lids when removed from the containers, and the containers could only be accessed one at a time.

The former design for the trucks included a manual lift for the lids of the containers. But WRPS truck drivers and engineers sketched out a new design that uses a machine to lift the lids and features a staging platform to store them, making the whole system safer and more ergonomic. HMIS mechanics followed the re-engineered designs by WRPS to make the updates.

“By replacing a manual hoist with an electric one, it now requires much less exertion from the workers,” said Peter Griffin, WRPS tank farms projects engineer. “These simple modifications will pay big dividends in terms of efficiency and worker safety.”