Spare Melters Critical to Hanford’s Tank Waste Treatment

RICHLAND, Wash. – The EM Office of River Protection (ORP) continues to make substantial progress in its preparations to treat millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste stored in large underground tanks at the Hanford Site.

ORP and tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) have chosen the Atkins Engineering Laboratory in Richland to assemble and store two 300-ton spare melters. These spare melters are critical to keeping integral components available for future operations at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant's (WTP) Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility.

“The melters are the heart of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste system, which will deliver pretreated waste from the tank farms directly to the LAW Facility,” said ORP’s Joe Renevitz, who oversees maintenance and operations at the plant. “It’s critical to have the two replacement melters available to ensure uninterrupted processing.”

ORP is familiar with the engineering laboratory; it was used for full-scale vessel testing in 2017, the same year ORP tasked WRPS with identifying critical spare parts required to sustain plant operations once tank waste processing begins. That includes ensuring replacement melters are ready and waiting.

WRPS subcontracted the assembly, storage, and transportation of the melters to Atkins, which designed and developed two melters already installed at the plant. The melters have a design life of at least five years before new melters will need to be installed.

Atkins will assemble both spare melters almost simultaneously, which will support workforce efficiency and continuity.

“Upgrades to the facility for melter assembly are underway to prepare to receive the first of the two melter shells in fiscal year 2022,” said Allan Exley, WRPS operations planning integration manager. “At 300 tons, each of the melters weighs roughly the same as four space shuttles. Atkins will expand its facility to make room for the new systems to handle the huge melters and construct an overhead crane and melter rails.”

At the LAW Facility, tank waste will be mixed in the melters with glass-forming materials at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The molten material will be poured into stainless-steel containers, where it will become solid glass as it cools.

Fabrication of the metallic components for the first replacement melter is approximately 30% complete. Component fabrication for the second replacement melter will begin in the next few months. Once the components are delivered to Atkins, the melters will take about two years to assemble.