EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has awarded a $13 million subcontract to Fowler General Construction.
Office of Environmental Management
November 10, 2020
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RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has awarded a $13 million subcontract to Fowler General Construction to build a new Hanford Site water treatment facility that will automate water services, and support treating tank waste and completing risk-reduction cleanup projects across the site.
“This new facility will ensure we can support several years of 24/7 operations to treat millions of gallons of low-activity tank waste while also meeting the demands of our risk-reduction operations at Hanford,” said Jeff Frey, RL assistant manager for mission support. “The tank waste treatment program requires a collective commitment to excellence and significant upgrades to site infrastructure to create the most highly-integrated operational program at Hanford.”
The water treatment facility is one of several projects critical to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity-Waste system that will transform the Hanford Site by enabling a shift to tank waste treatment operations. The approach is a system of interdependent projects and infrastructure improvements that will operate together to send pretreated waste from Hanford’s tank farms directly to the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).
“When we get into 24/7 operations, having an uninterrupted supply of water and other infrastructure services will be critical, because once we turn the melters on, we won’t be able to turn them off until they are replaced periodically when they wear out,” said Mat Irwin, EM Office of River Protection deputy assistant manager for WTP, where the tank waste will be vitrified, or immobilized in glass.
The new water treatment facility will be capable of producing a minimum of 3.5 million gallons of clean water a day and can be expanded to provide 5 million gallons per day if site demands increase. MSA completed design of the facility earlier this year, and construction is expected to begin in April.
“We are excited to expand and upgrade the site’s water treatment system and to play an important role in the upcoming shift to 24/7 waste treatment operations,” said Bob Wilkinson, president and CEO of MSA. “Our crews have proven they can deliver award-winning water treatment services, and we’re looking forward to building on a legacy of more than 70 years of skilled operation of water treatment facilities as we support the mission.”
The new estimated 10,000-square-foot facility will treat water using a process called hollow fiber microfiltration that lets water molecules through, while leaving bacteria and other contaminants behind. The treatment method represents a significant improvement to the safety of personnel working in and around the facility, as it will not use chlorine gas, allowing EM to eliminate all use of the hazardous gas on the site when the new facility begins operating.