Workers on the Hanford Site recently stabilized a waste storage tunnel at risk of collapsing.
Office of Environmental Management
April 30, 2019
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RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers on the Hanford Site recently stabilized a waste storage tunnel at risk of collapsing.
Last week, EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) placed the last of nearly 40,000 cubic yards of engineered grout inside the second tunnel adjacent to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant.
“Stabilization reduces risk to the Hanford workforce, the public, and the environment,” Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said. “The team did an excellent job performing this work safely, reducing a potential risk on the site.”
Stabilization efforts on PUREX Tunnel 2 started in October 2018, following the successful stabilization of PUREX Tunnel 1. Tunnel 1 partially collapsed in May 2017. Both tunnels contain railcars holding contaminated plutonium processing equipment.
The use of engineered grout to stabilize the tunnels will protect workers, the public, and the environment, without preventing future disposition options. With grouting complete, the PUREX tunnels will return to surveillance mode, during which crews will inspect the tunnels’ exterior at least once a year.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the workers in the field, support staff across our company, and cooperation of all the site contractors that led to this important work being completed safely,” said Ty Blackford, CHPRC president and CEO. “It took a lot of preparation and day-to-day attention in a hazardous environment to ensure we could make, move, and place thousands of trucks of grout safely while assuring the potential for a radiological release was minimized.”
These videos highlight the immense scope of the project and how crews completed stabilization safely.
For more information, please visit the PUREX Tunnels information page on Hanford’s website.