Teams with the Hanford Site's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) are running through the detailed process workers will use to add simulated waste to a large melter in the next few months.
Office of Environmental Management
October 3, 2023
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RICHLAND, Wash. – Teams with the Hanford Site's Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) are running through the detailed process workers will use to add simulated waste to a large melter in the next few months. The step is called cold commissioning because the simulated waste is not radioactive, and it allows workers to operate the plant and immobilize the simulated waste in glass without the hazards of real waste. The simulated waste will be heated with glass-forming materials in the melters, and the molten mixture will then be poured into stainless steel containers and disposed of at an industrial and hazardous waste landfill in Arlington, Oregon. Workers at WTP continue to prepare for the next major steps in getting the two melters in the plant’s Low-Activity Waste Facility and the rest of the plant ready to start treating the radioactive and chemical waste from large underground tanks at Hanford.
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