PHOENIX – EM is working to implement the “quickest path to glass” for tank waste at the Hanford Site, senior EM and contractor officials said here earlier this month.

   During a panel session at the annual Waste Management Conference, EM Office of River Protection officials provided an update on the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Initiative. DFLAW is intended to allow EM to begin vitrifying Hanford tank waste as soon as 2022. Vitrification involves combining the tank waste with glass-forming materials and then heating the mixture to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The material is then poured into stainless steel containers, where it cools to a solid glass form facilitating long-term storage. 

   “Our team sees DFLAW and the target of 2022 in sight,” ORP Manager Kevin Smith said. “This is a big challenge, and we have forged an effective team.”

   DFLAW will use the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant’s (WTP) Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility, Analytical Laboratory, and other ancillary support facilities. These sections of WTP are closer to completion than the two other main sections of WTP — the High-Level Waste and Pretreatment facilities.  

   DFLAW is expected to have several other benefits, officials said. It will allow EM to maximize its investment in WTP’s ancillary support facilities until the entire WTP begins operation. DFLAW is also expected to provide valuable lessons learned to aid in the startup and commissioning of other sections of WTP.

   Construction work on the sections of the WTP that will support DFLAW is nearest to completion, said Peggy McCullough, project director for Bechtel National, Inc., the contractor responsible for WTP. She noted that 2015 was the safest year in the history of the WTP Project, and stressed that Bechtel is working to make 2016 another record-breaking year when it comes to safety.

   Along with sections of WTP, DFLAW will require the construction of two new facilities. One is the LAW Pretreatment System (LAWPS), which will separate the low-activity portion of Hanford’s tank waste for processing at the WTP LAW Facility. Design work on LAWPS is currently more than 30 percent complete, and ORP Tank Farms Project Assistant Manager Tom Fletcher said he expects the project to reach 60 percent design completion later this year.

   LAWPS “is a hallmark of value engineering,” Smith said, adding that the project is intended to be “a model” for the entire DOE.

   The other new facility to be established is the Effluent Management Facility (EMF). EM broke ground for EMF in mid-December, and design of the new capability is approximately 30 percent complete. EMF will provide several functions to aid DFLAW, including concentrating fluids containing low levels of radioactive material from the LAW Facility’s off-gas treatment system via an evaporator, and recycling the evaporator concentrate into the LAW vitrification process, among others.

   ORP WTP Assistant Manager and Federal Project Director Bill Hamel said EMF will be key to reducing the volume of material returned to Hanford’s tanks as part of DFLAW and helping maximize available tank space. 

   To help establish an integrated approach for delivering DFLAW, EM and its contractors at Hanford are moving forward with what’s been dubbed the “One System” program. As outlined by Bill Condon, manager for One System at Hanford tank farms’ contractor Washington River Protection Solutions LLC (WRPS), the program supports DFLAW by providing integrated management tools, innovative thinking, collaboration with DOE’s national laboratories, risk identification, program-wide reviews, and program element evaluations. 

   “There are a lot of moving parts on this. We are committed to ensuring all these parts come together at the right time and in the right order to provide a smooth transition into DFLAW operations," WRPS President and Project Manager Mark Lindholm said.