Hanford Partnerships Lend Scientific Expertise to Technical Issues

Partnerships with contractors at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are bringing scientific expertise from the Battelle-managed Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to a variety of cleanup projects at the site. “The arrangement is mutually beneficial,” John LaFemina, PNNL’s Environmental Quality Subsector Manager, said. “Hanford contractors access some of the best scientists and facilities in the world, while the scientists work on challenging problems whose outcome will make a difference in our quality of life.”

In April 2000, PNNL partnered with the Project Hanford management contractor, Fluor Hanford, Incorporated, to better understand and deal with technical risk and uncertainty in cleanup decisions. Facilitating plutonium stabilization and deepening scientific understanding of spent nuclear fuel to support Fluor’s efforts to place the fuel in dry storage have been a focus of PNNL’s work. The laboratory’s innovative stabilization process for deteriorating “polycubes” of polystyrene and plutonium allowed Fluor to meet critical milestones and avoid extra costs. Analyses of sludge from spent nuclear fuel stored in holding basins are helping Fluor determine operating parameters for storing the radioactive mud.

PNNL also offers solutions for Fluor’s Groundwater Protection Program. Through long-term data collection and mathematical modeling, researchers have developed a systems model of the Hanford site that provides an integrated view of the hydrogeologic, chemical contaminant, and radiological contaminant conditions in the subsurface. The model, which is being used to predict the composite impact of Hanford’s waste sites on the environment, helps Fluor prioritize contaminated subsurface sites to consider technology options and to examine various scenarios for movement of contaminants.

Last fall, PNNL and the CH2M HILL Hanford Group agreed to work together on technology identification, development, and planning in support of Hanford tank cleanup and closure. PNNL helps its partner evaluate supplemental technologies for packaging transuranic materials (those that have a higher atomic number than uranium) for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and for treating low-activity wastes from Hanford’s tanks. This specialized technical expertise helps CH2M HILL meet its performance incentives, according to Tom Brouns, the PNNL relationship manager. Another partnership was created when Bechtel National Inc., builder of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, contracted directly with Battelle to develop and demonstrate the major chemical and physical processes in the plant. Battelle will test a variety of processes to help Bechtel run the facility at optimal levels.

For more information, contact John LaFemina at (509) 375-6806, john.lafemina@pnl.gov.