Destruction of millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical wastes stored for decades in leaking underground tanks at the US Energy Dept.'s Hanford waste site in Washington state now will begin with startup of a new facility in the storage area that is set to remove cesium and solids before the toxics are turned into inert glass, with treated waste disposed of in an onsite landfill, or with some quantity possibly sent to an offsite disposal facility.
Pumping of waste into the site’s $130-million Tank-Side Cesium Removal System, which began late last month, is a key step before an estimated 56 million gallons of waste generated in one-time production of nuclear weapons at Hanford, are immobilized in the site’s multi-billion-dollar vitrification plant, under construction for 20 years and set to come on line by the end of 2023 under state and federal order.