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For Immediate Release:
November 2, 2021

Media Contacts:
Renee Brooks, HMIS, (509) 373-0857, renee_l_brooks@rl.gov
Ed Dawson, DOE, (509) 316-6775, edward_m_dawson@orp.doe.gov 

Hanford Breaks Ground on Water Treatment Facility

From left, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions President Bob Wilkinson; Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project Director Valerie McCain; Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office Manager Brian Vance; Washington River Protection Solutions President John Eschenberg; and Central Plateau Cleanup Company President Scott Sax participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hanford Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Construction of a new water treatment facility began on the Hanford Site in support of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program and future cleanup work.

U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) awarded the construction contract for the Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility to Richland’s Fowler General Construction, Inc.

Construction began last month on the 10,000-square-foot facility which will automate water services by providing all potable water to the cleanup hub of the Hanford Site, the Central Plateau, and also will support tank waste treatment operations. The Central Plateau contains Hanford’s former processing facilities, current site operations, and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

Hanford Site leadership participated in a formal groundbreaking to mark the occasion, “Well beyond the start of DFLAW and the transition to 24/7 operations, we’re looking at the next several decades of cleanup, and this water facility will provide services to the entire site for that period of time,” said DOE Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office manager Brian Vance. “It’s one of many projects now in place that are going to set the conditions for future work at the site.”

A rendering of the completed Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility, now under construction on the Hanford Site in support of the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Program.

The effort to successfully treat and vitrify, or immobilize in glass, Hanford tank waste for safe disposal will increase the demand for a reliable water supply at facilities and for fire suppression capabilities. The new water facility will increase current daily capabilities from 2.1 million gallons of clean water to 3.5 million gallons, with the ability to expand to 5 million gallons.

HMIS will manage construction of the water facility, scheduled to finish by mid-2023. “We take great pride in our role in the Hanford mission to support all cleanup progress, including long-term tank waste treatment and risk reduction,” said Bob Wilkinson, HMIS president.

The modernized water treatment facility supports a shift to 24/7 operations set to begin on the Hanford Site by the end of 2023, with the start of tank waste treatment.

To watch a video of the groundbreaking of the Water Treatment Facility, visit: https://youtu.be/0MSSkzTdXSQ

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The Department of Energy (DOE) is engaged in one of the great public works of this century at the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. Responsible for the federal government’s cleanup of the legacy of more than 40 years of producing plutonium through the 1980s, DOE is transforming the site back into a 24/7 operations mode to treat tank waste from the production era. The DOE Office of River Protection (ORP) is responsible for the safe and efficient retrieval, treatment and disposal of the 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks. The mission includes building and commissioning the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant, which will immobilize the legacy tank waste through vitrification. The DOE Richland Operations Office is responsible for all remaining Hanford cleanup and is currently focused on stabilizing and demolishing former plutonium production structures, excavating and disposing of contaminated soil and waste, treating contaminated groundwater, and configuring Hanford Site infrastructure for the future, with an emphasis on supporting the tank waste mission. Hanford Site work is conducted by a federal and contractor workforce of approximately 11,000 personnel. Visit www.hanford.gov for more information about the Hanford Site.