RICHLAND, Wash. – The U.S. Department of Energy Office of River Protection (ORP) and its tank operations contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, completed waste retrieval activities in tank C-102, marking the 14th single-shell tank retrieved at C tank farm at the Hanford Site.

Crews removed nearly 300,000 gallons of waste from the tank. Retrieval activities began in April 2014 using an enhanced-reach sluicer, a tool lowered into the underground tank that sprays liquid, mainly recycled waste, through a nozzle at the end of an extendable boom to break up hardened deposits of waste into a slurry. The resulting waste slurry is then pumped out of the top of the tank and sent through a series of pipes to a double-shell tank for storage.

“The completion of waste retrieval from another tank is a reflection of the dedicated workforce at the tank farms,” said Chris Kemp, deputy federal project director for Tank Farms Retrieval and Closure at ORP. “There was substantial effort from the workers to plan, prepare and retrieve this radioactive waste. All of this was done safely while work activities continue at other tanks in the farm.”

The farm’s 16 tanks were built during World War II in Hanford’s 200 East Area. Retrieval activities continue in the farm’s two remaining tanks with tank C-105 nearly 45 percent complete and C-111 about 15 percent retrieved.

ORP’s mission is to safeguard the nuclear waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks and to manage the waste safely and responsibly until it can be treated in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for final disposition.