The Department of Energy (DOE), is seeking public comment on a proposal to re-label (or “reclassify,” or “rename”) Hanford’s highly-radioactive tank waste so it will not have to comply with the time-consuming requirements of treating and disposing of the remaining tank waste in C-Farm in a legally-compliant (and protective) manner. The proposal was released on June 4, 2018 on DOE’s Hanford website. DOE intends to declare and reclassify some 66,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste “residue” in the C Tanks as “Waste Incidental to Reprocessing,” or WIR, which means the DOE is proposing to dump cement, or grout, on top of this waste, and abandon this waste in place.
Hanford Challenge 11th June 2018 read more »