Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition Update

Jason Casper, CHPRC Vice-President for PFP Closure, provided an update for Hanford Communities board members. He explained that CH2M Hill has made excellent progress on lower-risk demolition of PFP since demolition activities resumed last September with improved safety controls. A phased demolition approach - starting with lower risk activities – implemented following a spread of contamination in December 2017 has proved effective in protecting workers, the public and the environment. From September 2018 through July 2019 CHPRC has safely demolished a concrete vault, two stairwells and other key portions of the PFP main processing facility, and disposed of nearly seven thousand tons of demolition debris at Hanford’s onsite landfill (ERDF). Low-risk demolition is expected to be complete by the end of August. Higher risk demolition activities are set to begin in early September following the approval of the Department of Energy, State of Washington Department of Ecology and EPA. This work will be done with the same enhanced safety controls that have proved effective since demolition activities resumed a year ago. Progress made toward the safe completion of the demolition is the result of excellent collaboration between PFP workers, labor organizations, the Department of Energy and regulators. Project managers will continue to meet with workers to gather feedback and incorporate those ideas into their work. All demolition activities are expected to be complete by the end of 2019 or early 2020. Jason showed still pictures of the remediation activity in a Power Point presentation and provided a video of remediation that is currently ongoing. Weekly updates on PFP activities can be found at https://www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/Upda...