Naomi Cooper
Bechtel has poured molten test glass into the first stainless steel storage container designed to hold vitrified radioactive and chemical waste at a nuclear waste treatment facility at the Hanford site in Washington.
The stainless steel container is 7.5 feet tall and 4 feet wide and contains initial pours of clean test glass from the Bechtel-designed Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, marking a significant milestone for the cleanup project, the company said Monday.
The treatment plant includes two large melters designed to transform World War II and Cold War era radioactive and chemical waste stored at the Hanford site into a stable glass form.
Bechtel produced the clean test glass by mixing the waste with small glass beads and heating it to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit inside the first of the two 300-ton melters in the Low-Activity Waste Facility.
