[CPEO-MEF] GAO on Hanford (WA) vitrification

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Nuclear Waste: DOE Should Reassess Whether the Bulk Vitrification 
Demonstration Project at Its Hanford Site Is Still Needed to Treat 
Radioactive Waste

Government Accountability Office
GAO-07-762
June 12, 2007  (25 pages)

Summary

The Department of Energy (DOE) is demonstrating a technology called bulk 
vitrification, in parallel with the Hanford waste treatment plant, to 
treat a portion of the radioactive waste stored in 177 tanks at its 
Hanford site in southeastern Washington state. DOE faces technical and 
management problems that have affected the original objectives to 
justify demonstrating the bulk vitrification technology. This report 
discusses the extent to which DOE (1) has managed the bulk vitrification 
demonstration project consistent with DOE management guidance and (2) 
continues to need a supplemental technology, such as bulk vitrification, 
to treat a portion of the low-activity tank waste. To assess DOE's 
management of the project, GAO reviewed reports by DOE and others and 
discussed the project with DOE and contractor officials.

DOE did not follow its management requirements during the first 2 years 
of the demonstration project in an effort to accelerate tank waste 
cleanup. This decision contributed to a nearly fourfold increase in 
estimated costs from $62 million to $230 million and a 6-year delay on 
the project. DOE did not conduct key internal and external reviews and 
did not fully develop or update key project planning documents as 
required. Without these management tools, DOE initially overlooked a 
number of technical and safety problems facing the project, such as 
uncertainties about the quality of the glass formed using the bulk 
vitrification technology and inadequate systems to shield radioactive 
material from workers and the environment. In late 2005, largely because 
of these problems, DOE began taking steps to implement its management 
requirements on the project. DOE's need for a supplemental technology to 
treat a portion of the low-activity tank waste at Hanford is no longer 
clear, but DOE does not plan to reassess the need for the project before 
completing the demonstration. Originally, DOE justified the bulk 
vitrification project as a relatively low-cost, rapidly deployable 
supplemental technology to assist the department to complete tank waste 
treatment at Hanford by 2028. However, none of the key components to 
this justification remains today. First, the price of a full-scale bulk 
vitrification facility has risen to $3 billion or more, about the same 
cost as adding a second low-activity waste treatment facility to the 
waste treatment plant. Second, the technology is no longer rapidly 
deployable because, as discussed above, the project faces at least a 
6-year delay. Finally, it is now apparent that completing tank waste 
treatment at Hanford by 2028 is not possible under any reasonable 
scenario and that the waste treatment plant must operate for longer than 
DOE previously planned. This is significant since longer operating 
periods may reduce the need for a supplemental technology. Given the 
plant's estimated treatment capacity, more of the low-activity waste 
could be treated in the waste treatment plant facilities. Although DOE's 
management guidance specifies that when conditions have significantly 
changed DOE should reassess the mission need of a project, DOE does not 
intend to conduct this reassessment because DOE officials said they want 
more information about the technology. Proceeding with the demonstration 
project before reaffirming the need for the project increases the risk 
that DOE will spend an additional $137 million or more to develop a 
technology that may not be needed.




For the original summary as well as a link to the full report, go to
http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-07-762

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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