Lease proposed for clean energy park at Hanford

Energy Northwest has asked the Department of Energy to lease about 20 square miles of Hanford nuclear reservation land for a proposed carbonless energy park.

In addition to the options of using the park to produce solar and biofuel-based energy, small modular nuclear production also has been added to the proposed mix to supply the electrical and steam needs for the massive Hanford vitrification plant under construction.

However, not all projects at the park would need to be tied to the vitrification plant, said Jack Baker, Energy Northwest vice president.

Energy Northwest would hold the lease for the land in the proposed Mid-Columbia Energy Park, but the land would be available for public or private agencies, including Energy Northwest, to develop energy projects.

The park is proposed for the triangle of southern Hanford land containing Energy Northwest's current 3,000 acres of leased land, which includes the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power production plant. The northern boundary would extend east from about the Wye Barricade entrance to Hanford and other boundaries would be parallel to the river and along Route 4.

The lease has been proposed as part of the DOE master plan for Hanford that calls for completing most cleanup of the 586 square miles of Hanford except for 75 square miles at its center by 2015. DOE has proposed that as environmental cleanup is completed at Hanford and other DOE nuclear weapons sites, the land be developed for clean energy parks.

The Tri-City Development Council has organized the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative Committee to develop a community plan for the energy park, and Energy Northwest agreed to step in as the agency that applies for the lease.

It would operate the energy park with input from an advisory board that could include representatives from DOE, the Port of Benton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and TRIDEC.

"This proposal represents a new mission for a portion of the Hanford Site, a goal DOE has championed for many years," wrote Vic Parrish, Energy Northwest CEO, in a letter to DOE proposing the lease. He would like the lease in place by the end of June.

The $12.2 billion vitrification plant being built to treat Hanford tank waste starting in 2019 provides an opportunity to make the energy park viable, said Gary Petersen, TRIDEC vice chairman of Hanford programs. As initially planned, the plant would require 70 average megawatts of power and up to 45,000 gallons of diesel each day.

The energy initiative committee believes that a combination of sources might work best. For instance some of the diesel that would be used for a steam plant might be supplemented with energy produced from biofuel or natural gas. Growing biofuels at Hanford has been proposed, although DOE has concerns about irrigating land on the nuclear reservation.

Cascade Natural Gas is considering running a pipeline under the Columbia River and up existing roadways to the vitrification plant, if DOE and its contractors are interested in using some natural gas, Petersen said.

Additional electricity might be provided with a small modular nuclear plant at the proposed energy park, which would be separate from Energy Northwest's current nuclear power plant.

While Columbia Generating Station is a 1,150-megawatt plant, other companies are developing 40- and 110-megawatt modular nuclear systems.

Commercial solar production also is being considered for the energy park.

DOE has received Energy Northwest's lease proposal and is evaluating it, but a number of steps must be accomplished before a decision is reached, said Geoff Tyree, DOE spokesman.

However, "the proposal appears to be consistent with DOE Assistant Secretary Ines Triay's position on making land available for energy parks," he said.

-- Annette Cary: 582-1533; acary@tricity herald.com; more Hanford news at hanford news.com