Engineering to resume at part of vit plant

Bechtel National has been cleared to resume full production engineering to complete the design of the Hanford vitrification plant's High Level Waste Facility after some construction was stopped to resolve technical issues.

Key to allowing that was a study by independent experts that looked for potential design issues and made recommendations to address them and a Bechtel plan to address each issue, said Bill Hamel, the DOE project manager for the vitrification plant.

The study commissioned by DOE identified numerous risks, some of them already being addressed, Hamel said.

"There was nothing in there that I believe caught us by surprise," he said.

But having an independent look at issues and expert recommendations help focus efforts and provide a solid basis for moving forward, he said. The one-of-a-kind plant is being built to turn up to 56 million gallons of radioactive waste left from weapons plutonium production into a stable glass form for disposal.

The Washington State Department of Ecology received the independent review report Thursday after asking for it for some time and was disappointed not to have seen it earlier, said spokesman Dieter Bohrmann.

"It's highly likely the results of this report could result in impacts to state approval of the high level waste system," said Dan McDonald, tank waste disposal project manager for the state. The state regulates the vitrification plant.

The review identified "significant vulnerabilities that could limit (High Level Waste) Facility functionality and operability," according to the report. Fundamental weaknesses and breakdowns in implementation of the design process may be a cause of many of the vulnerabilities, it said.

The review agreed with DOE that many similar design issues had been identified in previous DOE and Bechtel assessments, and said that the review supports those earlier conclusions.

"The issues documented in this review report were named 'vulnerabilities' because, in some cases, completing the design might alleviate the identified issue," the report said. "In others, more detailed work or study will be required to improve the existing design."

Issues fell into general categories that included inadequate design of control systems, concerns about whether bottlenecks in the system would slow operations and a tendency to allow some potential risks to be addressed when the plant is commissioned rather than during design and construction. Inadequate consideration of maintenance and waste management requirements also was identified as an issue.

"A fundamental concern is the lack of focus on the long-term operability and sustainability of the facility," the review said.

DOE places importance on incorporating safety in the design of the facility, but it is just as critical that operations are factored into the design process to keep costs in line over the operating life of the plant, it said.

It recommended the establishment of an independent "owner's agent" with the authority to challenge the facility design, which would report directly to DOE.

DOE is evaluating how to implement that recommendation, Hamel said. It could be accomplished by periodic reviews by different consultants with different areas of expertise, he said.

The review covered 12 of 24 systems at the High Level Waste Facility, and based on findings, said the other 12 systems also should be reviewed. Those reviews already are being done, Hamel said.

Among specific concerns in the review was whether failures in the system for confining and treating radioactive and chemical emissions from processing would result in frequent and persistent outages. The review questioned whether plans and systems to handle waste, such as contaminated equipment created during processing, were adequate.

A system for handling containers of glassified waste may not have adequate shielding against radiation and the single crane planned may be insufficient, the review found.

Bechtel's report in response said factors that contribute to the issues include questions about the properties of the tank waste that must be treated, the complexity of the vitrification plant project, contractual arrangements and a decision made more than a decade ago to get the plant treating waste sooner by starting construction while the design was being completed.

Bechtel already has been strengthening its design process, Hamel said.

Many of the issues called out in the report will be addressed with modeling, which can help make decisions on which of several possible solutions would be best. The initial modeling done for the plant addressed mostly primary systems and additional modeling will address secondary systems, said Russell Daniel, the Bechtel project technical director and design authority.

Additional engineering studies will be done and the need for additional equipment in some areas will be considered, the Bechtel report said.

"For every issue identified Bechtel has a plan," Hamel said.

Bechtel has been given permission to complete the design through production engineering now that decisions have been made on what needs to be accomplished in the design, he said.

"Resumption of full production engineering is a reflection of the department's confidence," said Peggy McCullough, Bechtel project director for the vitrification plant. "They were able to conclude with confidence the issues that affect the High Level Waste Facility are known, are bounded and the pathway to resolution is clear."

-- Annette Cary: 509-582-1533; acary@tricityherald.com; Twitter: @HanfordNews

This story was originally published September 11, 2014 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Engineering to resume at part of vit plant ."