Comment period on Hanford deadlines extended

Hanford agencies are extending the comment period for changes to the Tri-Party Agreement related to solid radioactive waste by more than a month.

Comments now must be submitted by Sept. 25. They may be emailed to Kristen.Skopeck@rl.doe.gov.

The proposed changes affect the schedule for retrieving, characterizing and shipping stored solid waste. The waste includes low-level radioactive waste that will be permanently buried at a lined disposal facility at Hanford and waste contaminated with plutonium that will be sent to a national repository, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

The proposed changes place more emphasis on treating and repackaging waste that has been dug up and is stored above ground in drums and boxes until Hanford waste can be sent to the national repository. The repository has been closed since February 2014, when a spread of contamination occurred there.

The Department of Energy still would be required to meet a 2030 deadline to have waste contaminated with plutonium that now is being stored at Hanford shipped to the repository.

Tri-City Herald

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Comment period on Hanford deadlines extended."