Letter: Venting Hanford tank vapors didn’t work in past

Richard Hart Jr. suggests that tank vapors be vented outside the tank farms to reduce worker exposure to the vapors.

A project to do just that was initiated in about 2003 and, unfortunately, computer modeling of vapor dispersion determined that even a very tall stack located far outside of the farms would not prevent vapors from blowing right back to the work areas.

The project, known on site as “Stacks in the Sticks,” used historic weather data including wind speed and direction as input data. The conclusion was that, although the approach is feasible, it is not very effective, even if fresh air is injected into the base of the stack to help with dilution.

So, while it sounds like a good idea, it won’t work as well as one might think.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 4:35 AM with the headline "Letter: Venting Hanford tank vapors didn’t work in past."