Hanford must meet Biden’s carbon emissions order | Guest Opinion

President Biden signed an executive order on January 27th to establish U.S. “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050 while including more specific targets for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction by 2025 — his term of office.

Executive orders have the effect of law — what will DOE Hanford do to meet these requirements?

Recently DOE announced that workers at the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) were “startup testing” the steam system needed to support the process for vitrifying low-level waste, called Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW). This steam plant is powered by diesel fuel. At full operating capacity it will burn 45,000 gallons of diesel a day, every day, around the clock, dumping about 500 tons of CO₂per day into the atmosphere.

Fortunately, DOE has another option for treating large volumes of Hanford’s nuclear waste that doesn’t require using the steam plant. The Test Bed Initiative (TBI) demonstration project, funded by Congress, can filter cesium and strontium out of the tank waste, rendering it low-level waste that can be sent offsite to a commercial company for grout stabilization and final disposal at a licensed permanent storage facility outside the state of Washington.

Studies by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the National Academy of Sciences, and national laboratories all recommend grout for immobilizing Hanford’s low-level tank waste. These reports show that tank-side cesium/strontium removal and subsequent processing of the low-level waste into grout can be done at one-fifth the cost of vitrification. This process can be done safely, decades sooner, and without the extreme carbon footprint of vitrification. The TBI approach reduces risks to workers, the public, and the environment.

Inexplicably, DOE has stopped the TBI demonstration project. We believe that DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP) continues to side with Washington State’s Department of Ecology for Ecology’s mantra that any alternative treatment of tank wastes must be “as good as glass,” even if disposed out of Washington State.

DOE’s ORP and headquarters leadership seem reticent to comply with Congress’ funded request to demonstrate the faster, less-costly, and cleaner alternative to vitrification. The Department of Ecology continues to support vitrification no matter the facts regarding the extreme carbon emissions expected from operation of WTP.

The TBI demonstration would prove that a grout process could treat and dispose of 90 percent of the 56 million gallons of waste in the 177 underground tanks while immediately reducing Hanford’s carbon footprint in compliance with President Biden’s executive order.

TBI’s grout approach is estimated to save more than $200 billion scheduled to be spent on vitrification, while significantly reducing DOE’s massive environmental liability.

Some of these cost savings could be used to transition Hanford’s cleanup mission to a more climate-friendly mission through development of a Hanford Clean Energy Research & Development (R&D) Park.

The Clean Energy Park would use Hanford’s unique features and infrastructure to take advantage of the region’s existing energy resources — hydro, nuclear, solar and wind. R&D capabilities at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory would expand development of a national smart grid system, providing testing and demonstration of carbon-free energy generation, and large battery storage to deliver stable base-load energy to the Bonneville Power Administration.

Teaming with Washington State University-Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin College, a new Hanford clean energy workforce can be developed, building solid jobs for the Tri-Cities well into the next century.

Hanford has led vital national missions before, and President Biden’s challenge to the country to meet his goal for a 100%-clean-energy economy is an opportunity for our region to step up to the plate again.

This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Hanford must meet Biden’s carbon emissions order | Guest Opinion."