Parsons Research and Development Complex (PRDC) in Pasco, Washington, has achieved OSHA’s top safety classification, VPP Star Status. Designation as a VPP site is a testament to sustained excellence in all areas of safety and health management at the PRDC.
Project Overview
Manufacturing of sludge removal equipment for the Hanford K Basins is nearing completion. K Basins sludge is one of the most dangerous environmental concerns at the site and its removal is a major priority.
The 586-square-mile Hanford site, located just north of the city of Richland in the southeastern part of Washington state, is managed by the DOE. It was established in secrecy during World War II to produce plutonium for atomic bombs. Peak nuclear materials production was reached in the 1960s when eight reactors were in operation. Hanford supplied plutonium for the United States nuclear weapons defense for more than four decades before weapons material production was halted in the late 1980s. Hanford is now engaged in the world’s largest environmental clean-up project.
The K Basins are 400 yards from the Columbia River, which makes their removal a top priority. They were built in the mid 1950s for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the K and N reactors. They provided underwater storage for 2,300 metric tons of SNF. For nearly 30 years, SNF corroded into highly radioactive sludge. When mixed with natural particles such as insects and windblown dust and sand that settled to the bottom of the basins, approximately 50 cubic meters of material was created.
Ongoing support at the Parsons Fabrication Facility for the Hanford site includes fabricating and testing approximately 30 major pieces of equipment to handle the highly radioactive materials that will be used in the K Basins clean-up effort. Fabricated items meeting the most stringent quality standard of NQA-1 include booster pump stations, sludge retrieval equipment, instrumentation, motor control centers, electrical racks, transfer hose assemblies, monitoring skids, and submersible pumps.
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