Record of Decision; Safe Interim Storage of Hanford Tank Wastes, Hanford Site, Richland, WA

Zusammenfassung

DOE and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) have jointly prepared the Safe Interim Storage of Hanford Tank Wastes Final Environmental Impact Statement (SIS EIS) (DOE/EIS-0212) to assess the environmental and human health impacts associated with the construction and operation of facilities and systems to continue the safe management of high-level, mixed radioactive wastes stored in tanks at the Hanford Site. After careful consideration of environmental impacts, lifecycle costs, public, agency, and tribal comments, and engineering evaluations, DOE has decided to implement most of the actions of the preferred alternative evaluated in the Final SIS EIS and are documenting this determination in this ROD. The actions will involve the continued operation of the existing cross-site transfer system (ECSTS) until replaced by the construction and operation of a new replacement cross-site transfer system (RCSTS) consisting of buried, double-wall, insulated pipes, and continued operation of the mixer pump installed in Tank 101-SY to mitigate the unacceptable accumulation of hydrogen and other flammable gases. Pending resolution of a recently identified safety issue, DOE is defe