Hanford waste treatment stalls, dual glass-plus-grout plan could shave $12 billion

After a six-month shutdown, the Hanford Tank-Side Cesium Removal System was brought back into service, but the restart highlighted a larger capacity shortfall at the site. About one million gallons of pretreated waste are currently stored in Tank AP-106, while the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant has moved just over 242,000 gallons since it began hot commissioning in October 2025. Hanford officials argue that the resulting delay hampers risk reduction and motivates a dual glass-plus-grout approach, projected to save roughly 12 years and $12 billion in cleanup costs.

Mat Irwin noted that grout offers an additional disposal path to ease the bottleneck, while Ken Langdon warned that waste retrieval is outpacing vitrification capacity. Ongoing projects include moving cesium and strontium capsules to dry storage and completing construction of the plant’s high-level waste facility. Cost-saving measures such as modified sampling tools and procurement efficiencies are also being pursued.