Hanford Site – Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Complex Operations

Hanford Site – Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste Complex Operations The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office, Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) is currently in the acquisition planning stage for the potential contract award for the operations of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Direct Feed Low Activity Waste (DFLAW) facilities at the Hanford site located in southeastern Washington State. Established in 1943, the Hanford Site's original mission was to produce plutonium for national defense. Operations to make the raw materials for nuclear weapons continued until the late 1980s. In 1989, Hanford's mission shifted from production of weapons material to waste management and environmental cleanup. The waste remaining from those operations, some of which is stored in underground tanks, is a potential threat to human health and the environment including the Columbia River. The WTP DFLAW facilities are designed to receive the low-activity portion of the waste from the underground tanks, vitrify it into glass, and pour it into containers that will then be disposed of on the Hanford site in a safe permitted disposal site.