Hanford Tank Waste Remediation Systems (TWRS) Waste Pretreatment Program strategy and issues

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has established the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS) to safely manage an dispose of the Hanford Site tank waste. Pretreatment is one of the major program elements of the TWRS. The scope of the TWRS Tank Waste Pretreatment Program is to treat tank waste to separate it into high- and low-level waste fractions and to provide additional treatment as required to feed low-level waste fractions and to provide additional treatment as required to feed low-level and high-level waste immobilization processes. The Pretreatment Program activities include technology development, design, fabrication, construction, and operation of facilities to support the pretreatment of radioactive mixed waste retrieved from 28 large underground double-shell tanks and 149 single-shell tanks.