AY102

Orano personnel managed the successful AY-102 Recovery Project at Hanford. The project called for removing 750,000 gallons of nuclear waste from a faulty 40-year-old underground double shelled storage tank and transferring it to different tanks in the tanks farm for secure storage – protecting the nearby Columbia River.

The PMI 2017 International Project of the Year, Orano managed and completed 9,000-activity AY-102 36-month project plan 10% under budget.

The prime contractor initially estimated that even the most aggressive schedule would require as many as five years to retrieve the tank’s waste and store it in a new, stable double-shell tank. A court order initiated by the DOE and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology required the project to be completed in less than 36 months or face financial and legal penalties. Orano began the 3-year program, performing engineering, design, and procurement in 2014, completing construction and installation the following year. By 2016, they began operations to remove the waste.

Orano’s ability to provide key technological advances is evident on the AY-102 project. Orano developed a sampler tool and robot – the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy – which played a key role in expediting sampling. Orano designed, built, and operated this first-of-a-kind technology on time and under budget. LIBS withstood more than 10 radiological fields containing extremely caustic materials both underground and 2 inches high.

K Basin Sludge Removal

September, Orano FS received a contract extension from CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) to provide engineering and technical support to sludge removal, operations, and closure at the K Basins in the 100-K Area of the Hanford site. For the 100-K Closure Project, we provided support in sand and garnet filter media removal includes developing tooling to finalize system removal of sand and garnet filter media, including support services during development and testing at Maintenance and Storage Facility (MASF). Orano supported Basin characterization at KW Basin, including concept development for sampling tools, tool testing, and development of final product for use at the 100-K Basin. We assisted in the development, procurement and testing of systems and engineering for special cases such as KW Basin debris that cannot be disposed of without additional actions to treat, size reduce, shield. We deactivated and demolition of OF 100 K ANCILLARY FACILITIES, providing documentation required to continue D&D of 100-K sites / ancillary facilities. Orano supports design and construction of system(s) to place the KE and KW reactor buildings in interim safe storage as well as facilities and activities directly managed by or assigned to the 100-K organization, such as MASF.

Hose-in- Hose Transfer Line (HIHTLs) Deployment and Removal

Orano Federal Services provided engineering management of the design, fabrication, qualification, testing, and installation of temporary transfer lines using hose-in-hose technology. The transfer lines are mobile and reusable, more cost-effective than welded and buried pipe-in-pipe, shielded at-grade design allows for easy installation and allows vehicle and crane access, and has an integral heat tracing and insulation to minimize the rise of plugging. This technology has been deployed on the Hanford site since 2000 in S, SX, SY, U, BX, BY, AN, and C tank farms.