Remediation of Chemical and Radioactive Contaminants from Groundwater of Hanford Site Nuclear Facility, WA, USA

The Hanford nuclear operations and chemical separations processes supported the generation of plutonium for the Cold War and left world’s most complicated “problem areas” of contaminated soil and groundwater. At present, about 105 square kilometers of groundwater beneath the Hanford Site are contaminated above the state and federal drinking standard. In the early nineties, a comprehensive site wide groundwater remediation strategy included goals to address various contaminated plumes of hazardous and radioactive waste to protect the adjacent Columbia River and the overall reduction of immediate risk to the human health and the environment. It addressed major plumes found in the reactor areas adjacent to the Columbia River to protect the river from contaminants of chromium, strontium-90, and uranium. It also included containment of major plumes found in the central plateau region that contain chlorinated solvents and radionuclides so that these plumes never reaches the Columbia River. To meet these goals, active groundwater remediation systems are placed using the state of the art pump and treat systems to capture all the mobile contaminants covering organic, inorganic and radioactive constituents. Innovative technologies such as sequestration technologies for the strontium-90 and Uranium are deployed to address complex groundwater problems.