118-K-1 Burial Grounds Remedial Action

Department of Energy / Washington Closure Hanford LLC
Hanford Nuclear Site, Richland, Washington

The 118-K-1 Burial Ground is located adjacent to the K-East and K-West nuclear reactors at the Hanford site. These reactors operated from 1955 until 1971. The waste that was encountered at this burial site originated from activities at these reactors, as well as, from the N Reactor. The waste was buried in a series of unlined pits and trenches and included a wide range of chemically and radiologically contaminated soil, ash, sludge, miscellaneous debris, intact containers, and reactor hardware. DelHur was contracted to perform remedial design and construction activities for the remediation of the of this burial site waste. Waste was uncovered, sorted, characterized, and surveyed for radioactivity. Anomalies were set aside for identification and contaminated soil was characterized and surveyed. Lastly, waste and contaminated soil was loaded into waste containers for transport to the onsite disposal facility. This burial site is classified as a Category 3 Nuclear Facility and several of the work activities required the use of level “B” personal protective equipment.