The system that pretreats hazardous tank waste at the Hanford site before it can be transformed into glass is back online after a more than six-month shutdown. 

The Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system was paused in late February as the tank it sends pretreated waste to reached capacity. There are currently about 1 million gallons of pretreated waste stored in the tank, waiting to be vitrified, or turned into glass, at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, or vit plant. 

During the operational pause, workers with Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure, commonly called H2C, completed maintenance, equipment upgrades, training and other project work, including installing a new weather enclosure to better protect workers and equipment. 

The current batch is expected to run through September and produce about 230,000 gallons of pretreated waste destined for treatment and disposal. 

More than 242,000 gallons of pretreated waste has been fed through to the vit plant since it began hot commissioning less than a year ago.  

“The restart underscores why Hanford is advancing a dual glass-plus-grout approach for appropriate treated waste streams,” said Mat Irwin, assistant manager for tank waste operations, in a statement. “Glass remains central to the mission, while grout could add another disposal path to reduce bottlenecks and support continued cleanup progress.”