F Area Waste Sites | ARRA

F Area is the home of F Reactor, one of Hanford’s nine surplus plutonium production reactors. During reactor construction and operations, all site refuse, ranging from office trash to radioactive equipment and debris, was disposed in unlined pits and trenches throughout the100F Area.

Most of the cleanup work at F Area has been completed. However, during the course of cleanup, 13 other waste sites were discovered. A visual inspection of some sites confirmed remediation was necessary. They include sites that contain asbestos and a pipeline that contains chromium. Other sites required sampling, called confirmatory sampling, to determine if cleanup was necessary. Those sites failed the confirmatory sampling process and require cleanup to meet regulatory standards.

Later this spring, a request for proposals will be issued soliciting bids from companies to clean up the 12 sites. The selected subcontractor should be ready to begin site cleanup by fall 2010.

The remediation sites are: 100-F-26:4 pipeline, 100-F-26:7 pipeline, 100-F-44:8 pipeline, 100-F-44:9 pipeline, 100-F-45 riverbank pipeline, 100-F-47 substation, 100-F-48 coal pit debris, 100-F-49 maintenance garage, 100-F-51 fish lab, 100-F-55 ash layer, 100-F-56 scattered surface debris, 100-F-57 pump house pipe cradle debris, and 100-F-58 scattered ACM sites.