Department of Energy Requests Extension of Comment Period on Hanford Vit Plant 2+2 Plan

"The U.S. Department of Energy has requested an extension of the comment period. Ecology agrees to this request. Changes to the original announcement are underlined and bolded. Washington State’s Department of Ecology invites you to comment on a permit modification for Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The plant will change millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste, now stored in aging underground tanks, into glass. The draft permit incorporates the following changes into the WTP Permit, Chapter 10 and Attachment 51 of the Dangerous Waste Portion of the Hanford Facility Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Permit. The melter configuration is changed from one high-level waste (HLW) melter and three low-activity waste (LAW) melters to two HLW and two LAW melters (2+2) Detailed designs for the HLW melters are added. The permit would include secondary containment calculations for the pretreatment facility. A public comment period runs from October 9 through January 5, 2007. Ecology will consider all comments it receives during the comment period. Ecology will also issue a response to comments when it issues the final decision on the modification."