The last massive shield door has been delivered to the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, also known as the Vit Plant. Weighing in at 102 tons, it will be installed in the High-Level Waste Facility.
“Receipt of the last of the shield doors represents a significant milestone in progress on the project, and they are an integral part of the plant’s safety infrastructure,” said Joe St. Julian, area project manager for the facility for Bechtel National Inc., which is designing and building the Vit Plant.
The Vit Plant has more than 100 nuclear-quality shield doors, ranging from 3 to 119 tons. They will provide radiation protection and maintain contamination boundaries during plant operations. The doors will be installed throughout the Pretreatment, High- Level Waste and Low-Activity Waste facilities.
“The door is an instrumental component in our safety protection measures for operations, and the team has worked closely to ensure it meets all necessary requirements to support its function,” he said.
The recently delivered shield door is made of carbon steel and measures more than 15ft wide, 36ft tall and 7in thick. It will be installed in the area of the High-Level Waste Facility that holds the melters. When operational, the melters will heat glass-forming materials and liquid radioactive waste to 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, it will be poured into stainless steel canisters to cool and solidify. The door will provide access for an overhead crane that will be used to perform maintenance in the melter area. The door was manufactured and shipped by Bechtel subcontractor Oregon Ironworks of Portland, Ore. Oregon Ironworks was one of a number of small businesses that provided nearly $60 million in shield doors to the project.
