Abstract: Founded as part of the Manhattan Project, the Hanford Site has played a vital role in the Nation’s nuclear weapons and energy production missions. Today, Hanford poses one of the most technically, financially, and socioeconomically difficult cleanup challenges in the world. With over 200,000 m3 of tank waste, 700 m3 of nuclear materials, 1 billion m3 of groundwater and soil contaminated with long‑lived transuranic radionuclides, and 5.5 million m3 of contaminated facilities requiring decommissioning and disposal, the Hanford Site presents some of the most extensive and complex challenges ever faced within the DOE complex. With an approximate 50+ year mission and a remaining estimated cost of more than $100 billion, significant advances in science and engineering are required to address both short- and long-term challenges to achieve mission objectives.
This presentation will provide a brief history and overview of current and future Hanford remediation and waste treatment efforts, and highlight unique scientific and technical challenges therein.
Bio: Dawn Wellman is a staff scientist, program manager, and the manager of the Environmental Health and Remediation market sector at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Washington State University. Her scientific expertise is in understanding and predicting contaminant transport pathways and kinetics, aqueous and mineral surface geochemistry, and reaction kinetics for environmental remediation.