Public meeting for the West Area Risk Management System

The U.S. Department of Energy (Energy) and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) invite you to learn more about the construction and operation of a modular system to remove cesium from tank waste in the 200 West Area of Hanford – technically called West Area Risk Management System or WARMS. The system will remove radioactive cesium and solids from 200 West Area tank waste, readying it for grouting and disposal out of the State of Washington.

This summer, Energy will submit a notice-of-intent application to Ecology to support construction and operation of the system. The application process requires a public meeting to solicit questions and inform the community of the proposed waste management activities. The meeting on June 17 fulfills this requirement.

As part of the application process, the public will have the opportunity to submit written comments during a 60-day comment period and participate in a second public meeting. The public will be notified when those dates are set.

The system will remove radioactive cesium and solids from 200 West Area tank waste, readying it for grouting and disposal out of the State of Washington.

Operations of the system will clean up tank waste, mitigate environmental risks, enable West Area retrievals from single-shell tanks by creating double-shell tank space, and meet milestones laid out in the 2025 Holistic Agreement.