Dallas Section Meeting

Topic: Hanford Waste Treatment Plant

At Hanford, Washington, plutonium was created to make the atomic bombs, during WW II and the Cold War. There were huge wastes generated, 53 million gallons of the worst mixed nuclear and chemical wastes in the history of the world. They are stored in 177 underground storage tanks. A $17 billion Waste Treatment Plant (aka Vit Plant) is being built to take them, mixing into engineered sand for vitrification; long term safe solid storage. The entire clean up effort has been compared to placing a man on the moon.

There are a number of chemical unit operations that are utilized, including many unique states of the art operations. To put it in perspective, some of the worst process streams require 4 feet of solid concrete to safely shield them from people. Come to hear, ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’; from the engineering manager that signed as technical approver for all 1800 P&IDs!

Speaker: Bob Stevens

Bob Stevens has his BS in Chemical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly UMR and MSM) in Rolla, Missouri, where he did his masters work in Engineering Management. He received an honorary degree for professional distinction in chemical engineering from his alma mater. He is a retired engineering executive with the Bechtel Corporation, having worked around the world (every continent except Antarctica) on projects in the areas of oil, gas, chemical, LNG, fossil and nuclear power, and environmental cleanup. He has received numerous awards. In his spare time, Bob enjoys wines and photography.