Abstract
Cleaning up and disposing of approximately 50 years of nuclear waste is the main mission at the U.S.
Department of Energy's Hanford Nuclear Reserva tion, located in the southeastern part of the State of Washington. A major element of the total cleanup effort involves retrieving, processing, and disposing of radioactive and hazardous waste stored in 177 underground storage tanks. This effort, referred to as the Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS), is expected to cost billions of dollars and take approxi mately 25 years to complete.
Several computer simulations of this project are being created, focusing on both programmatic and detailed engineering issues. This paper describes one such simulation activity, using the ithink™ computer simulation software.
The ithink™ simulation includes a representation of the complete TWRS cleanup system, from retrieval of waste through intermediate processing and final vitrification of waste for disposal. Major issues addressed to date by the simulation effort include the need for new underground storage tanks to support TWRS activities, and the estimated design capacities for various processing facilities that are required to support legally mandated program commitment dates. This paper discusses how the simulation was used to investigate these questions.
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