Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project

completed

The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project (WPT) is a giant robotic facility designed to turn the most radioactive waste stored in underground tanks into glass logs for safer long-term storage. The project is part of the larger Hanford nuclear waste cleanup effort, which involves cleaning up 53 million gallons of highly toxic atomic waste stored in 177 aging and leaky underground tanks near the Columbia River in Eastern Washington state. The cleanup is a high priority to prevent radioactive waste from leaching into the Columbia River and to address decades of pollution from plutonium and other poisonous ingredients used in missile and bomb manufacturing.