300 Area
Encyclopedia
The 300 Area is part of the Hanford Site
in the state of Washington, USA. The area was used for the production of fuel for the reactors and performing research on improving the production process. Today, the buildings remain active as laboratories, workshops, and offices. Most work being done focuses on environmental research. The 300 area is operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute
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The 300 area is a restricted-access area to maintain safety due to the nature of materials routinely handled. The soil around the complex in several locations is contaminated with low-level radiation. There are waste burial grounds to the north with higher level radiation that have had hundreds of thousands of tons of soil removed.
The facility is in the process of demolition, staff will be moved from the aging World War II
era buildings to newly constructed buildings on the PNNL main campus. The move is scheduled to conclude in 2011, moving approximately 1,000 employees. This move is greatly complicated by the fact that the 300 Area houses all of the nuclear and radiological research laboratories. By moving now, rather than the originally planned 2046, estimates place savings of maintaining the outdated facility at $1.5 billion.
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...
in the state of Washington, USA. The area was used for the production of fuel for the reactors and performing research on improving the production process. Today, the buildings remain active as laboratories, workshops, and offices. Most work being done focuses on environmental research. The 300 area is operated by the Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the...
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The 300 area is a restricted-access area to maintain safety due to the nature of materials routinely handled. The soil around the complex in several locations is contaminated with low-level radiation. There are waste burial grounds to the north with higher level radiation that have had hundreds of thousands of tons of soil removed.
Closure
Fluor Hanford, Inc. began the 300 Area Accelerated Closure Plan in 2000 when re-industrialization failed to grow as expected.The facility is in the process of demolition, staff will be moved from the aging World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era buildings to newly constructed buildings on the PNNL main campus. The move is scheduled to conclude in 2011, moving approximately 1,000 employees. This move is greatly complicated by the fact that the 300 Area houses all of the nuclear and radiological research laboratories. By moving now, rather than the originally planned 2046, estimates place savings of maintaining the outdated facility at $1.5 billion.