A preliminary report developed by the Third Party Qualified Independent Review team, on the cartridge filter testing conducted in Hanford’s AP Tank Farm is now available. The Third Party Qualified Independent Review team report, which can be viewed here, may be amended as more information and test results become available, as the team states on the cover and within the report.

Earlier this year, workers conducted tests on air-purifying cartridges by exposing them to chemicals inside underground tanks or at the stack exhaust where vapors are most concentrated. The results of those tests are currently being evaluated by an independent third party selected by the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council (HAMTC). That review was generated by a Memorandum of Agreement between HAMTC and WRPS which called for an independent assessment of the respirator cartridge tests conducted by WRPS and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The review seeks to evaluate the cartridges for effectiveness in protecting workers against potential tank vapors and gases while working inside the tank farms. One of the Tank Vapor Assessment Team’s (TVAT) recommendations was testing the filter cartridges used on respiratory equipment to assess their effectiveness in the tank farms environment.

Again, this is a preliminary report. Additional information on the tests and the third–party evaluation will be provided as it becomes available.