Since the mid 1940's, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have conducted research and development activities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in support of urgent national interests in the fields of nuclear weaponry and nuclear energy. Some of these activities resulted in radiologically hazardous waste being temporarily deposited at ORNL in Waste Area Grouping 1. At this location, waste is stored in several underground storage tanks, awaiting ultimate final disposal. There are tanks of two basic categories; one category is referred to as the "gunite" tanks, and the other category is `associated" tanks. The ORNL Gunite and Associated Tanks Treatability Study (GMT-TS) project was initiated in fiscal year (FY) 1994 to support a record of decision in selecting from seven different options of technologies for retrieval and remediation of these tanks. This decision process is part of a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), Remedial investigation and Feasibility Study (R1/FS) presented to DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). As part of this decision process, new waste retrieval technologies were evaluated at the 25-ft diameter gunite tanks in the North Tank Farm.

The B and W Hanford Company's (BWHC) 327 Facility, in the 300 Area of the Hanford Site, is preparing to ship five Pin Tubes to the 324 Facility for storage and eventual disposition. The Pin Tubes consist of legacy fuel pin pieces and drillings. They will be over-packed in new Pin Tubes and transported to 324 in three shipments. Once received at 324, two of the shipments will be combined for storage as a fissionable material batch, and the other shipment will be added to an existing batch.