Hanford expects to start moving spent nuclear fuel from the K West Basin next week -- a few days late -- if a final pair of hurdles can be cleared.

One hurdle is if the state will approve a temporary fix-it measure at the project's central Hanford vault, correcting a problem that the state believes should have been fixed months ago.

Another hurdle is the Department of Energy's final evaluation of the project's Cold Vacuum Drying Facility, a review expected to finish late today.

Hanford officials hope to start moving fuel by the middle of next week. The Tri-Party Agreement's deadline to begin fuel removal was Thursday.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not worried about a slightly late start. Instead, the EPA is concerned about the fuel moving steadily, efficiently and safely through mid-2004 -- and is willing to delay a few days to achieve that.

The K Basins are two indoor, water-filled, leak-prone pools that hold 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel 400 yards from the Columbia River. The cleanup is one of Hanford's top priorities.

Hanford's master plan is to put the fuel inside special containers, move them from the basins, suck all moisture from the containers, fill them with helium to prevent radioactive combustion problems, and then put the fuel in an underground vault in central Hanford. All this is supposed to be done by July 31, 2004.

A potential pitfall exists at the underground vault. The wrong dampers, which help control air flow, were installed in the vault's ventilation system. That handicaps the vault's and its covering building's capabilities to keep the indoor air pressure less than the outdoor air pressure -- a standard way to keep radioactive particles from floating outside.

Fluor Hanford does not expect to get the replacement dampers until late this month, said Jim Wicks, Fluor's spent fuel project director.

Al Conklin, the Washington Department of Health's radioactive emissions manager, is unhappy that the damper system was not built to the right specifications, that Fluor knew of this problem last June and that the state was not told until Oct. 24. The state health department regulates air emissions at Hanford.

Conklin believes the situation puts the state health department into a position of becoming a villain if it does not allow this high-profile project to proceed because of the damper situation.

"The (startup) milestone is not as important to me as the quality of the system," Conklin said.

Phil Loscoe, DOE's spent nuclear fuel project director, agrees the damper situation puts unfair pressure on the health department. Some miscommunications led to Hanford's lateness in tackling it, he said, adding DOE is still sorting out what happened.

Fluor mistakenly thought it had the state's informal approval on the dampers last summer, and DOE did not realize this would be a problem until September, Loscoe said. Conklin and Loscoe said Fluor then reacted slowly to fix the problem. "(Fluor) didn't realize the seriousness of this issue to the Department of Health," Loscoe said.

Fluor agrees it should have acted quicker on this issue and will try to work closer with the state health department, said Fluor spokeswoman Michele Gerber.

The state, DOE and Fluor are close to agreeing on a temporary solution involving manually controlling the dampers, Loscoe and Conklin said. Loscoe speculated this might be resolved today or Monday.

Conklin said the state is willing to give Hanford until Feb. 13 to permanently fix the dampers situation, allowing the site to move only two canisters of fuel to the vault until then.

Meanwhile, DOE has given a green light to all of the K Basins' operations except the Cold Vacuum Drying Facility, which is where moisture is sucked out of the containers and the helium is inserted. DOE's final review of that facility began last Monday and is expected to be done today with a report ready next Monday. After that, Fluor will correct any deficiencies noted in the report before moving fuel. Loscoe and Wicks said the evaluation seems to be going well so far.

Fluor expects to move 20 to 25 canisters of fuel by Sept. 30, 2001, gradually ramping up to 12 canisters a month by 2003. The K Basins' 140 member work force is expected to increase to 210 to 230 during that time.