Cathodic protection applications at the Hanford works

THIS PAPER describes existing, presently planned, and experimental impressed-current cathodic protection (CP) installations at the Hanford Atomic Products Operation. The Hanford plants are located in the south-central part of the state of Washington. Climatic conditions are semiarid and the plant area is typical desert country. The soil is predominantly glacial deposits ranging from fine sand to gravel mixed with larger boulders. This water-washed material has a very high resistivity, from 5,000 to 100,000 ohm-centimeters, although there are local strata of hardpan and alkali of lower resistivity. In general, the soil is only mildly corrosive to ordinary materials. Most of the original cast-iron, galvanized-steel, and carbon-steel underground piping installed in 1943 and 1944 is in good condition. As discussed herein, the direct burial of unprotected stainless-steel pipe lines has not been successful.