The DOE and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Mission Completion completed waste removal at the H Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site. (Photo: DOE)
The Department of Energy announced that waste from two more tanks at its Savannah River Site has been removed ahead of schedule. The tanks—numbers 11 and 15—are the fourth and fifth waste containers in 12 months to meet the milestone of preliminary cease waste removal (PCWR) regulatory approval, 7 and 19 months ahead of schedule, respectively, according to the DOE.
Policy: PCWR is a regulatory milestone for old-style tanks at SRS that designates agreement among the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the DOE. Based on preliminary information, there is reasonable assurance that performance objectives for tank closure will be met, the DOE noted.
This tank closure milestone is outlined in SRS’s Federal Facility Agreement, which establishes a procedural framework, including liquid waste tank milestone agreements (such as the schedule for waste removal and operational tank closures), and other site cleanup priorities.
Looking ahead: Next up is work on the sampling and analysis phase for the two tanks as part of the closure process. This phase will verify that the tanks are ready to be closed, on the basis of laboratory analysis of any remaining material and final residual volume determination prior to stabilization and final isolation of the tanks.
Past work: Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) is the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s liquid waste contractor responsible for safely treating and disposing of the millions of gallons of waste remaining in the underground tanks at SRS, as well as closing them.
SRMC has also completed PCWR on tanks 4, 9, and 10—all 7 months to a year ahead of the agreed-on deadlines.
Quotes: Tony Robinson, DOE-EM acting assistant manager for waste disposition at SRS, said, "Ensuring the safe and effective removal of radioactive liquid waste from our storage tanks is a critical step in the tank closure process. This action not only reduces the environmental risk but also protects the health and safety of our communities and future generations.”
Mike Borders, SRMC chief operations officer, added, “Savannah River Mission Completion has been delivering results related to the goals we’ve set for our mission. Removing waste from and cleaning five tanks in 12 months shows that we are serious about reducing operational and environmental risk. We are leveraging this momentum to empty and clean more tanks this year.”
