Cleanup and Closure Milestones at SRS

James A. Rispoli,  DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) paid a visit to the Savannah River Site June 19 to mark the start of normal operations of interim salt waste processing facilities - the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and the Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) - and the official closure of the General Separations Area Consolidated Unit (GSACU).  Removing the salt waste, which fills approximately 90 percent of the tank space in the SRS tank farms, is a major step toward closing the Site’s 49 high-level waste tanks that currently contain about 36 million gallons of waste.

“The Savannah River Site has successfully achieved a first-of-a-kind capability to process Cold War era salt waste out of the waste storage tanks,” said Rispoli.  “The successful startup and operations of innovative projects such as ARP and MCU demonstrate the real progress SRS is making to safely clean up and protect the environment while clearing the way for future DOE missions.”

ARP and MCU together make up the Interim Salt Disposition Processing system, which decontaminates radioactive salt waste from SRS’s waste storage tanks to be safely dispositioned.  SRS first received radioactive salt waste solution for processing at the ARP and MCU facilities in April 2008 and completed a successful shake-down run as the facilities were brought online in a deliberate, sequenced process to ensure safe operations.  In combination with the Saltstone Production and Disposal Facilities, this innovative approach can treat, decontaminate, and disposition radioactive salt waste removed from SRS storage tanks.

 “Beginning normal operations for the entire ARP/MCU system is a significant accomplishment made possible through the teamwork of the Department, state regulators, and our Site contractor,” said DOE-SRManager Jeffrey Allison.  “Ushering in a new era of salt waste processing supports DOE’s highest priority to close waste tanks and demonstrates that SRS is solving critical cleanup challenges with smart solutions.”

Assistant Secretary Rispoli also recognized the official closure of the General Separations Area Consolidated Unit (GSACU), which consisted of four waste units covering 76-acres that contained more than seven million cubic feet of solid low-level radioactive wastes.  The GSACU has been safely remediated and contained under a state-of-the-art geosynthetic cap designed to protect the environment for hundreds of years.  The remediation work was finished in April 2007, and the unit was declared closed in November 2007.  The final paperwork was transferred in June 2008.  The project was safely completed eight months ahead of schedule and under budget at a cost of $56 million - well under the $75 million estimate.

Located near the center of SRS, the Old Radioactive Waste Burial Ground (ORWBG) served as the Site’s main burial ground for 22 years.  Over 7 million cubic feet of solid low-level radioactive wastes are buried at the ORWBG, including contaminated substances from other DOE and Department of Defense sites.  The area was filled in 1974 and in 1996, DOE issued an Interim Record of Decision to place a low-permeability soil cover over the ORWBG, which was complete in 1998.

In 2001, work began on the final remedy.  First, 22 underground solvent tanks, each with a capacity of about 25,000 gallons, were filled with grout to stabilize the contamination, eliminate voids, and provide structural stability.  Once the tanks were grouted and closed, several buildings, including a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-permitted building that required a RCRA closure, were removed.  These buildings housed employees and were used to ship transuranic waste to DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant facility in New Mexico.  Next, about 5,000 to 25,000 cubic yards of waste were removed from waste units that had been used as emergency basins for releases and the units were dug up and transported to the ORWBG.  Finally, the final 76-acre cap was installed.

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