Readiness Assessment Delay for New H-Canyon Mission
WC Monitor
4/25/2014
After delays last year due to conduct of operations issues, the Department of Energy has now pushed to May a planned readiness assessment for a new mission at Savannah River’s HB-Line to produce plutonium oxide for feedstock for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, WC Monitor has learned. The readiness assessment had been set to occur this month, but last week it was delayed until May 12 to accommodate the schedules of members of the review team, a site official told WC Monitor. The expected start date for the mission is still early July, which matches recent schedules. However, it represents a significant delay from an earlier timeline—last year DOE said it hoped to begin oxide production in early October 2013.
The mission was initially delayed after conduct of operations issues at the facility last year by contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions caused corrective actions to be implemented. But several operations issues have continued into this year at the facility. The National Nuclear Security Administration has planned for Savannah River’s H-Canyon and HB-Line to produce some of the feedstock for the MOX facility, which aims to convert surplus plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors. H-Canyon and HB-Line are slated to eventually produce 3.7 metric tons of MOX feedstock. But the HB-Line portion of the mission cannot begin production until DOE completes its readiness assessment.
