DNFSB Questions DOE Pace in Performing Risk Reduction at 235-F Facility
WC Monitor
3/13/2015
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last week expressed concern over the Department of Energy’s schedule for performing risk reduction activities at the Savannah River Site’s 235-F facility. Late last year, DOE said the completion of the 235-F risk reduction plan would be delayed 29 months due to budget setbacks, prompting acting Board Chair Jessie Roberson to urge DOE “minimize future delays” in a March 9 letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “The Department of Energy has on a number of occasions evaluated options and developed plans for Pu-238 decontamination,” the letter states. “However, these efforts have not transitioned from planning to execution. Meanwhile the PuFF cells continue to deteriorate. Proceeding with the Pu-238 decontamination effort is necessary to reduce exposure risks to workers and the public. Maintaining the operational expertise of the deactivation crew will be crucial to the safe and timely execution of the decontamination effort.”
The 235-F facility contains residual plutonium-238 contamination in a highly dispersible powder form, and the DNFSB has raised concern that fires or earthquakes could lead to radiation releases. The DNFSB formally urged action to reduce risk at the former plutonium processing facility in a 2012 recommendation, but completion of DOE’s implementation has been delayed until at least May 2021. “The 29 month delay is the result of a combination of setbacks caused by the budget issues in 2013 and early 2014, combined with a slowdown in remaining activities resulting from projections of reduced out-year budgets compared to 2014,” DOE said in a Nov. 28 report to the DNFSB on the schedule changes.
Savannah River has experienced a number of budget issues since late 2013, including the government shutdown in October 2013 that resulted in furloughs for thousands of site workers. Budget woes that could potentially impact the project have continued in the months since DOE notified the Board of the delays. The Fiscal Year 2015 spending bill passed by Congress in December substantially cut Savannah River risk management operations to $398 million in the bill, compared to $416.3 million in DOE’s FY’15 request and $432 million in previously enacted funding.
DOE Says Some Actions Already Taken
DOE this week did not comment further on the DNFSB’s letter or the status of 235-F operations, stating that its response to the Board would be made public. However, DOE has noted in the past that since the Board’s recommendation, a number of actions have already been taken or are expected to be completed in the near-term to will significantly reduce the potential hazards at the facility. “Mitigating actions completed to date by the Department in Building 235-F include the removal of fixed combustible materials and the development and implementation of a rigorous transient combustible material management program, and electrical de-energization of non-essential equipment. Upgrading the Building 235-F fire detection system is in progress,” Moniz said in a Nov. 28 letter to the DNFSB. “Taken together, these actions improve the Building 235-F safety posture and reduce the likelihood of a full facility fire.
