The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management announced Thursday it has resumed operation of the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal module following an extended maintenance outage that started in summer 2019 after when an aging transfer pump stopped working.
The pump, used to prepare salt waste inside Tank 10 for cesium removal, was replaced this past March.
The DOE plans to continue using its cesium-removal facility at the Savannah River Site to assist with high-level waste treatment even with commissioning of the new Salt Waste Processing Facility at the South Carolina site.
In September the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal facility finished processing a batch of more than 89,000 gallons from Tank 10, according to the press release. It has removed more than 300,000 gallons of cesium from Tank 10, said Pen Mayson, a senior project manager for Savannah River Remediation, the liquid waste contractor at the federal complex.
The Tank-Closure Cesium Removal unit is a demonstration project used to help speed up tank closure, and it also allows DOE to focus on specific tanks, according to Savannah River Remediation. The technology uses an ion exchange process within a self-shielded, self-contained column.
The cesium-rich resin removed from Tank 10 by the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal unit will be sent to an interim on-site safe storage area near the H-Tank Farm for future disposal.
There are roughly 35 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste left over from nuclear weapons work and stored in tanks at the Savannah River Site. The Salt Waste Processing Facility, which is undergoing hot commissioning and should start full operation early in 2021, will be the site’s primary salt waste treatment facility. The Salt Waste Processing Facility is capable of eventually processing six to nine million gallons annually, the spokesperson said.
“I have always viewed [Tank-Closure Cesium Removal] as a back-up technology in the event that the Salt Waste Processing Facility stumbles in its operation,” Savannah River Watch Director Tom Clements said in a Friday email. It makes sense to keep the demonstration project around for now but if the Salt Waste Processing Facility proves it can work as advertised, then the smaller facility could be taken out of service, said the citizens group official.
The sixth paragraph was modified Nov. 2 to reflect the correct plans for the cesium-rich resin.
