The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management announced Oct. 15 it has resumed operation of the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal module following an extended maintenance outage that started in summer 2019 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 Tank-Closure Cesium Removal unit is a demonstration project to provide an additional means of speeding tank closure in addition to the larger Salt Waste Processing Facility that just started radioactive operations.
The module provides an at-tank removal process for cesium from the Cold War legacy salt waste at the site, according to a fact sheet from DOE and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation. The technology uses an ion exchange process within a self-shielded, self-contained column.
In September the Tank-Closure Cesium Removal facility finished processing a batch of more than 89,000 gallons from Tank 10, according to a 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, which issued the release.
The cesium-rich resin that comes out of Tank 10 will be sent to an interim on-site safe storage area and maintained for future disposal, according to a spokesperson for the DOE Office of Environmental Management.
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 site spokesperson said in an email.
“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 Oct. 16 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.
Article was modified Oct. 29 correcting certain information on the technology and the resulting cesium-rich resin.
