In an introductory letter to new Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) highlighted a number of safety concerns across the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup complex.
The independent safety watchdog is tracking several issues at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Hanford Site in Washington state, among other locations, according to the letter dated June 1 and signed by acting DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton.
For example: Regarding safety management at Savannah River, “The Board has observed that progress in updating safety-related controls to meet current requirements and guidance is slow, and the rigor associated with safety management programs (e.g., conduct of operations, specific administrative controls, implementation of technical safety requirements) is declining,” according to the letter.
The board also noted delays in testing of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at SRS and “several operational missteps” at the site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility, including carrying out technical safety requirements. “Taken as a whole, the Board is concerned that significant management attention is required to sustain liquid waste operations at SRS for the long term.”
Liquid waste operations at the SRS restarted this month after being offline for 15 months. The melter at the DWPF had malfunctioned in early 2017. The restart had experienced delays due to maintenance issues. The DWPF is designed to convert millions of gallons of radioactive liquid waste at the facility into a less harmful form, better suited for interim on-site storage.
Likewise, the DNFSB said infrastructure connected to storage systems for high-level waste at Hanford is aging while DOE contemplates its strategy for disposing of this material. The former plutonium production complex stores 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste, much of which is to be converted into a glass form at the Waste Treatment Plant being built by Bechtel.
The board is monitoring safety at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The transuranic waste disposal facility resumed operation in 2017 after being offline about three years following an underground radiological release. However, it “still appears to be struggling with important safety management programs,” the DNFSB said.
Emergency preparedness and response programs at sites such as SRS, WIPP, Hanford, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico also need more work, according to the letter. The board said it has reviewed emergency exercises at the facilities and “we continue to see challenge” that require management attention.
“We look forward to a positive and productive working relationship with you and your leadership team,” the board said.
White was sworn in as assistant secretary of energy for environmental management at the end of March.
“Assistant Secretary White appreciates the welcome from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board,” a DOE spokesperson said by email Friday. “Safety is paramount in the operation of all Office of Environmental Management sites and programs. She looks forward to continuing EM’s positive and collaborative relationship with [the] Board going forward.”
Congress established the board in 1988 to provide independent analysis and advice to the Energy Department on public health and safety at defense nuclear facilities.
