DNFSB RAISES CORROSION ISSUES AT SAVANNAH RIVER’S L-BASIN

The Department of Energy needs to make additional progress securing spent fuel in the Savannah River Site’s L-Basin, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board technical report released last week. “The limited inspection data indicate that many of the cans have significant corrosion and that some have failed leading to fuel degradation. Gas is being released periodically from several of the cans, indicating that the metal fuel is continuing to degrade,” the report states. “As the fuel degrades it becomes more difficult to handle, repackage, and/or process in the future. The Department of Energy currently is not equipped to handle or repackage degraded fuel in L-Basin. Further attention to the disposition of vulnerable fuel types that remain in the L-Basin is warranted.” But the report does note that DOE and contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions have taken several steps in the last year at L-Basin, a wet storage facility for about 15,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies from domestic and foreign research reactors. That includes augmenting a surveillance and maintenance plan and processing in H-Canyon some vulnerable sodium reactor fuel for disposition. 

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