Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
10/3/2014
The Department of Energy failed to meet a Sept. 30 commitment to begin operations at the Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, and it continues to be unclear when the facility will begin actually processing waste. A DOE spokesman confirmed late last week that the Department would not be able to meet the Sept. 30 commitment, which was included in DOE’s Site Treatment Plan for the Idaho site. “Start-up and testing activities at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, to verify that the facility will function as designed to ensure safe operations and protection of the environment, are ongoing. DOE has notified the State of Idaho that it will be unable to meet its commitment under the Idaho Site Treatment Plan to commence operations by September 30, 2014, due to delays in the start-up and testing process,” the DOE spokesman said in a written response to WC Monitor Sept. 26. “The Department remains committed to treating the radioactive tank wastes in a safe, protective, and compliant manner,” the spokesman added.
The IWTU is intended to treat approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid waste that remains at the Idaho site through a steam reforming process for disposal and to allow for closure of the site’s remaining waste tanks. DOE previously committed to the state of Idaho to have the waste processed by the end of 2012, but in the summer of that year, startup of the IWTU facility was significantly disrupted by what has been described as a “pressure event” that occurred when the facility’s filters became clogged with carbon material during efforts to get it up to its operating temperature. Since then, DOE and contractor CH2M-WG Idaho have been working at another attempt to startup the facility. Idaho environmental regulators have said that DOE has also informed them that it won’t meet a revised commitment to have all of the waste treated by the end of this year.
DOE at Simulant Phase of Start-Up Process
Currently, DOE is working to introduce a waste simulant into the IWTU in one of the final phases of the start-up process. “The project team is currently working through the commissioning of IWTU. Next steps include running simulant through the plant. Simulant processing is key to understanding the rate at which the facility can process actual waste,” Danielle Miller, a spokeswoman for the DOE Idaho Operations Office, said in a written response late this week. “Actual waste processing will occur once system and process testing is completed; the Department is working diligently, and in a safe, methodical manner to ensure IWTU mission success,” Miller said.
However, the time frame for when the facility will begin tests with simulant is still unknown. “During plant heat up, a number of issues developed with facility systems and equipment, requiring corrective maintenance,” Miller said. “The majority of this maintenance must be completed with the facility in a shut down and cooled down condition. Examples included waste feed nozzle design issues and instrumentation problems. Because of the complexity of the nuclear process, and required plant conditions for maintenance, correcting these issues to prevent recurrence can take considerable time.” Once the integrated system test is completed, the facility will enter into a planned cool-down and outage period, and DOE will seek permission from Idaho regulators to initiate actual waste processing.
The challenges encountered to date at the IWTU “are common and not unlike those experienced by any new, industrial plant,” said Erik Simpson, a spokesman for Idaho cleanup contractor CH2M-WG Idaho. “We’re currently bringing the facility up to normal operating temperature and pressure in advance of introducing simulant,” Simpson said in a written response late this week. He added, “Our technical team has done an outstanding job at identifying these challenges and modifying equipment and components to ensure the safe operation of the facility as we continue our testing phase. Meeting our milestones is extremely important to us. Our number one priority remains the safety of our workers, public, and the environment.”
DOE to Meet With Idaho Regulators Later This Month
When asked when DOE expects to being waste processing at the IWTU and when the Department expects the liquid waste processing to be completed, Miller said, “The waste processing schedule will be based upon the results of the simulant processing. Until then, the waste will continue to be managed in the stainless steel, concrete vault tank system which is monitored and maintained to assure its safety and protectiveness of the environment.” According to Miller, DOE plans to meet with Idaho environmental regulators late this month.
