Regalbuto Ranks Cleanup Priorities: 1. WIPP, 2. Hanford, 3. Savannah River
Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
5/16/2014
The nominee to be the next Department of Energy cleanup chief suggested this week that cleanup at Hanford may be a higher priority than the Savannah River Site, raising eyebrows among some stakeholders in South Carolina. Monica Regalbuto, the White House’s choice to serve as Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management, said at a hearing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held on her nomination that DOE’s cleanup priorities are first recovering operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that have been halted because of incidents that occured in February, followed by Hanford second and Savannah River third. “Now we have confirmation of our past perception – rather than prioritization based on risk, life cycle costs considerations, ‘foot-print reduction’ and other legitimate explanations, future funding will be based on location,” South Carolina Governor’s Nuclear Advisory Council Chair Karen Patterson said in a written response to WC Monitor. “We understand that money is finite, and limited, but it defies logic that DOE would put a lower priority on the SRS, which has old, leaking radioactive waste tanks, some of which are sitting in the water table, and a successful process to vitrify those wastes.”
Savannah River has seen a string of blows in recent years. In Fiscal Year 2014, DOE proposed a significant funding decrease to the site’s liquid waste cleanup efforts—a cut that combined with delays in getting the site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility in operation have pushed out the closure of many high-level waste tanks beyond regulatory commitments. DOE did not seek to reverse its funding cut in the FY 2015 budget request, and the Department is seeking to suspend construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility, intended to help disposition surplus plutonium, at the site.
SRS Only Site ‘That Produces Glass Today’
The Obama Administration nominated Regalbuto in March to officially fill the vacancy left when Ines Triay stepped down as Assistant EM Secretary in July 2011. Dave Huizenga has filled the role in an acting basis since then. Regalbuto, currently Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fuel Cycle Technologies in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, was questioned about cleanup priorities this week at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. “The incident at WIPP is the number one priority, how to restart the facility,” Regalbuto said. “That facility is inherently necessary for the Department of Energy and for the nation, as it is the only working repository in the world and is the only place where we can put our waste, so it has an impact across the whole country.”
Regalbuto went on: “Our number two priority is the work at Hanford. Hanford is one of the largest sites and as such a lot of work still needs to be done. We are working with the state to assess a staged approach that will allow us to move forward. The number three priority is to continue the great work that we have been doing in the state of South Carolina at the Savannah River Site. Savannah River is the only working site that produces glass today in this country, and it is critically important that we continue to work on those issues.”
When asked about Regalbuto’s comments, a DOE spokesperson said: “Dr. Regalbuto was asked to outline three immediate challenges in the EM program. In response, Dr. Regalbuto mentioned the recovery efforts at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), determining the path forward for the cleanup at Hanford, and continuing progress on the cleanup at the Savannah River Site. This is in alignment with EM’s current focus. The WIPP incident impacts cleanup across the complex, DOE is in discussions with the State of Washington about the Consent Decree for Hanford, and the cleanup of tank waste is a top priority, including the waste at Hanford, Savannah River Site and Idaho.”
Remarks a ‘Call for Us to Intensify Our Questions’
While Regalbuto likely was referring to prioritization of near-term activities, those are inevitably linked to funding, Patterson said. “Dr. Regalbuto therefore implicitly has acknowledged what South Carolina has long suspected. Historically EM denied any funding priority among sites, but decisions seemed to indicate otherwise,” she said. She added: “I’d prefer to be funded without ‘site’ being the determining factor, and equally with Hanford based on legitimate factors, therefore allowing DOE to complete vitrification at SRS more quickly, reducing SRS life cycle costs and risks, and transferring lessons learned to Hanford as they progressed on designing a system that would work.”
Patterson said: “Dr. Regalbuto’s frankness is welcome, and it is a call for us to intensify our questions and challenges to DOE’s funding decisions. We will. In the best of all possible worlds, our challenges, along with Hanford’s and WIPP’s, will ensure that the rest of the country understands the national obligation to eliminate legacy Cold War waste and materials quickly.”
SRS, Hanford Should Be Equal, Stakeholders Say
South Carolina regulators have repeatedly focused in the past year on the Department providing adequate funding to meet cleanup milestones, and this week Shelly Wilson, Federal Facilities Liaison with the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, again emphasized the point. “DHEC is pleased to see that nominee Regalbuto recognizes that SRS, in cooperation with the State, is a leader in the DOE complex. Since lower DOE Environmental Management prioritization is not a valid reason for missing milestones, DHEC hopes that continued SRS success is fueled with adequate funding,” she said in a written response to WC Monitor.
In reaction to Regalbuto’s remarks, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said in a statement: “While I understand the current situation facing WIPP and the crucial missions at Hanford, I hope that the Energy Department does not lose sight of the vital work being undertaken at the Savannah River Site. The hardworking people at SRS are getting the job done in a timely and cost-efficient manner and should not be punished.”
The Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization agrees that returning WIPP to service is a “critical component” of radioactive waste disposal. “Beyond that, we would rank cleanup and remediation of the Hanford site and the Savannah River Site (SRS) as equally high priorities. Neither should have an advantage at the expense of the other. Significant waste issues remain at both sites,” SRSCRO Chair Susan Winsor said in a statement. “It is our belief that DOE should view both Hanford and SRS as equals when it comes to funding continued cleanup and honoring the Department’s commitment to each state.”
Regalbuto Praises Work at H-Canyon, Tritium Mission
At this week’s Senate hearing, Regalbuto praised some of the work being undertaken at Savannah River when questioned about the site by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). “I am certainly impressed with the work that has been conducted at H Canyon. We went from producing plutonium at that facility to now supporting the national security mission in disposing of weapons-grade materials,” she said. “To me, that is one of the stories that we need to implement in other parts of the complex where we take the facilities and actually do with them an applicable mission that is currently important to the nation. It is certainly a complex issue. Tritium production is very important.”
Those comments rang true with the SRSCRO. “We are pleased she recognizes the importance of SRS within the DOE complex and its unique nuclear facilities,” Winsor said. “We see SRS and SRNL as playing a key role in current and future nuclear missions both nationally and internationally. While cleanup is important, we do not see SRS as merely a closure site and look forward to working with Dr. Regalbuto in exploring the possibilities of future endeavors.”
