The Department of Energy is entering the final phase of construction at the seventh large saltstone disposal unit at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, an agency manager said this week.
Workers are currently installing a leak-proof rubber liner in the inside of the tank at Saltstone Disposal Unit-7 (SDU-7) before testing of the facility can begin, said Thomas Johnson Jr., deputy manager of operations at the site for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. His remarks came during an online meeting of Savannah River’s Citizen Advisory Board.
Johnson did not say when the testing might begin.
The disposal unit is on track to start receiving salt waste in the spring of 2022, Johnson told the board. Construction of SDU-8 and SDU-9 are also ongoing, he said.
This latest facility will be the second of seven facilities designed to hold 32 million gallons of saltstone, according to DOE. Saltsone units 1-5 are only capable of holding about 3 million gallons of the non-hazardous waste form that results from mixing decontaminated salt waste from the site’s high-level tank waste with dry materials to make a cement-like grout.
Also, Johnson said the Salt Waste Processing Facility at Savannah River has now processed 28,000 gallons since hot commissioning began Oct. 5. “We are certainly proud of getting SWPF on the line,” he said, adding to date, no major problems have been encountered in feeding radioactive material from the H Tank Farm into the facility.
The Salt Waste Processing Facility is designed to treat about 31 million gallons of tank waste at the Savannah River Site.
In addition, Johnson said DOE is in its final stages of review of a contract award for paramilitary security services at Savannah River, which would replace a $1-billion agreement held by Centerra, which is currently scheduled to expire in February 2021.
