NEW SAVANNAH RIVER PLAN DELAYS TANK CLOSURE SIX YEARS PAST COMMITMENTS

The Savannah River Site’s latest update to its liquid waste system plan would not close all old-style tanks on site until 2028, six years beyond regulatory commitments to the state. The site’s previous plan, released in early 2012, would have all tanks closed by 2022, just in time to meet commitments to South Carolina. However, since then, startup of the site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility has been pushed back from 2014 until at least 2018. That decrease in processing capacity “results in significant impacts to meeting regulatory commitments,” according to a presentation this week to the site’s Citizen’s Advisory Board from liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation. The strategy was “adjusted to maximize risk reduction with best utilization of funding provided,” the presentation states.