Preparations began this week for repairing the roof on the H Canyon facility at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, with the physical repairs due to start later this summer.
In January, the Energy Department announced plans to spend an estimated $1 million from the SRS fiscal 2019 maintenance and repairs budget to fix a leak in the roof of the nuclear materials processing facility. But as workers inch closer to beginning work, “repair costs are expected to exceed $1 million,” site spokesperson Monte Volk said by email Tuesday. He could not provide an exact amount, but said the increase came via a better understanding of how much work needs to be done.
In December, workers noticed roughly 6 ounces of contaminated rainwater on the ground floor of the facility. The water entered H Canyon through a crack in the roof and became contaminated as it passed through the nuclear materials processing area on its way to the first level. Workers barricaded the area until the water was safely wiped up for disposal. There was no contamination to workers or the environment.
This week, SRS officials are walking through the facility to determine various factors, including the extent of the work that will be necessary. For example, they will determine if a patch over the crack will be sufficient or if the roof will need more extensive repairs.
They’ll also see where they can safely stage tools and other materials for the job, and are assessing if the repair needs to be done in multiple phases. Workers will take samples of the roof to figure out the best type of material to fix the crack.
Site management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is hiring a subcontractor for the work. A contract has not yet been awarded, but should surface in the coming weeks.
H Canyon is used to convert materials such as highly enriched uranium (HEU) into diluted forms that can be repurposed as an energy source. The facility began operations in 1955 and is suffering degradation in various areas, with the roofing among the latest examples. Another is the 2017 discovery of corrosion in the canyon exhaust tunnel, a large concrete ventilation duct connecting the facility to its air ventilation system.
In May, the Savannah River Site reported that more than 30 piping repairs were made at the canyon during a planned outage. The outage ran from March 25 to April 11 and included the replacement of 32 fittings that connect the canyon’s steam pipes.
