The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been in an operational safety pause since April 26 due to a “trend of concerns” that include deficiencies in safety, work performance, and planning, the Department of Energy said this week.
The pause covers nearly all work at the lab, except essential activities needed to maintain safe operations. A DOE spokesperson said the lab is about halfway through the pause, but there is no timeline for resumption of normal operations.
The laboratory is an applied research facility operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. Its missions include cleanup of contaminated groundwater and soil at the site, along with finding advanced solutions for the waste cleanup at Savannah River and other DOE facilities. The research facility also supports the site’s mission of production of tritium, the gas that triggers the chain reaction in nuclear weapons.
Over the past six months, the national lab has been plagued by various minor issues that resulted in no major concerns, the spokesperson said. These include an incorrect return to service of the lab’s instrument air system, which provides clean air to SRNL facilities. After routine maintenance in April, workers failed to properly bring the air system back to service.
In an April 13 report, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) detailed a separate incident involving a scientist working with a solution of mercury and strontium. Once the two chemicals were mixed in a container, radiation levels spiked from 30 millirems to 14,000 millirems, far exceeding the suspension guide – how much radiation a worker should be exposed to – of 1,500 millirems. The incident did not result in any injuries to workers.
The laboratory conducted a “common cause analysis for each incident has been conducted and a corrective action plan is being finalized,” the spokesperson wrote. Details of the plan were not included in the DOE response.
During the initial phase of the pause, workers attended briefings and reviews to reaffirm safety procedures and work compliance.
Mission-critical activities were brought back online after reviews and putting senior oversight personnel in place. These activities included a liquid waste analysis and providing transuranic (TRU) waste analysis for other DOE sites. The analysis includes properly characterizing waste stockpiles as TRU waste.
These personnel placements are intended to ensure SRNL moves forward in a safe and compliant manner. “This deliberate, methodical process will continue until all work has been resumed,” the spokesperson added. The lab does not anticipate any long-term impacts in terms of costs and program schedules, and would not address questions on employment changes as a result of these issues.
Operating the Savannah River National Lab is one of the missions under the purview of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. The contractor is a partnership of Fluor, Honeywell, and Stoller Newport News Nuclear. The current $9.5 billion M&O contract is scheduled to expire on July 31, 2018.
