State officials signed off last week on a Department of Energy request to delay installation of what’s known as Next Generation Solvent at the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a federal advisory board heard Monday.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on May 8 approved the extension for the Salt Waste Processing Facility, said Susan Fulmer, a manager with the South Carolina Department of Environmental Control, told the Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board.
Initially DOE was to implement use of the advanced solvent by this week, May 18, Fulmer said.
But DOE sought an extension due to the “lingering filtration issues” at the Salt Waste Processing Facility, Fulmer said. While the Salt Waste Processing Facility is currently processing waste at the rate of about 4.8 million gallons annually, DOE has said the improved solvent is key to helping the facility eventually reach 9 million gallons annually.
State and federal officials did not elaborate on the nation of the ongoing filtration issues at the plant.
When asked if this was a big setback, DOE Office of Environmental Management field office boss Michael Budney said fiscal 2026 is a “no-later-than” date and DOE actually hopes to get it installed sooner. More details on the Salt Waste Processing Facility will be shared Tuesday, he added.
Meanwhile, Budney said a joint team from Environmental Management National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) should report to the respective DOE branch headquarters in Washington, D.C.next month and transfer the landlord responsibilities to NNSA.
The planned transfer, as well as updates on the property’s security contract, liquid waste issues and state regulator, were covered during the Savannah River’s Citizens Advisory Board in Charleston, S.C.
The joint DOE Office of Environmental Management and NNSA team are working on turning over landlord duties to NNSA in fiscal 2025, Budney told the advisory board.
“The team is working well on that and our target remains to have a plan that we could submit to EM-1 and NA-1 in June of this year,” Budney said, referring to the top officials at Environmental Management, William (Ike) White and NNSA’s Jill Hruby.
On security, Budney said the Government Accountability Office last week upheld DOE’s award of a 10-year, $1 billion award to incumbent Centerra Group. “We are beginning to work with the contractor about when we may give them a notice to proceed” with the new contract, the Environmental Management official added.
Updating the board briefly on new developments in state politics, Fulmer said the South Carolina House and Senate has approved splitting the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control into two standalone agencies. Pending the signature of Gov. Henry McMaster (R), the change would take effect in July 2024, Fulmer said.
At that time, the state’s newly separated environmental agency would regulate the Savannah River Site, Fulmer said.
