A recent leak of radioactive waste from a storage tank at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina reinforces the need to properly fund the facility’s liquid waste program, local stakeholders said this week.
Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) noticed the leak from Tank 15 in early June and responded by transferring 220,000 gallons of material to Tank 13, with no injuries, exposures, or other causes for concern. Tank 15’s annulus, a pan meant to contain such leaks, caught the waste as it leaked out of the tank. The contractor pumped enough waste out of the tank to lower the level below the leak site. It is unclear how much waste leaked from the tank, and how much is left after the transfer to Tank 13. In the past, the tank has leaked anywhere from to 1 to 2 inches of waste into the annulus.
The incident was not particularly surprising, as Tank 15 has nearly 30 known leak sites and has secreted waste before. When this occurs, the site is required to first see if the tank is stable enough to undergo modifications to stop the leakage. From there, DOE determines if it is necessary to transfer waste to another tank.
Still, the issue highlights the aging of South Carolina’s underground waste storage tanks, said Cristi Moore, spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Moore said the state agency – which regulates waste activities at the DOE site near Aiken, S.C. – was notified of the leak when it was first observed. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is another site regulator, but deferred comment to DHEC on the matter.
“This issue reinforces the critical need for liquid waste at SRS to be treated and the old-style tanks closed,” Moore said via email. “Much progress has been made; however, treating the remaining large volume of liquid waste is still a challenge. Robust funding for SRS liquid waste treatment and tank closure is essential to further the timely risk reduction for the community and State.”
Since it has so many known leak sites, DHEC had been monitoring the tank using video inspections, and signed off on SRR’s plan to transfer the waste. “DHEC continued to monitor the liquid waste removal progress as SRS lessened the liquid level below the leak site,” Moore added.
Savannah River holds about 35 million gallons of radioactive waste in more than 40 tanks, a byproduct of Cold War weapons manufacturing dating to the 1950s. The material is being processed on-site into a less radioactive form. About 90 percent of the total volume is salt waste, which is being stored permanently at SRS once it undergoes treatment. The rest is sludge waste, which is stored temporarily on-site as the Energy Department continues searching for a permanent repository.
Overall, the site liquid waste mission is expected to last until 2039 and carries a life-cycle cost of $33 billion to $57 billion.
Liquid waste operations at SRS received $637.1 million for the current fiscal year. Under DOE’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal, that would grow to $805 million. But that number dropped to $752 million in the House of Representatives energy appropriations and $733 million in the Senate’s version. The two sides have not yet ironed out their competing bills.
Tom Clements, director of the watchdog group SRS Watch, lauded the site for its quick response to the latest leak. Still, any waste leak is a concern and must be met with increased attention and funding, he said, adding that such incident could lead to groundwater contamination or exposure to workers and the public. “The program to detect leaks in the aged tanks must remain a high priority and efforts must continue to remove all the liquid waste from the tanks as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Clements said.
Rick McLeod, president of the SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), which works with DOE and other local stakeholders to benefit the site and local economy – echoed the department’s comments: It isn’t “totally uncommon that pencil or pen size chinks in the tank walls can occur” when dealing with aging waste tanks, he said.
McLeod noted that SRS handled the situation effectively, and said this latest issue can’t be directly related to funding. “However, it does point to a systemic issue of the need to get out of the old style waste tanks as quickly as possible,” he said. “To that point, adequate funding for the liquid waste mission is very important and closing tanks needs to remain a top priority.”
