Longstanding efforts to reduce the cost and time of cleaning up nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site and around the entire Environmental Management (EM) complex will require mature technology, according to SRS contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) and other Energy Department personnel.
During a budget forum on March 3 near Aiken, S.C., a city about 20 miles from SRS, Energy Department officials reported that the remainder of the nuclear waste cleanup mission for the complex could cost $300 billion to $350 billion and take more than 60 years at current funding levels. For SRS, DOE officials reported last year that the waste cleanup mission would require $25 billion more than expected and would take another 23 more to finish, pushing completion of the program out to 2065. Currently, the waste mission is funded with a $555 million appropriation from Congress.
SRNS, the Savannah River Site’s management and operations contractor, announced in December plans to expedite the facility’s environmental cleanup mission and save money through the development of a public-private partnership. The effort would team SRNS and the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), which is operated by SRNS, with a public partner; together, the collaborative would bring a 70,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing center (AMC) to the area located 20 miles or less from SRNL.
A fact sheet released at the forum earlier this month details the proposal and states that SRNL would translate a range of advanced manufacturing technologies from the commercial chemical and industrial manufacturing sectors into DOE processes and missions. Possible examples to meet the need include the application of digital three-dimensional design, and the use of robotics, cybersecurity, and virtual reality systems. For example, the DOE Office of Environmental Management in November signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Science Foundation in support of the National Robotics Initiative. According to SRNS, the site’s cleanup mission presents opportunities to demonstrate the use of robotics in environments that demand radiation-resistant equipment. With virtual reality, SRNL reported in June that workers can use the technology to practice procedures before implementing them in the handling of nuclear materials.
The Savannah River Site waste mission includes the cleanup of radioactive and chemical waste from Cold War activities and nuclear research. A significant part of the Cold War legacy is the 36 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks at SRS. Liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation is tasked with treating the waste and cleaning the tanks. One of the goals for SRNL is to address waste cleanup challenges through science and innovation.
Ridding the site of nuclear waste has been a focal point for years, including remarks made in the December 2014 “Report of the Task Force on Technology Development for Environmental Management” with the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board. In the report, the advisory board said that without the application of mature technologies from chemical and manufacturing industries, “it is not clear that the cleanup can be completed satisfactorily or at any reasonable cost.” But through technological advances at the national lab, SRNS it can play an even larger role in the cleanup mission. “SRNL has put advanced manufacturing to work for many years. We’re now taking that a step further by including partners in academia and industry to improve cost and reduce risk in the environmental cleanup mission,” SRNS spokeswoman Barbara Smoak said.
Following the December announcement, SRNS began taking initial proposals from parties interested in partnering on the venture. The deadline to submit initial proposals was Feb. 29. SRNS was asked how many groups showed interest and when a decision would be made on inking a deal with a partner. Smoak said Tuesday that “due to the sensitive nature of the procurement process, we are unable to address any specifics at this time.”
Right now, the effort to create an advanced manufacturing center is in the developer selection phase, which means a group is being selected to craft a lease agreement between SRNS and the chosen partner. The center, which SRNL hopes will be built by June 2018, will employ about 110 workers and would be equipped with several innovations, including chemistry and engineering labs.
