Brian Bradley
WC Monitor
10/16/2015
The Savannah River Site’s K Area Complex will move to deliberate operations on Monday, after facility contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions on Sept. 11 halted all nonessential nuclear and non-nuclear operations, Energy Department Savannah River Field Office spokesman Jim Giusti said by email this week. “All of the requirements for K area to enter into deliberate operations have been met and approved,” he said. SRNS last week started deliberate operations for non-nuclear, solid waste management, and tritium operations, after 400 grams of plutonium placed in a container not marked for transport forced the company to order the nearly one-month-long suspension. Restart dates for the site’s H Canyon and HB-Line, along with timelines for when SRNS organizations will exit deliberate operations, have not been established, according to an Oct. 9 press release.
“SRNS organizations will not exit Deliberate Operations until all actions of the Deliberate Operations Plan have been completed and a plan to maintain sustainability of work practices is developed,” the release states. Only SRNS’ president or executive vice president, with the approval of DOE-SR senior management, can order an end to deliberate operations and a resumption of normal activities. “Deliberate operations” constitute a time frame in which activities require specific, intentional, and well-thought-out actions “in the identification of critical activities,” and all work is expected to progress in a slow, “very deliberate manner with more attention given to the critical steps,” SRNS spokeswoman Barbara Smoak said by email last week.
K Area supports the handling and interim storage of excess plutonium and additional special nuclear materials and houses other nonproliferation activities.
