Money for liquid waste processing and tank closures at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site would tick up if Congress approves funding levels proposed by President Donald Trump for fiscal 2018.
All told, the budget proposal would provide $1.28 billion for the DOE facility in South Carolina, according to the detailed version of the budget request released last week for the department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM). That would include $787.8 million for liquid waste management at the site – about $4.2 million more than the enacted amount in fiscal 2016 and more than $19 million than the site received in the continuing resolution that kept the federal government running through last month.
The request says additional funding will be geared toward canister production at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), built to convert over 30 million gallons of sludge and salt waste stored at the Savannah River Site into a solid glass form for storage.
The DOE EM budget justification does not list a specific amount for DWPF, but the budget calls for the facility to produce 60 to 70 canisters of waste during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The 10-foot tall canisters are used to store the waste after it is processed through the facility.
Funding will also be used to finish preparations for the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), keeping it on track for a December 2018 startup. Once operational, SWPF will separate the highly radioactive cesium and actinides from the salt solution held in the tanks. Under the proposal, SWPF would receive $150 million for testing and commissioning efforts. That’s $44 million less than the enacted amount in fiscal 2016 when the facility was still under construction.
The Savannah River Site is in line to receive upticks in other areas as well, including nuclear materials disposition and solid waste work.
