Plutonium metal operations at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site resumed last month, following a yearlong suspension that started with a safety pause induced in September 2015 by facility management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS).
Plutonium metal operations, in which plutonium is repackaged from its original storage container in K Area, to a container that can be safely dissolved in the SRS H Canyon facility, is the first step in producing plutonium oxide feed for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF).
The feedstock, which will be produced using the Savannah River Site’s H Canyon and HB-Line facilities, is a diluted version of plutonium and would be used to feed 34 metric tons of weapon-usable plutonium into the MFFF, which would convert the material into commercial nuclear fuel. The plutonium is intended to be processed under a 2000 U.S.-Russian nonproliferation deal that was recently suspended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. If the program falls by the wayside, DOE says the oxide material will still be in a form that can be safely managed for disposal.
The Obama administration has sought to cancel the MFFF in favor of an alternative process for diluting the plutonium and sending the processed material to storage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The White House has said it remains ready to carry out its plutonium disposal commitment under the U.S.-Russian deal, but it remains to be seen what will happen with the unfinished MOX facility as Republican Donald Trump assumes the presidency.
To resume the plutonium metal mission, SRNS revised repacking procedures to clarify the steps of the operation, trained the operators on the revised procedures including via practice runs in the site training facility, and conducted an independent assessment regarding readiness to operate. “In addition, DOE also performed oversight to confirm SRNS’ readiness to resume operations,” SRNS spokeswoman Angie French said by email. “SRNS also provided senior supervisory oversight during the repackaging evolution.”
SRNS self-induced a pause on all nonessential operations after four workers, on Sept. 3, 2015, intentionally and improperly stored a plutonium sample in a container that was not suited for transport. The incident, which occurred at the site’s HB Line facility, was one of multiple safety lapses under the scope of SRNS that occurred in the months leading up to the pause, Carol Johnson, then-president and CEO of SRNS, said after work was suspended.
Facilities that paused work included H Canyon and HB-Line, which are used to process nuclear materials; the L Area facility, which stores spent fuel; and the K Area facility that stores other nuclear materials.
After initiating the safety pause, SRNS began periodically moving facilities into deliberate operations, a slowed phase of work during which employees pay extra attention to detail. SRNS ended the pause on Nov 23, 2015, and exited deliberate operations on April 11 of this year by officially moving all facilities into enhanced operations. Enhanced operations are closer to normal operations, but with contingencies in place using a sustainment plan for safe operations moving forward. The plan includes periodic half-day pauses and small group discussions to evaluate safety practices.
