Brian Bradley
WC Monitor
10/2/2015
The Savannah River National Laboratory this week restarted non-nuclear, solid waste management, and tritium operations, after 400 grams of plutonium placed in a container not marked for transport forced site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions on Sept. 3 to shut down all of its nonessential nuclear and non-nuclear operations, SRNS spokeswoman Barbara Smoak said by email. However, operations in nuclear material facilities remain paused, including at K, L, and F areas, along with H-Canyon and HB Line, and their restart dates are unclear. Restarted facilities are in “deliberate operations,” which means only work approved by a facility manager may be performed and involves increased management engagement.
Monica Regalbuto, assistant secretary of energy for environmental management, speaking Tuesday during DOE’s first National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va., commended SRNS’ suspension of operations in early September. “This was exactly the right action to take,” she said. “I believe the contractor and the department took the right actions.”
Regalbuto referred to the incident as part of a recent batch of conduct of operations issues at HB Line, a unique chemical processing system that works with plutonium in tasks including the production of feedstock for the planned Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at SRS. Procedures on the spacing and mass of the material are in place to prevent any nuclear criticality – an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction – while plutonium is being moved within the facility, James Giusti, Department of Energy spokesman at SRS, said last week. According to Tom Clements, director of advocacy group SRS Watch, who attended the SRS Citizens Advisory Board meeting last month, DOE determined that while the issue was a violation of procedure, it was not a nuclear criticality concern, because the plutonium was sealed in 3013 packaging, whose structure and welds isolate stored materials from the outside environment.
A fact-finding inquiry on Sept. 10 found that there had been multiple failures in “disciplined conduct of operations” a week earlier at HB Line, Giusti stated. These included personnel not following specific procedures and continuing the operation after it became apparent “the procedure was unworkable,” according to the spokesman.
