An advisory committee that monitors nuclear waste issues at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina wants the Department of Energy to consider reclassifying retired waste-treatment equipment and waste containers so they are eligible for permanent disposal off-site.
On Tuesday, the SRS Citizens Advisory Board’s (CAB) Waste Management Committee voted 10-1 to approve a recommendation that DOE “investigate the feasibility” of reclassifying retired melters from the SRS Defense Waste Processing Facility and some high-level waste canisters “as TRU waste or (low level waste) to expedite disposal, reduce costs, and to free-up storage space.”
If that happened, the Energy Department would save money and SRS would open up storage space, according to the Waste Management Committee.
By definition, TRU waste is material contaminated with radioactive elements during activities such as processing of spent reactor fuel or nuclear weapons production.
The melters at SRS, which weigh anywhere from 65 to 75 tons, are refractory-lined vessels used at the Defense Waste Processing Facility to convert high-level radioactive waste into a glass form for safe storage. All told, SRS houses roughly 35 million gallons of liquid waste, a byproduct of Cold War nuclear weapons operations, in more than 40 aging underground tanks. The melters mix the waste with a material that removes contamination. When heated in the melter, these elements form a molten glass, which is then poured into stainless-steel canisters for safe storage.
The Energy Department has already replaced two melters since it began its liquid waste processing campaign.
Currently, the old melters are stored at the DWPF Failed Equipment Storage Vault.
The filled waste canisters are stored in two Glass Waste Storage Buildings at DWPF while the federal government searches for a permanent disposal option.
Committee Chairman Earl Sheppard said the panel doesn’t have a request for a specific amount of waste canisters it wants sent to WIPP. “It’s just about freeing up space at the site,” he said. “However many they could send to WIPP safely and securely would be ideal.”