High-Level & Tank Waste

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/4/2015 Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is expected to postpone the need for a new, multimillion dollar waste building by double-stacking waste-filled canisters at Glass Waste Storage Building 1 (GWSB 1). SRR is the Savannah River Site’s liquid waste contractor and is charged with constructing and using multiple facilities to remediate 36 […]

Hanford Challenge has called for a halt to work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant after the Department of Energy proposed a new milestone for simultaneous operation of all parts of the plant in 2039, a 17-year extension from the current milestone. An independent entity should be created to design a new path forward for […]

Savannah River Site facilities and waste disposal are being threatened by heightened levels of mercury found in the site’s H-Area Tank Farm, according to liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR). The entire SRS liquid waste system contains about 60 metric tons of mercury that originated from decades of canyon processing when the material was […]

Between at least 2009 and 2014, the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management and Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) contractor Bechtel National, Inc., “had not always” properly executed procurement and material management activities at DOE’s Office of River Protection (ORP), according to a Nov. 16-completed DOE inspector general report released yesterday.   Among […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/20/2015 Depending on the results of a forthcoming month-long simulation test, the Energy Department will decide whether to change the planned course for disposing of some 900,000 gallons of liquid radioactive waste stored in steel tanks west of Idaho Falls. “Once the simulant run is complete the Department will evaluate plant […]

Depending on the results of a forthcoming month-long simulation test, the Energy Department will decide whether to change the planned course for disposing of some 900,000 gallons of liquid radioactive waste stored in Idaho. “Once the simulant run is complete the Department will evaluate plant performance and use that information to determine if an alternative […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/13/2015 The Department of Energy is always looking for new ways to save money in its liquid waste work, said Jim Folk, the acting assistant manager for the waste disposition project at the Savannah River Site (SRS). One way to accomplish that could include restructuring the way SRS is closing its […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 11/13/2015 The Hanford Advisory Board has asked the Department of Energy to release more information on protecting workers from chemical vapors and other issues at the Hanford Site tank farms. The board included the vapor issue on its proposed 2016 work plan, but DOE objected, and it is not included as […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 11/13/2015 As part of the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in upstate New York, high-level waste has been placed in long-term outdoor storage for the first time, with the first waste canister being moved on Nov. 10, EM officials said this week. The agency is […]

As part of the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in upstate New York, high-level waste has been placed in long-term outdoor storage for the first time, EM announced on Tuesday. The agency is working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and project contractor CH2M HILL […]

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) is backing off on fining the Department of Energy more than $150 million for not meeting the Oct. 31, 2015, state deadline to begin operations at the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). But SCDHEC said it reserves the right to enforce the […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/30/2015  The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are proposing a waiver of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requirement that waste be treated before it is placed for disposal in Hanford’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. The waiver would reduce risk to workers, they said in their proposal. In […]

WC Monitor 10/30/2015   Bechtel Seeks Subcontractor to Detect Underground Leaks at Hanford WTP Bechtel National is seeking companies interested in providing underground leak detection services at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, according to a posting on FedBizOpps on Monday. The sources sought notice states that Bechtel, the lead contractor for WTP, and the […]

The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are proposing a waiver of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requirement that waste be treated before it is placed for disposal in Hanford’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. The waiver would reduce risk to workers, they said in their proposal. In the past some large, long, […]

Bechtel National is seeking companies interested in providing underground leak detection services at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant, according to a posting on FedBizOpps yesterday. The sources sought notice states that Bechtel, the lead contractor for WTP, and the Department of Energy are looking for a provider for a “non-invasive method” to locate hidden […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/23/2015 The 242-A Evaporator at the Hanford Site has completed a planned series of four operating campaigns over the last year after improvements were made to the facility. The evaporator plant is central to work to empty waste from Hanford’s single-shell tanks into newer double-shell tanks for storage until the Waste […]

Brian Bradley WC Monitor 10/23/2015 Savannah River Site workers recently relocated 156 canisters of glassified waste from Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) 1 to GWSB 2, starting the modification process for double-stacking canisters at the site and potentially opening the possibility for actual double-stacking to begin in 2016, SRS said in a press release on […]

Savannah River Site workers recently relocated 156 of glassified waste from Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) 1 to GWSB 2, starting the modification process for double-stacking canisters at the site, and potentially opening up the possibility for actual double-stacking to begin in 2016, SRS stated in a press release yesterday. Developed by SRS liquid waste […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/16/2015 SRS Starts Test to Advance Saltstone Unit Qualification Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation on Monday began a liquid tightness test on Saltstone Disposal Unit 6 (SDU 6), the site announced this week. The purpose of the test on SRS’ first 30-million gallon, mega-volume salt waste disposal unit is […]

Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation this month on Monday began a liquid tightness test on Saltstone Disposal Unit 6 (SDU 6), the site announced yesterday. The purpose of the test on SRS’ first 30-million gallon, mega-volume salt waste disposal unit is to qualify the newly constructed SDU 6 for use. The test will […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 10/9/2015 Washington River Protection Solutions has begun operating an exhauster to evaporate liquid from Tank T-111, the Hanford Site single-shell tank that is leaking waste into the soil beneath it. “The exhauster is performing as we hoped it would,” said Mark Lindholm, WRPS acting president and project manager, in a statement. […]

Washington River Protection Solutions has begun operating an exhauster to evaporate liquid from Tank T-111, the Hanford Site single-shell tank that is leaking waste into the soil beneath it. “The exhauster is performing as we hoped it would,” said Mark Lindholm, WRPS acting manager, in a statement. “This is an important step in the right […]

Jeremy L. Dillon WC Monitor 10/2/2015 Parsons anticipates finalizing construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site by April 2016 at a total cost of $475 million, Project Manager Frank Sheppard said this week at the Department of Energy’s National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va. That would bring the project […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday said it had scheduled an industry day for its Savannah River Site liquid waste services contract for Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Augusta in Augusta, Ga. The session is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and end around 3 p.m. It would be followed by […]

Parsons anticipates finalizing construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site by April 2016 at a total cost of $475 million, Project Manager Frank Sheppard said yesterday at the Department of Energy National Cleanup Workshop in Arlington, Va. That would bring the project in under budget and ahead of schedule […]

WC Monitor 9/25/2015 DOE Issues Request for Information for SRS Liquid Waste Contract The Department of Energy on Tuesday released a request for information/sources sought for companies interested in taking over the contract to dispose of liquid waste stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Savannah River Remediation’s contract for the work is […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 9/25/2015 The United Kingdom’s Radioactive Waste Management Ltd. has robustly advanced its disposability assessments and letter of compliance process for the packaging of high-level waste, according to a biennial review by the U.K. Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation. The RWM is responsible for instituting the nation’s high-level waste […]

It took Savannah River Site liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation 3 ½ months to pour 6,300 cubic yards of grout into the facility’s Tank 16, as SRR on Tuesday completed the first tank closure in H Area more than a month ahead of schedule. Grouting on the next “older style” tank of high-level radioactive […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday released a request for information/sources sought for companies interested in taking over the contract to dispose of liquid waste stored at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Savannah River Remediation’s contract for the work is scheduled to lapse on June 30, 2017. “The RFI/Sources Sought is seeking to […]

The United Kingdom’s Radioactive Waste Management Ltd. has robustly advanced its disposability assessments and letter of compliance process for the packaging of high-level waste, according to a biennial review by the U.K. Environment Agency and Office for Nuclear Regulation. The RWM is responsible for instituting the nation’s high-level waste disposition program, which includes interim storage […]