Vitrification & Grout

Action Plan Developed Following Grouting of SRS Storage Tank An interim action plan that has been developed for Tank 16 at the Savannah River Site highlights what will happen from now until a final remedial action is determined for all of the tanks in the H-Area Tank Farm Operable Unit. Tank 16 is one of […]

An interim action plan that has been developed for Tank 16 at the Savannah River Site highlights what will happen from now until a final remedial action is determined for all of the tanks in the H-Area Tank Farm Operable Unit. Tank 16 is one of 29 storage tanks in the SRS H Tank Farm. […]

A technical review from the Energy Department released Friday found more than 500 design vulnerabilities at a Waste Treatment Plant facility now under construction at the agency’s Hanford Site, according to a pair of newspapers.   The Tri-City Herald and Los Angeles Times reported on the problems, along with a list of 10 corrective actions […]

Bechtel National drew kudos from the Department of Energy for saving $3.4 million in subcontracts and procurements in the last budget year in construction of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.   DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) said the Hanford plant exceeded its fiscal 2015 savings goal of $2.3 million by 46.7 […]

WC Monitor 1/22/2016 Grouting Begins for SRS Tank 12 A three-month process has begun to grout and close Tank 12 at the Savannah River Site, continuing a longstanding effort to rid South Carolina of more than 30 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste. SRS announced Tuesday that its liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation (SRR), […]

A three-month process has begun to grout and close Tank 12 at the Savannah River Site, continuing a longstanding effort to rid South Carolina of more than 30 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste. SRS announced Tuesday that its liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation (SRR), began pouring a cement mixture into Tank 12, which […]

The Energy Department said Monday it wants industry input on optimizing the design and construction of concrete containers for storing low-level waste in saltstone form at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.   Design ideas about the concrete containers known as Saltstone Disposal Units (SDU) are due on Feb. 19, DOE said in a request […]

WC Monitor 1/8/2016 Progress Reported at SRS Defense Waste Processing Facility The Savannah River Site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is quickly approaching the halfway mark in its lifetime of producing canisters filled with radioactive glass, according to SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation. Last week, the DWPF poured its 4,000th canister two months […]

The Savannah River Site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is quickly approaching the halfway mark in its lifetime of producing canisters filled with radioactive glass, according to SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation. Last week, the DWPF poured its 4,000th canister two months before the facility celebrates its 20th anniversary. Highly radioactive liquid waste […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/18/2015 The construction quality at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant was satisfactory for the areas reviewed in an on-site visit in September, but some concerns remain, the Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments said last week. The office reviews construction quality at the vitrification plant each quarter, varying the […]

The construction quality at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant was satisfactory for the areas reviewed in an on-site visit in September, but some concerns remain, the Department of Energy Office of Enterprise Assessments said last week. The office reviews construction quality at the vitrification plant each quarter, varying the focus of each assessment. The […]

Kurion, Inc. announced last week that it had signed new licensing agreements for its GeoMelt waste vitrication technology with ISV Japan and its parent company Daiei Kankyo for a hazardous waste treatment plant in Iga City, Japan. Daiei Kankyo operates the Iga City plant, where it treats asbestos, PCBs, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants. […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 12/11/2015 Bechtel National has reached at least the 80 percent mark for design, procurement, and construction of the buildings at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant that will not deal with high-level radioactive waste, according to an update from the Department of Energy.  DOE and Washington state would like the Low-Activity […]

Bechtel National has reached at least the 80 percent mark for design, procurement, and construction of the buildings at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant that will not deal with high-level radioactive waste, according to an update from the Department of Energy.  DOE and Washington state would like the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the vitrification […]

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 […]

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 […]

RW Monitor 11/20/2015   IN THE INDUSTRY   The United Kingdom’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and contractor Kurion on Tuesday said they have finished a major phase of testing for commissioning the company’s GeoMelt In-Container Vitrification radioactive waste conversion system at the Sellafield site. The technology, which would convert the waste into a condensed glass […]

The United Kingdom’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and contractor Kurion on Tuesday said they have finished a major phase of testing for commissioning the company’s GeoMelt In-Container Vitrification radioactive waste conversion system at the Sellafield site.   The technology, which would convert the waste into a condensed glass form for permanent storage, successfully processed a […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Chris Schneidmiller WC Monitor 8/28/15 A team of experts found hundreds of design flaws that together could pose a serious risk to the operation of a key facility within the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site, according to a report leaked this week. “The review teams identified 362 design vulnerabilities that […]

The Department of Energy said it is committed to meeting its new schedule for building and starting work at the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF). “The Department recognizes the past challenges with the construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility and have worked with Parsons, the contractor on the project, to address […]

WC Monitor 8/7/2015 Saltstone Operations Resume The Savannah River Site’s Saltstone facilities resumed operation in June after a suspension forced when elevated levels of mercury were detected in tank waste salt streams, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board report released this week. “Following DOE’s approval of the Evaluation of the Safety of the […]

DOE, Contractor, Expect Work to Fully Resume in ‘Early’ Summer Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/12/2015 Some design-related activities have been suspended at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant after the Department of Energy raised concerns with procedures developed by project contractor Bechtel National. The suspended activities include “work related to nuclear criticality safety design” and “nuclear […]

Liquid Waste contractor Savannah River Remediation has begun grouting operations on Tank 16, the next high-level waste tank scheduled to be closed at the Savannah River site. Tank 16 has been emptied of the waste to the maximum practical extent, and is scheduled to be filled with a cement-like grout and closed by a regulatory […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/29/2015 To help provide better oversight at one of the Department of Energy’s largest and most complex projects, the Senate Armed Services Committee is looking to have DOE bring in an “owner’s agent” for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, […]