The Department of Energy has “serious concerns” over the lack of corrective actions its contractor is taking to prepare multimillion dollar Salt Waste Processing Facility for startup at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C.
Parsons has not properly addressed radiation and fire protection at the salt waste facility in the company’s operational readiness review, DOE said. Specifics on what Parsons was missing were not provided. However, the company says those concerns, delivered by the agency as recommendations, are a normal part of preparing a large-scale facility for operational readiness.
The Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) is intended starting early this year to treat millions of gallons of radioactive salt waste currently stored in underground, Cold War-era tanks at the 310-square-mile site near Aiken, S.C. Parsons built the facility, and will operate it for the first year, under a contract issued nearly two decades ago and worth $2.3 billion. Construction of the facility cost $470 million and was completed in June 2016.
The Energy Department recently issued a final report on Parsons’ operational readiness review. It is unclear when the final report was submitted, but the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) cited the document in its Dec. 6 weekly report for Savannah River.
The contractor’s readiness review is essentially a checklist of safety and operational requirements that must be met before a facility is deemed ready for startup. The report on the operational readiness review came after officials from the Energy Department and DNFSB spent two weeks reviewing the salt waste facility. Inquiries to obtain the readiness review and the DOE report on the review, or specific details on them, were not returned.
Per agency protocol, Parsons established a group of industry experts to conduct its readiness review, which it submitted to the Energy Department on Nov. 22. The contractor is currently working with DOE to address its concerns about the review. Once the parties are satisfied with the document, the agency will conduct its own operational readiness review for the salt waste facility.
