In an introductory letter to new Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) highlighted a number of safety concerns across the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup complex.
The independent safety watchdog is tracking several issues at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Hanford Site in Washington state, among other locations, according to the letter dated June 1 and signed by acting DNFSB Chairman Bruce Hamilton.
For example: Regarding safety management at Savannah River, “The Board has observed that progress in updating safety-related controls to meet current requirements and guidance is slow, and the rigor associated with safety management programs (e.g., conduct of operations, specific administrative controls, implementation of technical safety requirements) is declining,” according to the letter.
The board also noted delays in testing of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at SRS and “several operational missteps” at the site’s Defense Waste Processing Facility.
Likewise, the DNFSB said infrastructure connected to storage systems for high-level waste at Hanford is aging while DOE contemplates its strategy for disposing of this material.
The board is monitoring safety at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. The transuranic waste disposal facility resumed operation in 2017 after being offline about three years following an underground radiological release. However, it “still appears to be struggling with important safety management programs,” the DNFSB said.
“We look forward to a positive and productive working relationship with you and your leadership team,” the board said.
White was sworn in as assistant secretary of energy for environmental management at the end of March.