DOE Silent on $50M Venture to Expedite SRS Cleanup

The Department of Energy is keeping quiet about its role in a $50 million venture aimed at reducing the cost and time of cleaning up nuclear waste at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C. DOE officials reported last year that waste cleanup at the site could require $25 billion more than the original estimate of roughly $65 million, and is expected would take 23 years longer to finish, pushing completion of the program out to 2065.

The cleanup job at the 310-square-mile facility includes processing 36 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste left by decades of nuclear weapon-material production at the site.

The site’s management and operations contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), along with the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), announced last December plans to expedite the facility’s environmental cleanup mission and save money through the development of a public-private partnership. The two have teamed with the Aiken Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a group headed by a local economic development organization. Together, the team plans to bring a 70,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing center (AMC) to the area located 20 miles or less from SRNL.

The facility will cost between $45 million and $55 million, employ about 110 workers, and is slated for completion in 2018. Construction will be funded through the public partner, and SRNS would then lease the facility. DOE has not released estimates of how much money the facility will save in the cleanup mission. But the agency previously said it will expedite the process in several ways, such as using robotics to navigate hard-to-reach locations in site facilities, which reduces risks for workers. Robotics will also be used to collect waste samples for assessment and decommissioning.

Will Williams, a member of the manufacturing partnership, said Wednesday the bond package that will help to finance the venture has received all the necessary approvals. The package includes approvals from the state Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA), as well as from the State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA). The partnership has also gotten approval from the Aiken County Council. “The project only needs DOE approval to move forward,” Williams said.

The ball has been in the Energy Department’s court for several weeks now, but neither SRS nor SRNS are opening up about the department’s role in the approval process, including what phase in the process DOE is currently in. Both organizations initially responded that there were no updates to give. When asked about the general steps in the approval process, a DOE spokesperson, who declined to speak on the record, responded, “I have nothing to add.”

The AMC would use a range of advanced manufacturing technologies, from the commercial chemical and industrial manufacturing sectors, in DOE processes and missions. Other possible ways the facility would help meet waste cleanup needs include the use of virtual reality so employees can work out various missions before applying them to a real-world scenario.