Savannah River?s 235-F Risk Reduction Plan Delayed 29 Months

The completion of a risk reduction plan for Savannah River’s building 235-F will be delayed 29 months due to budget setbacks, the Department of Energy told the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board last week. The DNFSB urged action to reduce risk at the former plutonium processing facility in a 2012 recommendation, which noted that residual contamination could expose workers and the public in the event of an accident such as a fire or earthquake. Completion of DOE’s implementation plan will be delayed until May 2021.”The 29 month delay is the result of a combination of setbacks caused by the budget issues in 2013 and early 2014, combined with a slowdown in remaining activities resulting from projections of reduced out-year budgets compared to 2014,” DOE said in a Nov. 28 report to the DNFSB on the schedule changes.

 

However, DOE noted that a number of actions have already been taken or expected to be completed in the near term that will significantly reduce the potential hazards at the facility. “Mitigating actions completed to date by the Department in Building 235-F include the removal of fixed combustible materials and the development and implementation of a rigorous transient combustible material management program, and electrical de-energization of non-essential equipment. Upgrading the Building 235-F fire detection system is in progress,” DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a Nov. 28 letter to the DNFSB. “Taken together, these actions improve the Building 235-F safety posture and reduce the likelihood of a full facility fire.”