After a half-decade pause, the Savannah River Site on Aug. 5 resumed first cycle unit work for its H Canyon spent nuclear fuel (SNF) operations. This comes after the site restarted another key part, the second uranium cycle, in February using test reactor fuel rods. Heralded as the nation’s only chemical separation facility still in operation, H Canyon meets environmental management (EM) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) goals for the Department of Energy, with the spent fuel campaign being a part of the EM mission.
The spent fuel campaign occurs in multiple steps, with first cycle coming after the SNF is loaded into H Canyon and converted into a form suitable for processing. During first cycle, the highly enriched uranium (HEU) found in SNF is separated from aluminum, fission products, and other impurities. “First Cycle is really the heart of the canyon because without First Cycle, nothing else is going to run,” Deborah Thomas, an H Canyon senior control room operator, said in the release.
After first cycle, the HEU will be go into the second uranium process, which uses two evaporators and two mixer-settler banks to separate impurities from the uranium solution. From there, it will be blended down into low-enriched uranium (LEU) and sent to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the production of commercial reactor fuel for use in the TVA reactors. That process is to expected to start within two years. H Canyon provided about 300 metric tons of LEU to the TVA between 2003 and 2011.
SRS site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions reported earlier this year that spent fuel operations were halted in 2013 because the portions of the canyon being used for the second uranium cycle were not necessary for the materials being dispositioned during that time. Prior to restarting the second uranium cycle in February, the canyon went through upgrades to infrastructure and a readiness assessment to ensure a safe restart of the operation. Employees also underwent training.
