A stopgap salt-waste facility in operation since 2008 at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina marked a milestone by processing six million gallons of salt waste, DOE announced Monday.
The Actinide Removal Process and Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (ARP/MCU), which removes most radioactive isotopes from salt waste distilled from the liquid waste in SRS’ storage tanks, also broke a monthly record by processing more than 210,000 gallons in April. That is about 15,000 gallons more than the previous monthly record, DOE said in a press release.
SRS prime liquid waste cleanup contract Savannah River Remediation operates the ARP/MCU as part of a roughly $4.1 billion DOE contract that was awarded in 2009 and expires on June 30, 2017. ARP/MCU is a predecessor for the larger Salt Waste Processing Facility, which is being built by prime contractor Parsons. The Salt Waste Processing Facility was supposed to be finished in 2015; as recently as May, DOE said June was more likely. In January, DOE said the facility would be complete in May.
Whoever wins the next big SRS cleanup contract, which DOE estimates will be worth roughly $6 billion over 10 years, will be responsible for operating the Salt Waste Processing Facility and processing 72 million gallons of salt waste. That includes 45 million gallons in the eight-year base period. DOE released the draft solicitation for the new cleanup pact in March.