AIKEN, S.C. - EM is working to expose liquid waste transfer lines to connect the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) to the liquid waste facilities at the Savannah River Site (SRS).
The excavation comes after workers safely installed sheet piling next to the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF).
“Every step closer to bringing SWPF online means the Department of Energy is another step toward reducing the risk of the Cold War legacy radioactive liquid waste at the Savannah River Site," said DOE-Savannah River Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Jim Folk.
Installing the steel structural sections, which create a wall underneath the soil, was necessary before the excavation to ensure the stability of the soil. Workers put in nearly 4,000 linear feet of sheet piling.
“The team did an outstanding job completing the sheet piling scope safely and efficiently," said Tom Foster, president and project manager of Savannah River Remediation, EM’s liquid waste contractor. “Meeting this milestone means the project is another step closer to meeting our objectives to fully integrate SWPF with the existing liquid waste facilities."
In the first excavation phase, workers dug 10 feet into the ground. They’ll weld reinforcement bars to the sheet piling to provide additional bracing before continuing the excavation, which is scheduled for completion this summer.
The next step is to modify the piping to tie in the SWPF. Workers will then backfill the excavation area.
SWPF is undergoing testing and cold commissioning, scheduled to end in summer 2018.
It’s the key liquid waste facility for processing approximately 90 percent of the site’s remaining 35 million gallons of tank waste. The facility will separate the salt waste into a low-volume, highly radioactive fraction for vitrification in DWPF, with the high-volume, decontaminated salt solution going to the Saltstone Facility for disposal.
EM expects to begin operating SWPF in December 2018.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
