AIKEN, S.C. - The Savannah River Site (SRS) management and operations contractor is replacing 60-year-old power distribution equipment to ensure sustained power for key nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuel storage facilities.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) is scheduled to complete the power distribution system upgrade at the K and L areas ahead of schedule next summer without interrupting power to the facilities. The $19 million project is funded by EM and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
K Area provides for interim storage of excess plutonium and other special nuclear materials. In L Area, workers consolidate aluminum-clad used nuclear fuel from research reactors in the U.S. and around the world.
“These facilities are vital to SRS operations and our national security mission," SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean said. “Ensuring the reliability of the infrastructure to support these missions is one of our most important jobs."
The existing systems at K and L areas began operating in 1951 and are long past their intended operational life. The facilities have experienced an increase in outages in recent years, and replacement parts are no longer commercially available.
“To maintain the current system, we’ve had to use replacement parts from other areas onsite and, of course, those parts are just as old as the ones being replaced," said Tim Spieker, the SRNS project manager for the K and L Reliable Power Project.
The switches in the existing systems run on compressed air. The air tanks had degraded in recent years, preventing workers from access the facilities unless their power was turned off.
“They can’t go in to do anything without turning the whole building off," Spieker said. “Each time it took three or four days. The replacement project will increase reliability tremendously, which will allow everyone to be more efficient."
Though the K and L area power distribution system projects are separate, they are managed as one project to increase efficiency.
“We’re managing it like one big project, tackling them one right after the other," Spieker said. “There is so much similarity and it’s much more cost effective to do it this way. It helps us do some of the prep work in one area, while the construction work is happening in the other area. It’s been a great show of teamwork from all involved."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
