AIKEN, S.C. - Savannah River Site (SRS) management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) has saved more than $2.6 million by employing a new method to construct and maintain tanks that hold water for fire suppression.
The improvements are part of a broader effort to upgrade the site's infrastructure and reduce maintenance costs, and they could serve as a model for other sites across the DOE complex.
Since SRS began operating more than 50 years ago, the site has built and maintained the tanks by welding steel plates together and applying a multi-part coating to the interior and exterior of tanks to prevent degradation.
In recent years, the coating on several tanks failed, leading to costly repairs and rework. When it came time to replace a tank last year, SRNS considered a wider variety of methods and coatings, ultimately selecting a bolted steel plate method that uses a glass fusion process to apply a coating designed to last the life of the tank, with no recoating required.
The savings is significant. The bolted steel tank cost roughly $1 million less than the planned $1.6 million replacement cost for a tank similar to the existing ones onsite. The life-cycle savings from not recoating the tank is $1.6 million.
“We are always pushing for new, innovative solutions to make the site more efficient, increase productivity, and reduce costs - in this case, we hit all three objectives," SRNS President Stuart MacVean said. “We found an approach that is not only better in the short-term, but dramatically reduces maintenance costs over the life of the tank."
SRNS expects that the new approach will be the prototype for replacement tanks.
“There are currently no other fire water storage tanks onsite that are in need of replacement, however the utilization of this technology provides the site a timely and cost-effective alternative for replacement as needs arise," said Rick Sprague, SRNS senior vice president for technical services.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
