Op-ed: DOE offers path to long-overdue progress at Savannah River
The Slate | 6/13/2019
By Paul Dabbar, DOE Under Secretary for Science
For more than three decades, the federal government has been telling you about its plans to treat and remove the Cold War radioactive waste languishing at Department of Energy sites.
Historically, DOE has managed nearly all of this waste as high-level waste, or hlw, despite the fact that much of it is less radioactive. HLW requires a complex and costly process called vitrification, where the material is mixed with molten glass and then buried deep underground.
This one-size-fits-all approach by previous administrations has led to decades of delay and billions of dollars in maintenance costs, and left the waste trapped at DOE facilities in Washington, South Carolina, and Idaho without a permanent disposal solution.
Meanwhile, lower-level waste streams — with radioactivity levels similar to medical waste from the use of nuclear isotopes — have been routinely and safely disposed of in existing Nuclear Regulatory Commission or state-licensed commercial facilities for decades.
Different levels of waste should involve different management and disposal solutions. If we are ever to make meaningful, near-term progress on the removal of this waste from states where it has been stored for decades and appropriately disposed of elsewhere, we need to change our approach to the challenge.
This administration is now proposing a responsible, science-driven solution that will finally open potential avenues for the safe treatment and removal of much of the lower-level waste currently housed near your community.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Department of Energy grant to develop SRS-area’s nuclear workforce
The Augusta Chronicle | 6/17/2019
Five area institutions are getting $5 million to better develop the area’s nuclear workforce and help meet a goal of producing 80 plutonium pits per year by 2030.
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration in the U.S. Department of Energy, was surrounded by the heads of the five institutions – Augusta and Aiken technical colleges, Augusta University and the University of South Carolina’s Aiken and Salkehatchie campuses – along with two U.S. congressmen and numerous other officials when she made the announcement Monday at Aiken Tech.
“As many of you know, our mission at Savannah River Site will be growing, not decreasing,” Gordon-Hagerty said. “The Department of Energy and NNSA are committed to this partnership and helping sustain the great work being done.”
The grant doubles the current annual funding for a regional nuclear careers program administered by the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, which since 2016 has received $1 million per year to coordinate programs across the institutions, the NNSA said in a news release.
Workforce development is vital to the area’s mission, including the planned repurposing of the former Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility into a plutonium pit production facility, Gordon-Hagerty said.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Letter to the Editor: Interpreting the meaning of high-level waste
Aiken Standard | 6/13/2019
By Rick McLeod and James Marra
Many of us agree that moving radioactive waste out of South Carolina is the right thing to do. The Department of Energy has taken a step to expedite the process by considering an interpretation change to what actually is classified as high-level waste. This would allow for more expeditious treatment and disposal of waste not considered HLW, and most importantly, removal of wastes from states like South
Carolina where it has been stored for decades.
On June 5, 2019, DOE announced a revised interpretation of the term high-level radioactive waste and what constitutes HLW. This change would allow DOE to dispose of wastes based on the radiological characteristics and ability to meet appropriate disposal facility requirements. As it exists today, the U.S. classifies high-level waste based on origin – that is – high-level waste is any waste that results from spent nuclear fuel
processing. No other country in the world uses a definition based solely on origin but more appropriately makes the determination based on risk.
The revision interpretation of how HLW is defined was not achieved haphazardly. A public comment period resulted in over 5,000 comments from the public, Native American tribes, members of Congress, numerous state and local governments and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. These comments were reviewed and considered in formulating the decision.
We applaud DOE’s efforts to examine alternative disposal pathways for waste in our communities that, under the previous interpretation, could only go to a HLW repository. As a first step, DOE is initiating an environmental review to determine if a small amount of water used in the SRS high-level waste process, including water used to clean tanks, can be disposed at a commercial off-site disposal site instead of staying on site as
HLW.
Thus, changing the interpretation of the high-level waste definition opens up new avenues for disposition of wastes currently stored at SRS and expedites SRS cleanup.
CONTRACTING & ACQUISITION
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NATIONAL CLEANUP WORKSHOP
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Attend the 2019 National Cleanup Workshop
"Advancing Goal-Oriented Nuclear Waste Cleanup, Today and Tomorrow"
September 10-12, 2019
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
Alexandria, VA
Join more than 700 attendees, including senior DOE officials, Congressional leaders, DOE contractors, and state, tribal and local government leaders for the largest EM-focused gathering in the D.C. area.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Paul Dabbar, DOE Under Secretary for Science
- Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Co-Chair, House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus
- Ron Woody, ECA Chair; County Executive, Roane County, Tenn.
- Sandra Fairchild, EFCOG Vice Chair; Director, Project Services and Support, Savannah River Remediation
Scheduled sessions at this year's workshop include:
- Insights from the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus Leadership
- 30 Years of EM Cleanup: A Foundation of Success
- EM Contracting: Moving Forward on Contract Management Enhancements
- Legislative Challenges and Opportunities for the EM Program
- Clarifying the Definition of HLW: Challenges and Opportunities
- Continuing Progress on Direct Feed LAW at Hanford
- The Future of the Savannah River Site
- Congressional Staff Perspectives
- Roundtable with DOE Field Office Managers
- Investing in Infrastructure to Enable Cleanup and Future Missions
Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World
Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email bulletin@energyca.org.
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Read ECA's Latest Publication
Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High-Level Waste Definition:
A Guide for Communities and Recommendations for DOE
This paper was developed as a guide for communities to understand a new interpretation of the statutory definition of high-level nuclear waste proposed by DOE in October 2018. This new interpretation could speed up cleanup at several sites, develop a path forward for waste stranded in interim storage and tanks, and potentially save tens of billions of dollars. The paper provides local communities and other DOE
stakeholders with information needed to enable informed decisions and constructive input to the Department as it determines next steps and implementation.
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Learn More about Cleanup Sites with ECA's DOE Site Profiles
ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local
governments.
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