Recovery Act Enables F-Canyon Drum Remediation to Restart

AIKEN, SC (3/8/2010) – With American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, the remediation of 800 to 1,000 drums of transuranic (TRU) waste restarted at the Department of Energy's F Canyon, a deactivated chemical separations facilities at the Savannah River Site.

The process calls for hand sorting of the contents of 55-gallon drums that X-ray technology has identified as containing items, such as aerosol cans or liquids, which are not allowed for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M.

“The drum remediation project was a key part of SRS being able to disposition 30,000 drums of legacy TRU waste,” said Bert Crapse, the Department of Energy’s Federal Project Director for the SRS TRU Waste Project. “The Recovery Act funding for the Savannah River Site has allowed us to resume the F-Canyon drum remediation project, so that we can finish the project.”

The first phase of the project was completed in October 2008, after two years of safely remediating 3,000 drums. The work is expected to continue into 2012 to complete the project.

Typical SRS TRU waste consists of clothing, equipment, tools, rags, residues, debris and other items containing trace levels of plutonium. Most of the drums were generated before WIPP, a geologic repository for the entire Department of Energy (DOE) complex, started receiving waste or had developed its waste acceptance criteria (WAC). Some items prohibited by the WAC may have been part of the waste in the legacy drums and, therefore, need to be identified and remediated prior to final disposition at WIPP. The waste undergoing remediation is predominantly from the 1970s and 1980s.

With this project, 55-gallon drums, which had been stored in E Area, are opened in an enclosure similar to a glovebox, and their contents removed and examined. If prohibited items are found, they are treated and repackaged into a new drum. Once repackaged, WIPP-certified personnel use X-ray technology, called real time radiography, to survey drum contents and confirm they now meet the criteria for disposal.

“It was never the intent to reopen these drums when they were generated long ago,” explained Mike Ferrari, the TRU waste remediation manager for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the SRS management and operating contractor.

Technicians and inspectors are equipped with fresh air hoods and protective clothing. Puncture-resistant leather gloves are worn over the gloves attached to the enclosure. Special tools are used to protect the operators from sharp items such as glass or syringe needles, which might puncture their gloves.

SRNS’ goal is to operate the drum remediation system until all the remaining legacy TRU waste drums can be remediated. The process of opening 55-gallon drums occurs within an enclosed downdraft table similar to a glovebox to assure the safety of the workers. Workers spread the contents of the drum out on the downdraft table and separate out the items that do not meet the acceptance criteria.

“It’s a slow process because we require the technicians to use tools rather than their hands to sort through the waste. A puncture wound is one of the worst things that can happen to our technicians. We reduce the possibility of such an injury by maximizing tool use and minimizing hands on the waste,” Ferrari said.

Once the drums are remediated, they are transferred back to the Site’s E Area, where they go through a certification process to meet the WIPP WAC and are staged for shipping to WIPP.

Almost everyone on the 90-person remediation project team – with the exception of managers and supervisors – is a new Recovery Act employee. Seasoned workers from the previous drum remediation effort were brought back as mentors and supervisors to aid in the comprehensive four-month mock-up training program to assure that the newly hired Recovery Act employees could perform their tasks safely.

“Some of the folks we brought back as supervisors for this project were involved in the original packing of the drums 20 years ago. They never thought they would be seeing that waste again,” Ferrari said.