[DOE LETTERHEAD]
October 21, 2002
The Honorable John T. Conway, Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Avenue, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004-2901
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Department has completed a review of
options for returning the Savannah River Site’s (SRS) Tank 48-H to high level
waste (HLW) service by treating the benzene generating waste that is currently
stored in that tank. A report
discussing the options evaluated and recommending a path forward is enclosed as
the deliverable required under Commitment 3.5 of our implementation plan for
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Recommendation 2001-1.
The Department’s priorities with respect to
the SRS HLW system are to safely and expeditiously disposition waste in accordance
with our Accelerated Cleanup Plan. As
we implement this plan, we will continue to process sludge through the Defense
Waste Processing Facility and anticipate near term disposition of low curie
salt solution via the Saltstone Disposal Facility. At the same time, we are developing the Salt Waste Processing
Facility to disposition higher curie salt waste. This disposition of salt waste, coupled with continuing
evaporation, will provide for sufficient HLW storage space and operational
flexibility in the tank farms. As we
proceed, we will continue to monitor tank space utilization and allocate the
appropriate resources to the recovery of Tank 48, should it become necessary to
avoid impacts to our waste disposition efforts.
Please feel free to contact me, should you
have any questions concerning the enclosed report at (202) 586-7709.
Sincerely,
Paul Golan
Chief Operating Officer
Office of Environmental Management
Report
cc w/o enclosure:
M. Whitaker (S-3.l), DOE-HQ
J. Allison, Acting Manager, SR