TRU waste storage shrinks at Savannah Ricer Site

The Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF) at the Savannah River Site saw a large reduction of transuranic (TRU) waste in fiscal year 2024 (FY24), achieving the highest volume of TRU waste shipped out of state by the facility in the past 10 years, according to the Department of Energy.

TRU waste typically consists of protective clothing, tools, rags, equipment, and miscellaneous items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other heavy elements.

The facility: The SWMF is responsible for the disposition of SRS's solid wastes, which include sanitary, construction and demolition, hazardous, low-level radioactive and TRU wastes. Hazardous waste, which is any toxic, corrosive, ignitable, or chemically reactive material that could affect human health or the environment, is routinely shipped off-site to commercial facilities for treatment and disposal. This includes TRU waste, which is shipped to the DOE's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico for permanent disposition.

"WIPP opened in 1999, but SRS started managing radioactive waste when the Site began operations in the 50s," said Solid Waste Programs manager Kerri Crawford for the site's management and operations contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). "When WIPP opened, we started shipping TRU waste as fast as the WIPP receipt schedule allowed. Meanwhile, we were also receiving new TRU waste from ongoing operations that had to wait for its scheduled shipment dates. When WIPP experienced an unplanned shut down, we hadn't finishing shipments of our backlog of legacy TRU waste. Working closely with WIPP, we were able to make significant progress on that backlog over the past 10 years."

Volume: During that time, the SWMF has reduced the total volume of TRU waste at the facility by 66 percent, from approximately 746 cubic meters down to 256 cubic meters. In FY24, the facility shipped the highest volume of TRU waste to WIPP compared to the prior 10 years, with 150 cubic meters shipped. This is approximately 30 cubic meters more than the second highest year in 2022, the DOE noted.

The SWMF is responsible for the disposition of SRS' solid wastes, which include sanitary, construction and demolition, hazardous, low-level radioactive and TRU wastes. Hazardous waste, which is any toxic, corrosive, ignitable, or chemically reactive material that could affect human health or the environment, is routinely shipped off-site to commercial facilities for treatment and disposal. This includes TRU waste, which is shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico for permanent disposition.