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Project Overview
For more than 20 years, Parsons has supported the Department of Energy (DOE) at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Originally constructed in the 1950s to produce the basic materials for nuclear weapons, Savannah River's current focus of activity is environmental restoration and remediation. The site produced plutonium-239, tritium, and uranium using several heavy water moderated reactors with supporting operations at the fuel fabrication facilities, plutonium and uranium extraction facilities, and nuclear (radioactive) waste storage facilities.
In 2002, recognizing Parsons' reputation for building unique facilities with advanced technology processes, the DOE awarded a contract to develop a conceptual design for a Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) to process highly radioactive liquid wastes currently stored in large underground tanks. Salt wastes account for about 34 of the 37 million gallons of radioactive waste at Savannah River. Safety is the highest priority for this new facility, and Parsons implemented an Integrated Safety Management System that was approved by DOE to evaluate and mitigate the safety risks. The first step in this contract was to develop a building and processing layout for the SWPF. After Parsons completed the comprehensive conceptual design ahead of schedule and under budget, the DOE awarded a follow-on for Phase II of the SWPF project, which includes preliminary and final design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and one year of hot operations at the site. The SWPF will separate highly radioactive cesium and actinides from the salt solution using caustic side solvent extraction and monosodium titanate adsorbtion/filtration respectively.
After completing the initial separation process, the concentrated cesium and actinides waste will be sent to the nearby Defense Waste Processing Facility to be immobilized in a glass matrix and stored in vaults until it can be placed in a geological repository. The decontaminated salt solution will be mixed with grout at nearby facilities for disposal on site. A major factor in the Pase II award was Parsons' initiative to develop a pilot-scale test of the caustic-side solvent extraction system. Parsons fabricated the pilot test equipment for the SWPF at its fabrication facility in Pasco, Washington, and conducted test operations in Barnwell, South Carolina, under observation by representatives from the Savannah River Site, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the South Carolina Governor's Advisory Council.
Construction of the SWPF will start in late 2005, with completion of commissioning planned in 2009. The SWPF continues Parsons' full-service support for first-of-a-kind process facilities to solve our nation's most complex waste issues.
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