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SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

Waste Solidification Facilities

The two primary facilities operated within the Waste Solidification program are Saltstone and the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF).

Defense Waste Processing Facility

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is a 42,000 square foot facility that receives, treats, and immobilizes alkaline slurries of aqueous high level waste from F and H Area tank farms in a durable, borosilicate glass form for eventual disposal in a geological repository. Construction of DWPF began in late 1983. DWPF construction was completed in 1995. It began radioactive operations in March 1996.Based on current operating plans and funding, high level waste processing would be completed in 25 years. Sixty-four canisters of vitrified high level waste were poured between April 1 and September 30, 1996.

It is the largest radioactive waste glassification, called vitrification, plant in the world. It converts the liquid nuclear waste currently stored at the Savannah River Site (SRS) into a solid glass form suitable for long-term storage and disposal. About 36 million gallons of liquid nuclear wastes are stored in 49 underground carbon-steel tanks at SRS. This waste has about 417 million curies of radioactivity, of which the vast majority will be vitrified at DWPF. DWPF is projected to produce more than 5,000 canisters by the year 2019.

DWPF is presently vitrifying the sludge form of the liquid nuclear waste currently in tank storage. DWPF treatment of salt waste awaits the startup of new pre-treatment facilities, including the Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit and Actinide Removal Process (anticipated to begin radiological operations in 2008) and the Salt Waste Processing Facility (which is projected to become operational by about 2012).

Saltstone Facility

The Saltstone facilities safely stabilize and dispose of low-activity liquid radioactive wastes produced and stored at the SRS. Saltstone consists of two facility segments: the Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) and the Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF). Construction of SPF and the first two vaults of SDF were completed between February 1986 and July 1988 and began radioactive operations on June 12, 1990. Since then, they have been operated on an intermittent, as-needed basis to immobilize and dispose of low-activity liquid waste from the Effluent Treatment Project, which processes waste from the site's two chemical separation facilities, as well as from the tank farms.

Saltstone consists of facilities 210-Z, the operations building, and concrete disposal vaults of two sizes (60,000 and 120,000 square feet) that are used to immobilize and dispose of decontaminated salt solutions from F and H tank farms. These solutions contain low level radioactivity and heavy metal ions. Immobilization is accomplished by mixing the solution with flyash, cement, and slag and pouring it into large concrete vaults to harden. The large concrete vaults are divided into sections called cells. Each cell is 100 feet long, 100 feet wide and 25 feet tall. The facility currently has two vaults, both partially full, one with 12 cells and one with six cells. After filling, the vault will be capped with clean concrete to isolate it from the environment. Final closure of the area will consist of covering the vaults with engineered closure caps and backfilling with earth. The Saltstone vaults provide permanent disposal of the neutralized waste material. Radioactive operation began in 1990. Over 300,000 gallons of waste were processed between April 1 and September 30, 1996.

The Saltstone facilities have recently been modified to improve their reliability and maintainability, and operations have resumed. Additional vaults will be constructed over the next 15 years.