SRR workers oversaw placement of nearly 6,100 cubic yards of grout into Tank 16 from June to September 2015, achieving operational closure ahead of the October 2015 scheduled deadline, and making it the seventh tank closed at SRS.

AIKEN, S.C. EM’s Savannah River Site (SRS) liquid waste contractor earned nearly a 96 percent award fee rating for exceeding most performance goals in key cleanup and risk reduction activities in fiscal year 2015.

   Assessing Savannah River Remediation’s (SRR) continued excellent management and execution of the liquid waste program, EM highlighted several areas of noteworthy performance in its award fee determination scorecard. The contractor provided excellent regulatory support to the site’s tank closure program; worked closely with EM and regulators to bring about significant recovery of the Tank 16 closure schedule; and, ultimately, closed Tank 16 ahead of its milestone date, while also completing required activities to support Tank 12 closure, the next, or eighth, SRS tank scheduled for closure.  

   EM specifically cited SRR’s appropriate and conservative determinations in identifying and resolving several significant emergent technical issues prior to proceeding with operations. These issues centered on unanticipated mercury levels and other associated drivers potentially impacting flammability concerns in the liquid waste system.

   “It is recognized that SRR did the right thing by appropriately addressing these technical uncertainties resulting in temporary limited operations,” DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager Jack Craig said. “This philosophy to stop, evaluate, and proceed when appropriate is clearly evident of a management team dedicated to safe long-term operation of liquid waste facilities.”

   EM commended SRR for providing excellent support on key deliverables directly tied to the startup and integration of the Salt Waste Processing Facility into the site’s liquid waste program.  

   Another area of notable performance was the contractor’s enhanced management engagement within SRS liquid waste facilities and operations. EM acknowledged SRR management’s responsiveness to identify value-added engagement opportunities, like instituting a Senior Supervisory Watch to correct operational concerns prior to becoming a more significant issue. Another result of the engagement was increased willingness and timeliness of occurrence reporting across the liquid waste system.

   SRR President and Project Manager Stuart MacVean praised employees whose performance netted the outstanding score.

   “We are confident that our performance and our efforts to find and implement efficiencies in our operations put us on the right path to reduce the state’s single largest environmental risk in South Carolina, the liquid waste in SRS tanks,” MacVean said. “We will continue to safely and efficiently disposition the tank waste and operationally close waste tanks as we work with DOE, regulators and stakeholders to ensure we are meeting expectations.”