And Another One: SRS Racks Fourth Tank Waste Removal Milestone This Year

Tony Robinson, DOE-Savannah River acting assistant manager for waste disposition, left, commemorates the completion of preliminary cease waste removal (PCWR) for Tank 3. Pictured at right of Robinson is Tom Burns, Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) president and program manager. Personnel from the Tank 3 project team are gathered in the background. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management and SRMC achieved Tank 3 PCWR 27 months ahead of schedule.

It’s the site’s seventh old-style tank to reach this regulatory approval since 2024

AIKEN, S.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) has reached another significant milestone with concurrence from regulators that radioactive waste has successfully been removed from another tank at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

Tank 3 makes the seventh old-style tank to reach preliminary cease waste removal (PCWR) regulatory approval, years ahead of the SRS Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) schedule.

Tony Robinson, DOE-Savannah River acting assistant manager for waste disposition, said each PCWR milestone completed is another step toward remediating the legacy radioactive waste at SRS.

"Achieving the waste tank closure mission is critically important to both environmental stewardship and community safety," Robinson said. “This mission underscores our commitment to responsible waste management, safeguarding public health and reinforcing trust with all our stakeholders.”

PCWR is a regulatory milestone for old-style tanks that designates agreement between EM and its federal and state environmental regulators — the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and South Carolina Department of Environmental Services — that, based on preliminary information, there is reasonable assurance that performance objectives for tank closure will be met.

Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) is EM’s liquid waste contractor responsible for achieving PCWR through safely treating and disposing of the millions of gallons of waste remaining in the underground tanks at SRS, located between two tank farms. Tank 3 is the third old-style tank in F Tank Farm to complete PCWR by SRMC. The tanks will ultimately be filled with grout to be permanently sealed and operationally closed.

SRMC has completed PCWR on Tank 3, Tank 4, Tank 8, Tank 9, Tank 10, Tank 11, and Tank 15 — all seven to 27 months ahead of the agreed-upon deadlines outlined in the FFA. The agreement establishes a procedural framework, including liquid waste-tank milestone agreements, such as the schedule for waste removal and operational tank closures, and other site cleanup priorities.

Achieving seven PCWRs shows that SRMC is a team committed to advancing the mission by getting waste safely out of the aging tanks, according to Mike Borders, SRMC executive vice president and chief operations officer.

“The waste removal and tank closure efforts related to completing seven PCWRs in the first three years of the SRMC contract has been nothing short of excellence,” Borders said. “Real risks and real hazards are being reduced in our area, and everyone involved — SRMC, DOE and the regulators — have a high sense of ownership that we are accomplishing this as a team.”

This regulatory concurrence also means that work can begin on the sampling and analysis phase for these tanks as part of the tank closure process. This next phase will verify these conclusions, based on laboratory analysis of any remaining material, and final residual volume determination, prior to stabilization and final isolation of the waste tank.

-Contributor: Colleen Hart