According to The US Department of Energy (DOE), the contract is for a period of six years with a two-year option and includes the vitrification of high-level radioactive waste, treatment of other radioactive waste streams, closure of 49 underground storage tanks, and deactivation of major facilities and equipment.
Areva has said that vitrification involves freezing of radioactive waste in glass logs, a form reportedly well suited for the long-term storage and disposal of such materials.
The project objective is to treat the tank wastes and dispose of all wastes onsite in approved locations or offsite at controlled facilities and the repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The contract also includes management of other radioactive liquid waste generated at the site, said the company.
Savannah River Remediation is a partnership consisting of Areva, URS Washington Division, Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Bechtel National and CH2M Hill Constructors.
The US Department of Energy’s mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.
