DOE’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently worked with EM’s national laboratory to create a new sample analysis laboratory that will decrease processing downtime and save taxpayer dollars.
Office of Environmental Management
February 13, 2024
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A new H Canyon laboratory uses an existing and unused fume hood in H Canyon at Savannah River Site. This small setup will lead to time and cost savings when sampling solution from a general purpose evaporator.
AIKEN, S.C. — DOE’s prime contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently worked with EM’s national laboratory to create a new sample analysis laboratory that will decrease processing downtime and save taxpayer dollars.
Until the recent addition of the H Area laboratory, samples from tanks associated with a piece of equipment known as a general purpose evaporator were sent across the site to Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) for analysis.
“The process of pulling samples, packaging them, sending them approximately 10 miles across SRS and then giving SRNL time to sample could take as little as one to two days, and at times, take as long as six days, depending on what day of the week the sample was pulled and the workload of the laboratory,” said Regina Marquez, H Area Laboratory Project lead engineer with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the site’s managing and operating contractor. “It was determined that this downtime could be eliminated with the creation of a laboratory in H Area that could do the sample analysis as needed.”
The evaporator concentrates low-level radioactive solutions from various sources, including sump material, laboratory waste and rainwater, ensuring H Canyon produces as little waste as possible.
“To ensure the facility is in compliance with the technical safety requirements, we sample the solution in the tanks that feed the general purpose evaporator prior to processing,” Marquez said. “If the sample results come back acidic, we add caustic, a strong base that is soluble in water, to bring the pH up to basic levels.”
Establishing a new laboratory involved procuring a new piece of analytical equipment and ensuring all safety and laboratory standards were met.
“SRNL was very supportive of our efforts to implement the lab by ensuring we met all technical requirements so that our sample analysis would be in compliance with laboratory standards,” Marquez said. “Even the simplest lab analysis is complicated when it involves maintaining the high standards of safety associated with our type of work.”
SRNL also helped write the procedure needed to run the analytical equipment and to train H Canyon operators on its use.
“This was a major factor in getting the lab up and running, as H Canyon operators had never performed this type of work before,” Marquez said. “This project required all hands on deck and SRNL stepped up.”
Since the new laboratory has begun operating, downtime due to sample analysis has reduced from two to six days to four hours at most.
“This will lead to significantly reduced costs as well,” she said.
DOE-Savannah River Senior Program Manager Jeff Bentley said DOE appreciates the effort and collaboration between SRNL and SRNS to implement the laboratory that saves time and costs.
“SRS prides itself on continuously improving and looking for better and more cost effective ways to safely perform some of the Department’s most important nuclear related missions,” Bentley said.
-Contributor: Lindsey MonBarren
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