Contractors at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently restored
and began the recertification process for six Industrial Packaging-2 (IP-2) portable tanks, helping to
preserve an essential and unique capability to transport large quantities of radioactively contaminated
or hazardous liquid solutions and representing a significant cost savings over procuring new tanks.
“These tanks were procured in 2003 to support disposition of Plutonium Uranium Extraction Solvent
(PUREX) used at two full-scale hardened radiochemical separations facilities, called F and H Canyons,”
said Cody Fee of Environmental Management Operations Programs for Savannah River Nuclear
Solutions, the managing and operating contractor at SRS. “Deactivating F Canyon resulted in the
creation of excess, radioactively contaminated solutions that needed to be dispositioned. The IP-2
tanks were used to transport these solutions off-site for disposal.”
After the deactivation of F Canyon, the tanks were used in other areas of the Site, until finally they were
drained and left in the SRS Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF). As part of ongoing
environmental cleanup and footprint reduction efforts, it was planned for SWMF to dispose of these
tanks. However, Operations employees recognized that there were potential future uses for them.
Because the tanks had been sitting empty for a number of years, inspections and examinations had to
be performed to ensure the tanks had still maintained their structural integrity. The results from these
examinations were positive, and the tanks are expected to be recertified in Fiscal Year 2025.
“When we began investigating the cost of procuring new tanks to perform needed activities in H
Canyon, we discovered that the reuse of the IP-2 tanks was a significant cost and time savings,” said
Fee. “Rather than waiting for new tanks to be custom built and delivered, we had tanks on hand that
just needed to be transferred a few miles from SWMF to H Canyon and undergo recertification testing,
which is required periodically regardless of the age of the tanks. Additionally, the transportation
capabilities these tanks represent will be essential to carrying out both anticipated and planned future
missions at SRS.”