Fielding criticism

Savannah River Plant faced strides, strife in 1970s

Web posted Sunday, November 19, 2000

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By Albert Ross
Staff Writer

The Savannah River Plant faced tough obstacles and achieved some of its greatest accomplishments during the 1970s.

At the height of the site's 20th anniversary, the plant - then owned by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. - saw huge advances in technology, established a strong safety record and developed a cost-effective method to solidify radioactive waste.

In addition to SRP's internal structure, the ecological surroundings provided the facility with the nation's first environmental research park.

But SRP's achievements did not come without hardships.

The plant endured criticism from the media and health officials for its effects on the environment. And near the end of the decade, the plant felt the brunt of federal budget cuts.

Technological advances

Technology was thriving despite a breakdown in funds in the late '70s.

In 1970, a computer system named Joshua performed scientific computations to aid in the design of reactors and their operations. Scientists at SRP were constantly finding ways to redesign reactors to improve methods and to adapt them to the production of new radioisotopes.

F Chemical Separations Area Seepage Basins were used at Savannah River Plant during the 1970s to hold waste. They are no longer in use. During the 1970s, many people worried that hazardous chemicals would seep into the local water supply. FILE/STAFF

The program, developed by the Atomic Energy Commission's Savannah River Laboratory, ran on the mainframe computer and responded within a hundredth of a second to situations that could occur in a nuclear reactor. Dr. John Suich, director of the computer center at SRP, explained the effectiveness of the Joshua program in an article published in The Augusta Chronicle on Oct. 15, 1970.

```A scientist would have to work 100 months, night and day, to find a solution to a typical problem which Joshua could handle in three to five minutes,' Dr. Suich explained.''

The system performed half a million functions per second and could do the work of the entire population of Atlanta in 1970 in a day, the article stated.

Although Joshua was designed to find solutions to problems with a reactor, accidents did occur. For example, that same year, the K-Reactor leaked radioactive materials in the reactor room during a routine inspection. No one was hurt, but the reactor was shut down for two months.

Plant safety

The public's concern for safety at the plant was countered by the site's work record. In 1970, DuPont employees exceeded more than 28 million hours of work without a time-losing injury and received their ninth board of directors safety award.

The plant also was awarded the AEC's Best Ever safety trophy, taking the prestigious title from Dow Chemical Co. and setting a record for the most injury-free man-hours ever achieved in the national atomic energy program.

John Daniel Clayton worked as an engineering manager in Equipment Engineering Activity. He was one of the members of a safety conference that discussed ways to achieve safe work practices.

``We promoted employee involvement,'' Mr. Clayton said. ``There was a feeling at first that safety was a job for management, that the numbers were for bragging.

``The employees realized the numbers were owned by them and could be used for their benefit. Finally, we had people involved in their own safety.''

Every morning, the workers held a ``toolbox meeting'' to review the daily routine. Employees gave input on how to perform the day's task correctly and safely. Mr. Clayton said the plant did have accidents, but none resulted in workers losing any man-hours.

The most common injuries at the site, he said, were cuts or broken bones on hands and fingers because of rotating machinery or sharp tools.

Waste disposal

Another precaution taken at SRP was in the disposal of radioactive waste.

In the late 1970s, SRP devised a plan to bury nuclear waste 1,500 feet below the site. A major critic of the project was President Carter, who protested the venture because of the lack of studies to assess any potential dangers. Many feared that an earthquake could breach the holding tanks and contaminate water wells.

For that reason, SRP abandoned the project and one year later developed a method to solidify waste materials into a glass form, which greatly reduced the amount of such waste.

Firms would be able to retain disposed items for 10 years, then deliver them to the AEC in welded steel containers. The construction began in late 1983 at a cost of $1.27 billion. More than 34 million gallons of liquid waste, approximately 900 canisters, are currently stored in 49 underground carbon-steel tanks at Savannah River Site.

The storage of nuclear waste also revealed the need for extensive knowledge of the effects of the plant's operation on the environment. For more than 20 years, employees at DuPont monitored the land near SRP for radiation by reviewing samples of milk, food, water, air and foliage.

Environmental studies

In order to conduct in-depth environmental studies, in 1972 the Department of Energy (formerly the Atomic Energy Commission) designated 300 square miles of land surrounding the site as the first National Environmental Research Park.

The new park allowed scientists from universities, private foundations and government agencies to study man's impact on the environment. The experiment boundaries extend along the north bank of the Savannah River, east to Barnwell, S.C., northwest of Jackson and north of New Ellenton.

Dr. Lehr Brisbin, a professor in the ecology department at the University of Georgia, is one of the scientists who study the ecological interaction between industrial development and natural habitat.

``The park has a strong background of information,'' he said. ``Its wealthy (with) scientific data as the world's foremost ecological centers.

``This is the proving ground of technique methods for cleaning up waste. We've worked out techniques in this low-level area to help the rest of the world clean up their messes.''

The land is inhabited by foxes, eagles, storks, alligators, snakes and mice. Some wildlife, such as free-roaming dogs or pigs, are foreigners to the area.

``The park has a positive effect,'' Dr. Brisbin said. ``It established 300 miles of land free from human disturbance. The wildlife has flourished. It's more abundant; the animals are allowed to reproduce. There is no hunting, jet skiing or fishing.

``The ducks have a lake all to themselves.''

Tough criticism

SRP faced tough critics despite its contributions to the community. A year after the park's creation, an article in The Los Angeles Times stated that the facility leaked radioactive material into a water table. Nathan Stetson, then plant manager, denied the charge, saying there was no evidence of seepage.

In order to ensure positive public opinion, a new document room was opened in the main administration building. The documents gave the public access to all published material on the radioactive waste management program without requiring advance notice or clearance.

In 1977, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control became the first state agency to have jurisdiction over a federal facility, when it asked the attorney general to fine the site $10,000 a day for failure to meet state and federal clean air standards.

The organization claimed 16 of the plant's 19 coal-fired boilers produced polluted emissions. SRP was issued a cut-off date of July 1979 to correct the problem. The site set a schedule to add equipment that would bring the boilers to clean-air standards. But only four of the boilers would be in compliance by 1979. Five more were compliant by 1980.

Mr. Stetson said the plant was willing to negotiate with the attorney general's office but would not make the deadline. Plans were being developed to bring 13 boilers to compliance. The money had been appropriated, but upgrades took one year on each boiler.

Near the end of the decade, further scrutiny befell Savannah River Plant. In 1977, the House Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy reported that several plants nationwide needed to modernize their facilities in order to meet national security standards. The committee targeted SRP for technological and physical deterioration.

Tanner Hendrix III, then assistant manager at the site, reassured the community of the site's status in an article published in The Chronicle on Aug. 8, 1978.

He declared: ``The plant is not crumbling. We'd be very poor managers if it were.''

A significant factor in SRP's status in the late '70s was the shortage of funds to construct new site facilities. The plant was not in danger of shutting down, but equipment was not being funded, a spokesman for the plant said.

U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was quoted in The Chronicle on July 13, 1978, stating that money for the plant was split in half for two years.

In 1978, SRP requested $29.1 million for site improvements, but received only $15.7 million. The previous year, SRP was allocated $10.9 million after asking for $19.3 million. The budget restraint held back capital for upgrades that once averaged between $3.5 million and $17.5 million. At least $260 million was needed for all of the nation's nuclear weapons plants, Mr. Thurmond said.

Despite the Savannah River Plant's tribulations during the '70s, the site vindicated its operations with extraordinary achievements. The plant succeeded in many ways. It produced the first computer-operated reactor, a clean safety record, a world-renowned research park and a safe, effective way to dispose of its waste products.

Reach Albert Ross at (706) 823-3339.

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