Audit targets safety at SRS 5/4/2009 12:05 AM By MIKE GELLATLY Staff writer
Failures in quality assurance at the Savannah Rive Site cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and could cause injury to workers and the public and allow spills of thousands of gallons of high-level radioactive waste, according to an audit report.
The report, released last week by the inspector general of the Department of Energy, stated that SRS contractors repeatedly procured dangerous construction materials and components that failed to meet federal safety standards.
The report specifically names Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC) and MOX Services; most failures in the report relate to lower-tier vendors not following guidelines.
The report highlights problems in three facilities - the Tritium Extraction Facility (TEF), the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) and the Interim Salt Processing (ISP) project.
An inadequate component within the ISP project facility "could have resulted in a spill of up to 15,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste," the study found.
At the MOX facility, which is currently under construction, "three structural components were procured and installed by the prime contractor ... during construction of the MOX Facility that did not meet the technical specifications for items relied on for safety."
"These substandard items necessitated costly and time consuming remedial action to, among other things, ensure that nonconforming materials and equipment would function within safety margins," the report continued. "As of October 2008, the MOX Facility had incurred costs of more than $680,000 due to problems associated with the procurement of $11 million of nonconforming safety-class reinforcing steel. In general, the internal control weaknesses we discovered could have permitted, without detection, the procurement and installation of safety critical components that did not meet quality assurance standards. In a worst-case scenario, undetected, nonconforming components could fail and injure workers or the public."
In addition to the rebar, $3.5 million of piping and embedded steel plates were purchased by the contractor from a subcontractor that did not assure the components were suitable for use in a nuclear facility.
"While Shaw/AREVA had conducted audits and surveillances of quality assurance at its subcontractors, it did not ensure that appropriate (quality assurance) requirements were flowed down to lower-tier vendors," the report reads.
WSRC's construction of the TEF was faulted in several areas, including the purchase of a substandard $12 million glovebox (used to handle radioactive materials) that "may not adequately protect workers from exposure to radioactive gas." Also, furnace modular doors, that cost $690,000, needed an additional $100,000 of quality assurance procedures to assure they were suitable.
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Comment Title: Level III?
I can see why you were never hired at the MOX or any SRS other job. You have numerous spelling errors. I thought Level III inspectors were supposed to be better than that.......
Posted by: On: 5/6/2009
Comment Title: Oh the "IQ" of some of these posters!
1- What does serving in "the corps" have to do with the security of the SRS? 2- Loosing one's hair and teeth due to "rad" was a rather good and funny joke. Apparently you didn't, so just get a life pal
Posted by: On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title:
Just courious, how much hair, teeth did you loose becasuse of rad material, or are you just spouting off at the mouth.
Posted by: On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title:
I'm neither a repub or a democrat buddy, I'm a former Marine that hates to see idiots and their idot children that want the goverment to do everything for them but wouldn't serve in the military for their freedoms if their life depended upon it. You know the kind, 99% of todays Americans are that kind.
Posted by: On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title:
I'm not the d-bag complaining about Pelosi and her plan, she is the Speaker of the US House so she gets that deal. I do dislike Odumba though. He is bankrupting this country. But I'm neither a Country Club Republican or Trailer Park Republican. I'm more of a Linikn Park Republican or is that South Park Republican? O forget which, oh well, any jobs out there for a fiscally conservative socially liberal GOP person?
Posted by: On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title: YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!
And what about Denny Hastert? he had the same sweet deal as Pelosi flying around the country on the taxpayers. You know people are getting wise and fed up with all the "repubs" complaining. Get a life pal, better yet join the country and support President Obama. Are you a "country club republican" or a "trailer park republican"?
Posted by: On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title:
Talk about wasteful spending, did you know that the Clintons charge the Secret Service $10,000 a month rent for a small apartment that the goverment built on the property of their N.Y. residence. What is the tax bill for sweet old Nancy to privately fly from D.C. to Calif and back every week.
Posted by: possumtrot On: 5/5/2009
Comment Title: Nuclear Socialism at SRS
While Senator Graham babbles on that SRS is the "tip of the spear" for his vision of wasting money, turns out it's actually the tip of the iceberg for waste, fraud and abuse. Time for much more intense oversight of this pit which sucks down our tax money and, beyond clean up, yields absolutely no productive good or service. Socialism has crept into the Aiken/Augusta area via SRS and a destructive and corrupting entitlement mindset has set in. Over time, this Republican-Socialism will be rooted out by true fiscal conservatives who actually produce something for society.
Posted by: Here to Stay On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Responsibility and accountability
Responsibility and accountability – seems to me the contractor should at the very least be fined and then rightly fired. Part of those tax dollars the contractors wasted came from my family income. If an audit has to inform the contractor his sub’s are using inferior and dangerous materials, then that contractor has to go – they are simply as substandard and inferior as those materials. I know many “displaced” workers in the area that once upon a time were proud to work at SRP and “substandard” was never a part of the job performance. Many of the subcontractors come from out of state and could care less what they leave behind. Aiken County is MY home and I am tired of being stepped on and left to deal or live with the mess. I don’t care what you call this mess – democrat or republic – when the majority of jobs don’t go to long term residents and my tax dollars are being wasted – I am definitely bi-partisan.
Posted by: Let the good times roll On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Repubican SWINE PORK AT SRS!
When are we going to learn our lesson about this boondoggle called MOX? Perhaps when the real Republicans with an ounce of honesty and step forward and call it what it is, GOVERNMENT CHEESE for right-wing neo-con Republicans minus a handful of Union members who do the real work. Aiken Republicans rail against government spending and deficits but "hey, this government spending that feeds my family, pays for my SUV, mo other three cars, boats, lake house and so forth is really, really necessary government spending and we need all of that we can get. Especially enough to keep me going until I retire and then I have to keep getting my retirement and free healthcare whil I rail against UAW retirees from the AUto companies who want to keep their health-care benefits!" Lousy Aiken Republican HYPOCRITES!
Posted by: On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Oh well!!!
Oh well we all can loose our hair, teeth and screw up our insides for the good of Graham, DeMint, Sanford, Wilson, Ryberg, Massey and "Pretty Boy" T. Gresham Barrett.
Posted by: On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title:
As a level III nuclear QA/QC inspector myself in the non goverment sector, I know first hand the importance of QA/QC oversight. Its common knowledge in the private sector of the Nuclear industry that vendors not subcontract any work without first obtaining written authorization from the prime contractors QA/QC. Any lessening of quality requirements requries QA/QC approval prior to processing and procurement documents issued to all subtier suppliers shall reflect the same technical and quality requirments as appicable to the scope of the procurement. As well, an authorized inspector of the prime contrator shall have the right of access to the vendors facilities during normal working hours for the purpose of inspection, auditing or survellance of work being performed. I've tried on several occasions in the last several years and as recently as 6 months ago to seek enployment at SRS and for the MOX facility but have never had any luck. I've never even had an interview. I have been told that MOX is hiring mostly new graduates or future graduates of the non nuclear field and that have no nuclear experience and no Nuclear QA/QC experience.
Posted by: On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Old News
The news on MOX is quite old news and has already been remedied. Get up to date Sub standard.
Posted by: Todd Martin On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Time for a Change in Contractors
Shaw Group's work legacy in DOE has never been of merit. AREVA? why have a French company taking US dollars out of the economy.
Posted by: getting mad On: 5/4/2009
Comment Title: Irresponsible
Given so little oversight of the spending of a huge amount of our money on MOX, what do you expect but things like this? The name of the game is spend-spend-spend! SRS contractors are on the wave of big-government spending and feeling flush, while the rest of us get the shaft. Looks like a little socialism for the special interests.
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