The infrastructure and its capabilities cannot be understated in its uniqueness and value. Since 2016, I have watched how Perma-Fix has moved to diversify in a multitude of areas beyond those at Hanford. Clearly, Perma-Fix is capable of being a $150 million plus company without Hanford, with treatment and service segments as it lends to a wide array of possibilities. Immediately when I started studying the Hanford reservation and particularly the vitrification plant being built, I frankly was a guest. Over 30 years, not 1 gallon had been treated from the 56 million gallons of mixed nuclear waste sitting in the 170 tanks. In 2022, there was $1.5 billion spent on maintaining the waste in the tank and building the deep well plant to treat low-level waste.
I immediately understood that 90% of the waste in the tank was low radioactive waste and more suitable for treatment by immobilizing and then solidifying with concrete. This has been done in Savannah for decades. Since 1992, Perma-Fix has treated millions of gallons of mixed radioactive waste by mobilizing and then solidifying with an appropriate concrete. I thus immediately question test bed initiative and its purpose. It just seems there could be a quicker path for treatment by Perma-Fix. The waste in the tanks becomes even larger as they must be liquefied before treatment. So arguably, there can be 2x to 4x more ways to treat. Various sources of GAO, NRS and NAS had stated it will take in any treatment way, 60 years to 70 years to treat the tank waste.
A study completed by GAO last summer stated mobilizing and solidifying the concrete will save tens of billions of dollars. The National Academy of Science recently stated that mobilizing and then solidifying with concrete in an offsite facility and bearing offsite would push treatment for over 10 years, thereby taking pressure from leaky tanks, space and facilitating movement towards building the plant to treat the high level waste. That will also ensure preservation of groundwater hamper. For over a year that it existed in the tank, formerly system called the tank-side cesium removal enabled unit, the TSCR. The TSCR separates high and low waste. After three phases of filtering the product remaining is a watering mix hazardous and low radiation product.
Radiation is no more than one would experience in a medical test that is ready for treatment. The TSCR can do 7,200 gallons per day. And thus, there was over 300 gallons sitting in a feed tank today. The nature of this product has been generally not vitrified. Last summer, I was exposed to non-cost studies of vitrification versus grouting, the name used for that. And grouting is the name used for the concrete process, but I underscore a misnomer, because it is confounded with just covering waste with concrete and not immobilizing as Perma-Fix would do. These studies were completed in December of 2021 by Laura Cree, who works for Washington River Protection Systems, the Hanford tank plant contractor in charge of maintaining the tank waste. This crew chose to use 1 million gallon samples for each mode of treatment.
For grouting, I will use, all waste was treated, and there was no secondary waste. No heat issues. There is no diesel, copious amounts of water or hazardous chemical. The process is environmentally correct . The data is pre-used was supplied by Savannah, which as stated, they have been grouting for years. Grouting is one-tenth the cost of vitrifying. Savannah has one reactor. So, it’s been argued that their hazardous waste is more homogeneous. While at Hanford, there were a number of reactors and thus a multitude of hazardous waste to treat. Perma-Fix has stated that it can or have streamed the hazards of waste listed in the 170 tanks. Dr. Jim Conto who has a PhD in geochemistry and is well-known nationally states, there should be no issue in treating a multitude of hazardous waste.
