Page 3 - SRNS Today August 2021

OCTOBER 2021 | SRNS TODAY | 3

Engineering innovation in Tritium

Facility results in $18.8M saved

RNS engineers saved $18.8 million on a project to replace
outdated X-ray systems with digital radiography equipment
S in the Savannah River Tritium Enterprise’s H Area New “We determined digital radiography equipment could be
Manufacturing (HANM) Facility. They achieved this by creatively installed outside gloveboxes. This eliminates the need
developing a new approach to the reservoir inspection process, while for open glovebox maintenance, which: is expensive,
staying within NNSA requirements. can require planning years in advance, results in work
SRS is the only place that prepares and ships tritium-loaded stoppage and can introduce radiation contamination risk.”
containers, called reservoirs, to the Department of Defense, where Charles Bell
they are installed in weapons. Before operators can pack a reservoir
for shipping, the reservoir weld must pass an inspection that ensures
it is operationally ready for use by the military. Operators typically
use an X-ray system installed within a glovebox to capture images
of a reservoir weld on film, but this outdated inspection method
introduced unnecessary risks to carrying out the NNSA tritium which: is expensive, can require planning years in advance, results
mission that supports the nation’s nuclear deterrent. in work stoppage and can introduce radiation contamination
risk. It’s possible to take this approach without worry of radiation
“Purchasing X-ray film for reservoir weld inspections is increasingly a contamination or tritium escaping by modifying the reservoir
risk to our success in carrying out this national security mission,” said inspection process.”
Russ Warfield, SRNS Project Coordinator. “In the U.S., there has been
a significant transition away from X-ray film to digital radiography. In the past, the reservoir weld was examined for operational
This could lead to film supply issues for the work we do at SRS in purposes while the reservoir was still in the glovebox, and then it
the future, and secondly, continuing to purchase and store film is not was decontaminated for removal. Now, engineers have determined
cost effective.” that operators can first examine the reservoir for safety purposes,
decontaminate it and then remove it for operational inspection.
Digital radiography produces an image on a computer, allowing
operators to inspect the reservoir weld and save the image without “Installing digital radiography equipment outside gloveboxes led to
needing to print and physically store it. In developing the transition further cost savings,” said Warfield. “This approach requires only
plan, engineers identified several other benefits and cost savings one digital radiography machine, as opposed to three. Initially, digital
associated with this approach. radiography equipment was going to be installed on three finishing
lines in HANM, but because of the inspection process modification,
“We determined digital radiography equipment could be installed reservoirs ready for weld inspection are transported to a common
outside gloveboxes,” said Charles Bell, then-SRNS HANM Operations digital radiography machine.”
Manager. “This eliminates the need for open glovebox maintenance,
This innovative approach resulted in cost savings of $18.8 million
spread over eight years, the original amount of time engineers
Tritium facilities at SRS thought the project would require when it began in October 2020.
Engineers now project that they will complete the digital radiography
equipment installation and inspection process modifications in
November 2022, a significant time reduction.
“I continue to be inspired by the innovation coming from the team
executing NNSA’s tritium mission,” said Jason Armstrong, NNSA
Savannah River Field Office Manager. “SRS is delivering on our
commitments to ensure a vital national security need continues to be
met, and we are doing so safely, efficiently and cost effectively.”
SRNS Senior Vice President – NNSA Operations and Programs Mark
Davis said, “A key goal for SRS is to ensure we have the ability to
safely and effectively provide components for the nation’s nuclear
stockpile. This project allows us to avoid significant outages to our
production schedule, realize substantial cost savings and modernize
equipment, all while maintaining a posture of readiness as the
backbone of deterrence in support of peace.”