DescriptionPhoto No. ERDA-72-9444 Office of Public Affairs Photo Office HIGH-LEVEL WASTE STORAGE TANKS The 30 high-level radioactive waste storage tanks at the Energy Research and Development Administration’s Savannah River Plant in South Carolina are built of carbon steel, surrounded by concrete encasements two to three feet thick, set about 40 feet in the ground and back-covered with dirt. They store wastes generated at the Savannah River Plant. Each has a capacity of from 750,000 to 1,300,000 gallons and evaporators have been used since the early 1960s to change the liquid to salt cakes to reduce volume. Most tanks are also equipped with cooling_coil assemblies to remove heat produced by radioactive decay of fission pro ducts in the waste. This is a schematic drawing of a tank showing air inlet and exhaust for cooling purposes and also indicating space between primary and secondary steel tank liners.
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