John Conway, the defense board's chairman, said the panel is worried about the number of mistakes by operators in moving the fuel in the basin and in removing the moisture from the MCOs' interiors. Fuel that workers are dealing with now is some of the easiest to move, which only adds to the board's worries, Conway said. The underwater cylinders holding the K West fuel are mostly intact and capped at the ends. Much of the K East Basin's fuel is in open-ended cylinders with the fuel corroding and falling apart, so collecting it will be more difficult. The learning curve is steep, and improvements are very apparent.
Mistakes are only part of the board's concerns, however.
Conway echoed criticism voiced earlier by the EPA about the pace of moving the MCOs. The K West Basin might move 100 to 200 tons in 2001 at its current pace. That would leave about 1,000 tons, which would all have to be moved in 2002 to stay on schedule. However, Fluor plans to drastically accelerate its pace later this year by a combination of factors, Van Leuven said. A few weeks ago, Fluor submitted its new acceleration plan to DOE for approval.