EM Update | Vol. 7, Issue 6 | June 2015

EM Employees Engage in Interactive Workshop on Contract, Project Management Improvements

EM Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney gives the keynote address at the Contract and Project Management Workshop.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - EM employees from across the DOE complex met at the Contract and Project Management Workshop this past month to focus on continuous improvements in planning and execution of contracts and projects.

   More than 80 employees attended the event, which took place at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C. It served as an opportunity for federal procurement directors, contracting officers, project directors, operations activities managers, along with their staffs and other participants, to hear briefings by EM leaders and participate in panel discussions.

   EM Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney and Acquisition and Project Management Deputy Assistant Secretary Jack Surash discussed how EM can continue to better align EM and its contractors with contracts and projects. Later, several panels held interactive discussions with the participants, who asked questions about EM’s various contract types and how to enhance contract and project management. Speakers also gave scenario-based presentations on topics such as managing firm and fixed-price contracts.

   “The contracting actions and improvements that we’ve made, I think are impressive,” said Whitney.

The workshop was interactive, allowing participants to ask questions throughout the event.

   Whitney covered EM’s recent emphasis on looking at a variety of contract types, including fixed-price contracts, to determine the optimal contracting strategy for specific scopes of work. 

   In the past, cost-reimbursement contracts included broad descriptions of work outcomes and allowed for contracting fees in addition to a target cost.

   The use of fixed-price contracts has greatly benefited EM by providing clear identification of the work capacity for projects upfront and holding the contractor to a firm price with profit and overhead included.

   Fixed-price contracts are commonly awarded by EM contracting officers in instances in which services can be objectively defined in a statement of work and risks involved in a project can be estimated.

   EM’s goal is to closely align taxpayer and contractor interests to ensure the best value for taxpayers.

   A discussion on partnerships between contractors and site managers was a highlight of the forum. Participants stressed that partnering is a foundation for progress at all EM sites and a major component of successful communication between both groups.

   “We issued the (partnering) policy in July 2010, and it took off from there,” Surash told attendees.

   The policy calls for agreements for team efforts from both sides to effectively improve performance and abide by the mutual goals and commitments of the contract. It encourages shared visions and collaboration to address issues.

   “The best way for DOE to be successful is for our contractors to be successful,” Surash said.

   EM officials said maintaining communication and following through with components of partnering agreements is believed to be the best way to carry out and expedite EM’s cleanup.

   “Contracts we have in place will really allow us to do this work, and with the talent we have in the field, we will be successful,” Whitney said.

Hanford Site Inspections Give Four Cocooned Reactors Clean Bill of Health

 A radiation control technician surveys the radiation levels in the basement level of the F Reactor.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers at the Hanford Site took a step back in time as they removed welds from the doors and entered four of the site’s cocooned reactors for required inspections.

   The C, D, H and N reactors recently passed their check-up, with workers finding nothing amiss after inspecting what remains of each them. 

   The inspections give the EM Richland Operations Office Long-Term Stewardship (LTS) team an opportunity to conduct structural and radiological surveys, identify needed repairs, and remove any hazardous substances. Workers with Richland Operations Office contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) found the reactors to be in good shape and almost identical to the last time they were inspected.

A safety team enters the H-Reactor for its initial safety evaluation and to verify conditions.

   As part of the Tri-Party Agreement, DOE and the LTS program complete surveillance and maintenance activities of cocooned reactors periodically to evaluate the structural integrity of their safe storage enclosures and to ensure confinement of any remaining hazardous materials. Completion of the reactor inspections means the LTS program safely and successfully achieved its fiscal year 2015 performance incentive.  

   “I believe that MSA’s strategic approach to combine reactor entries gained considerable efficiencies and will help DOE manage the long-term requirements for these structures,” LTS Program Lead Randy Krekel said.

Structural engineers evaluate the integrity of the roofline structure in the F Reactor.

The 105N/109N Reactor was called a dual purpose reactor in that it not only produced plutonium for America’s defense program, but it also generated electricity. It was the only reactor of its kind in the country. The reactor block is on the right and the steam generator is on the left.

   The LTS program has now inspected five reactors this fiscal year. In October 2014, workers inspected the F Reactor and had similar findings. The remaining cocooned reactor, the DR Reactor, was inspected in 2013.

   The plan is to monitor the reactors every few years for up to 75 years to allow radioactivity to decay to more manageable levels before final disposition.

   “I would like to recognize the Long-Term Stewardship team for their hard work and diligence, which will ensure the safety of our cocooned reactors now and in the future,” MSA President Bill Johnson said.

   With the inspections complete, the reactor doors have been re-sealed until the next entry period. The results from the recent inspections will be summarized and submitted to DOE later this year.

Cleanup Performance Prompts Contract Changes at Hanford’s River Corridor

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office has added an additional year to the current River Corridor Closure contract held by Washington Closure Hanford (WCH). 

   The contract will now run to Sept. 30, 2016, focusing primarily on completing the trench work at the 618-10 Burial Ground and placing the Chemical Materials Engineering Laboratory (Building 324) in a stable surveillance and maintenance mode until future demolition. Operations of the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, Hanford’s on-site landfill, will also continue.

   “Washington Closure’s progress to date in safely cleaning up Hanford’s 220-square-mile River Corridor made the decision to continue their work at Hanford an easy one,” Richland Operations Office Manager Stacy Charboneau said.

   WCH’s progress includes safely cleaning up more than 534 waste sites, demolishing over 323 buildings, and placing two plutonium-production reactors in interim safe storage along the Columbia River.

“This new target completion date will enable Washington Closure’s experienced workforce to complete additional work along Hanford’s 220-square-mile river corridor while protecting the Columbia River,” said WCH President Scott Sax.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Launches Cleanup and Demolition Project

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Old Town area.

BERKELEY, Calif. – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory authorized this month a small business joint venture to begin a deactivation and demolition project in an area here known as Old Town.

   Dynamic Management Solutions, LLC (DMS), a venture between Savage Logistics and NorthStar Federal Services, was granted a notice to proceed with the work at seven facilities covering about 27,000 square feet in this area of Lawrence Berkeley, which is part of DOE’s network of national laboratories.

   The project includes demolition of three buildings and floor slabs, including a chemistry annex built in the 1940s that provided expanded research laboratory space for housing radioactive substances; an industrial and scientific research facility; and an associated storage facility.

Site boundary fencing wraps around the Old Town work area for the cleanup project.

   DMS also will remove four floor slabs from buildings demolished in 2011. One of those buildings housed a model of the Bevatron, which was among the world’s leading particle accelerators. It operated until 1993.

   Once building demolition and slab removal is complete, workers will clean up contaminated soil under and adjacent to the slabs and restore the area for future DOE mission use.

Innovative, Safer Alternatives Improve Environmental Sampling at Savannah River Site

An innovative computerized process now used at SRS allows for highly efficient management of environmental sampling information. SRNS Environmental Monitoring Program Field Technician Rebecca Sturdivant checks the calibration of a flowmeter installed near a small stream at SRS.

AIKEN, S.C. – Dr. Ruth Patrick was a visionary in environmental monitoring.

   Patrick began collecting samples from plants, soil, and sources of fresh water in the early 1950s to determine the impact of radioactive contamination on the environment at the Savannah River Plant, now called the Savannah River Site (SRS). 

   “Today, SRS continues Dr. Patrick’s legacy through methodical data collection and an improved monitoring system that collects and transmits data via cell towers to SRS employees for display,” DOE-Savannah River Infrastructure and Environmental Stewardship Assistant Manager Angelia Adams said.

   Amy Meyer, environmental compliance manager with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), EM’s management and operations contractor at SRS, noted that in the past, SRNS technicians often walked through fields and forests to reach monitoring stations scattered across the 310-square-mile site to collect environmental samples and sampling data.

   “Environmental data can be instantly and automatically gathered from locations throughout the Savannah River Site onto a dedicated computer server,” Meyer explained. “It makes our job safer and considerably more cost effective. To see the information, we simply open our dedicated website and use the computer interface provided to review each stream of data.” 

Dr. Ruth Patrick was working as a consultant at the Savannah River Plant when the Atomic Energy Commission asked her to assess the ecological status of the Savannah River due to the nearby production of nuclear materials.

   Storm water monitoring enhancements include immediate text notifications of rain events and wireless startup of automated samplers where South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control permits require sampling to be performed within 30 minutes of rain flow. Field technicians now spend about 25 percent less personnel hours gauging and waiting for rain and flow events. 

   To date, this initiative has resulted in a significant annual cost avoidance.

   “The cost avoidance in personnel hours saved alone is impressive,” Meyer said.

   Meyer also points to the reduction in risk for affected employees. It’s not unusual for an SRNS technician to encounter a hazard while walking to a storm water monitoring station located in a creek, stream, runoff collection basin, or some other body of water. Potential exposure to snakes, alligators, feral hogs, bees, and tripping hazards can all be minimized using remote monitoring.

   This innovative and computerized process allows for the highly efficient management of sampling information while reducing errors attributed to the entry of handwritten data. In addition, the new system provides enhanced data integrity, faster data availability, and increased productivity.

   Patrick studied pollution’s effect on streams long before it became a recognized need.

   “We owe an immense debt to her. She was known around the world for her research in stream health. In fact, she established the baseline for this region,” Meyer said. “She was an amazing woman, a real pioneer in her field.”

   SRNS environmental personnel are currently studying other methods to expand their computerized environmental data collection and display system, further building on the work of Patrick.

From Silver to Lead, SRS Turns Trash to Treasure

JD Hope (left) and Kevin Carr, with SRNS Regulatory Integration and Environmental Services, prepare a container of fluorescent tubes for recycling at the SRS Recycling Center.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s contractor for the nuclear cleanup at the Savannah River Site (SRS) operates a robust recycling program that allows for the reuse of precious metals, electronics, scrap metal, and shell casings from trainings for the site’s security force.

   In fiscal year 2014, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) recycled $1.4 million of precious metals through DOE’s Business Center for Precious Metals Sales and Recovery at the Oak Ridge site in Tennessee. Additionally, the contractor recycled more than 115,000 pounds of electronics, over 970,000 pounds of scrap metal, and approximately 13,000 pounds of spent shell casings. In all, the SRNS Excess Recycle Program collected 568 tons of recyclable materials, an amount on pace with previous fiscal years.

   “For most employees across the U.S., collecting aluminum cans and discarded paper in containers for recycling can be routine,” DOE-Savannah River Community Assistance Program Manager Parodio Maith said. “However, employees at SRS recycle a wide range of items and materials. This is just one of many ways we are working hard to protect the environment at this site.”

   Silver is one of the precious metals recovered at several SRS facilities where photographic film is processed. The spent photographic fixative, a liquid used to process film, contains high levels of silver.

   A device that separates the silver from the remaining chemicals uses an ionizing process to exchange iron for the silver, leaving the liquid non-hazardous and the silver ready to be shipped to the Oak Ridge recycling center. The last shipment from SRS contained 1,159 ounces of recovered silver.

   "Recycling materials reduces the amount of hazardous waste being generated, along with the expensive cost for disposal, and it also reduces the amount of new materials that would otherwise have been purchased," SRNS Regulatory Integration and Environmental Services J.D. Hope said.

   Other examples of SRS materials recycled last year include:

• More than 50,000 fluorescent tubes, mercury lamps, and other bulbs for lighting;
• Approximately 900 gallons of used anti-freeze, recycled on site for reuse in SRS heavy equipment, large trucks, and fleet vehicles;
• Over 11,600 gallons of used oil acquired by a regional power company for electricity;
• More than 35,000 pounds of lead-acid batteries; and
• Large quantities of aerosol cans, refrigerants, and lead.

Virtual Reality for Nuclear Material Handling

Training through use of virtual reality technology at Savannah River National Laboratory.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is applying a high-tech solution to complex and dangerous workforce training: virtual reality. 

   SRNL, which is EM’s national laboratory, is making it easier to understand complex facilities and tasks through the use of three-dimensional programs, reducing the risk of accidental exposure to employees. Much in the same way that pilots use flight simulators, SRNL is using this technology to help train the nuclear workforce.

   “The system works basically like a 3-D movie,” explained SRNL Principal Engineer John Bobbitt. “The difference is that the system can track movements and the operator can move through a facility and operate tools on the screen, just like you would in the real world.”

   SRNL’s 3-D virtual reality research is sponsored by the EM Office of Deactivation & Decommissioning and Facility Engineering Technology Development (TD) Program.

   The program’s primary goal for this research is to use 3-D imaging technology to construct virtual radiological components and facilities, and design specialized decommissioning tools to minimize or eliminate the need to have designers and technicians test devices in a hazardous environment.

   The 3-D virtual reality is currently being used for deactivation planning of the Savannah River Building 235-F Plutonium Fuel Form Facility glove boxes and process cells. The creation of 3-D virtual models of the glove boxes and process cells help the program to identify specialized deactivation tools that can be designed, tested, and trained prior to use.  

   Similar technology is used in military and recreational applications to train and experience conditions that approximate real situations.

   In creating the training system, researchers had to first convert two-dimensional drawings into a 3-D format.

   “This allows us to design custom tools to use in complex tasks. Also, instead of using scale models of facilities that take weeks to create, trainees can practice in a simulated environment that looks just like their workplace,” Bobbitt said.

   Through the use of virtual reality, SRNL is able to save time and money, while creating a safer work environment. Employees are able to practice complicated procedures before they’re needed and can experience “out of normal” events to help prepare for emergency response.

Grouting Begins on Next SRS Waste Tank

Cement trucks hauling specially-formulated grout are once again traversing SRS after grouting activities on Tank 16 began in June.

AIKEN, S.C. – Cement trucks hauling specially-formulated grout are once again traversing the Savannah River Site (SRS) after grouting activities on the next underground radioactive liquid waste storage tank began this month.

   DOE-Savannah River Manager Jack Craig said he is pleased to be able to begin his role as the site’s manager as SRS takes a significant step towards closing another tank.

   “Grouting this tank says a great deal about the partnerships necessary to close SRS waste tanks,” Craig said.

   Craig said the initial filling of Tank 16 with grout is the result of a strong and enduring partnership among DOE, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Savannah River Remediation (SRR), the liquid waste contractor for the EM program at SRS. 

   SRR has begun the grouting process in Tank 16, which would be the first of the Type II tanks to be closed. Type II tanks are among the oldest at the site, having been constructed between 1955 and 1956. This tank is 85 feet in diameter and has a storage capacity of approximately 1 million gallons. 

Workers at SRS monitor the grouting process of Tank 16.

   The primary tank sits in a nearly three-foot-thick, reinforced concrete vault with a five-foot-high annulus secondary pan, much like a cup and saucer arrangement. During its use, the annulus was designed to contain any leaks that may have developed in the primary tank wall. 

   Tank 16 underwent extensive removal activities that included waste material being pumped out, cleaning with specialized mechanical and chemical processes, and isolating the tanks from all systems.

   These activities were prerequisites leading to regulatory confirmation that the tank was cleaned to the maximum extent practical and ready for closure. Waste tank closure is accomplished through the placement of grout to fill the entire tank and all tank component voids. 

   The Federal Facility Agreement between DOE, EPA, and SCDHEC requires that Tank 16 be operationally closed by Oct. 27, 2015.

   This old-style tank will become the seventh tank operationally closed at the Site. The tanks closed to date include:

• Tanks 5 and 6, closed in 2013;
• Tanks 18 and 19, closed in 2012; and
• Tanks 17 and 20, closed in 1997. 

Innovative Idaho Site Crews Find Ways to Make Waste Retrieval Safer, More Efficient

Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project retrieval crews safely remove the final box from Pad 1, Cell 2 located in the Transuranic Storage Area Retrieval Enclosure. On the left, the original box was degraded and could not be retrieved intact, so crews removed its contents and overpacked them in three REBOX, which are large wooden containers. On the right, each of the three REBOXs were placed into Bull Run Soft-Sided Overpacks before being exported from the enclosure.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – It’s comparable in size to an aircraft, and it was once packed with above-ground transuranic waste.

   Years ago, the Idaho site’s Transuranic Storage Area-Retrieval Enclosure (TSA-RE) held an estimated 65,000 cubic meters of the waste, a variety of boxes and drums filled with contaminated clothing, tools, paper, and wood.

   Less than 2,800 cubic meters of the waste remain to be retrieved from the enclosure, which is part of the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project, managed and operated for the EM program by Idaho Treatment Group, a cleanup contractor.

   “Retrieval operations have made substantial progress over the years,” DOE-Idaho Retrieval Manager Mary Willcox said. “Today, less than 2,500 cubic meters remain to be retrieved from the final pad of waste in TSA-RE, and what remains is some of the most challenging waste to retrieve, the first step in the process that ends with waste being shipped out of Idaho.”

   Most of the waste was sent to the Idaho site from the now-closed Rocky Flats site near Denver from the late 1960s through the early 1970s.

   Located in a sophisticated retrieval contamination enclosure within TSA-RE, the remaining waste was the first to arrive from Rocky Flats. The structural integrity of the boxes and drums has declined due to being stored under an earthen berm for more than four decades, making retrieval a challenge.

   Over the past 36 months, crews have retrieved about 490 boxes and more than 9,700 drums, equivalent to nearly 3,610 cubic meters of waste. They retrieve a degraded box every two days using a methodical approach based on a careful balance of safety, compliance, and production. 

Pictured here is an Inner Contamination Enclosure (ICE). The yellow beam above the ICE is the cantilever system that is used to position the ICE over severely degraded containers.

   With a focus on continuous improvement, AMWTP’s retrieval crews have retrieved the waste safely and compliantly. They also have enhanced the retrieval process, improving safety and efficiency, by developing innovative techniques, including: 

• Controlling contamination through expanded use of point-source ventilation, which is ductwork that can be pointed at a specific item to ensure airborne contamination from the item is caught at the source and is removed from the work area;  
• Use of the Retrieval REBOX, a large wooden box used to hold degraded barrels and contain contamination, instead of metal boxes previously used. The REBOX is easily broken apart, versus shredding the metal boxes, which reduces wear and tear in the treatment facility; 
• A second Inner Contamination Enclosure (ICE) and a cantilever system designed by an AMWTP Engineer allows the ICE to be moved easier, faster, and with more precision to maintain the schedule for retrieving severely degraded boxes. The cantilever system positions the ICE, a mobile facility, over the degraded containers to contain contamination;
• The Box Retrieval Forklift Carriage, designed by employees, handles degraded boxes safely; 
• Process changes in radiological controls. With the significant amount of waste being retrieved, radiological controls crews have considerable real-time data to refine their approach to working in the radiological environment; and 
• The Bull Run Soft-Sided Overpack replaced heavy, metal cakebox overpacks to provide a safer and more efficient way to overpack degraded boxes.

Analytical Laboratory Reopens at Paducah Site

Sara Ledgerwood and Cindy Schneider, FPDP scientists, use advanced equipment to analyze and characterize samples from the project for metals concentration.

PADUCAH, Ky. – The Analytical Laboratory at EM’s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site recently reopened to support the new deactivation mission to prepare the site for future decontamination and decommissioning.

   The laboratory operated for more than 60 years until it was closed after commercial uranium enrichment operations at the site ceased in 2013. Prior to its closure, the facility performed 80,000 to 100,000 lab tests per year for metals, radioactive substances, and other chemical constituents.  

   EM contractor Fluor Federal Services, Inc. Paducah Deactivation Project (FPDP) recently initiated new procedures to support deactivation activities, such as removing deposits from the piping at the gaseous diffusion plant. The on-site laboratory and its staff of about 15 people will conduct metals and radiochemistry analyses to support uranium deposit removal.

   Reopening the on-site lab is intended to maximize opportunities to reduce off-site waste sampling, according to EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard.

   “Restarting the lab enables us to perform work here at the site related to the uranium deposit removal sampling so that we are more efficient, while giving us confidence that all applicable regulatory requirements are met,” Woodard said.

Mixing It Up

PADUCAH, Ky. – A 150-foot-tall crane turns an eight-foot-diameter auger performing deep-soil mixing at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant’s southwest groundwater plume. More than 260 borings are being made to a depth of about 60 feet to remove a source of trichloroethene groundwater contamination.

Contributors

Peter Bengtson, Hanford Site

Dean Campbell, Savannah River Site

Steve Christmas, Paducah Site

Patrick Conrad, Hanford Site

Lana Cox, Savannah River National Laboratory

Rick Dale, Idaho Site

Cameron Jenkins, EM headquarters

Tyler McGee, EM headquarters

Danielle Miller, Idaho Site

Paivi Nettamo, EM headquarters

Dylan Nichols, Paducah Site

David Sheeley, EM headquarters

DT Townsend, Savannah River Site