EM Update Newsletter Spotlights River Corridor Cleanup at Hanford Site

RICHLAND, Wash. – In this issue of the EM Update newsletter, EM marks the many accomplishments the Richland Operations Office and its contractors have achieved in cleanup along the Columbia River corridor at the Hanford Site. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the River Corridor Closure Contract, the nation’s largest environmental cleanup closure project, managed by Washington Closure Hanford. The work has involved projects to clean up existing contamination and waste sites near the river, preventing contamination from reaching it, and cocooning or demolishing hundreds of structures no longer in use, including former reactors along the river that helped create materials for the U.S. nuclear weapons program.

Successful River Corridor Contractor Completes Extra Work Scope, Saving DOE $300 Million

RICHLAND, Wash. – The River Corridor Closure Contract team can take pride in the progress of cleanup along Hanford Site’s River Corridor.

   Managed by contractor Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) for EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL), the project takes place in a 220-square-mile section of the Hanford Site, extending from the 300 Area near the city of Richland along the Columbia River for nearly 50 miles.

   The team has demolished 324 buildings, remediated 572 waste sites, and transported 11.5 million tons of contaminated material away from the river for compliant disposal in the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF), the onsite landfill for the majority of Hanford cleanup waste.

   "We have made tremendous cleanup progress along Hanford’s Columbia River corridor,” RL Manager Stacy Charboneau said. “The success of this contract can be attributed to the dedication to performance, safety, and quality of the WCH workforce and the DOE team by delivering this project ahead of schedule and under budget.” 

  The DOE awarded a $1.9 billion contract to WCH in 2005. Since then, DOE’s largest environmental cleanup closure project has completed nearly $1 billion in additional work scope while saving the Department more than $300 million. 

   The additional work performed by WCH was mainly remediation of new waste sites and facilities and buildings discovered during the project. Additionally, more extensive contamination was found in many areas, requiring significantly more remediation than originally planned. 

   The increase in work scope resulted in an increase to the contract’s target cost to $2.9 billion. The $300 million in cost savings are based on the actual cost to perform the work compared to the target cost. WCH achieved the cost savings by efficiently planning and executing the work, developing more efficient methods, and applying lessons learned as work proceeded.

   DOE provided WCH one additional year to its 10-year, $2.9 billion contract to continue remediation work, including work on a major waste site — the 618-10 Burial Ground — re-vegetating cleaned up sites along the river with native plants, and continuing operations of the ERDF to support cleanup across the site.

   “The cleanup accomplishments and success of this contract overall are due to a teamwork approach by our employees, DOE customer, local communities, and regulators alike,” said Scott Sax, WCH president and project manager. “We take a lot of pride in knowing we are protecting and restoring the Columbia River.” 

"We have made tremendous cleanup progress along Hanford’s Columbia River corridor”

-- EM Richland Operation Office Manager Stacy Charboneau

Subcontracting Goals Benefit Hundreds of Businesses in Community

   WCH issued about 89 percent of its work scope to subcontractors, exceeding its challenging subcontract goals that call for approximately 60 percent of the scope to go to subcontractors. WCH has awarded more than $1.4 billion in subcontract awards to small businesses.

A recent photo of the N Reactor in its cocooned state looks sharply different than it did in 2005.

Extensive Success Despite Challenges

   The workforce faced many cleanup challenges. Preparing for unknown risks and hazards became commonplace.

   Workers recovered nearly 100 pieces of spent nuclear fuel from waste sites near the river; more drums were unearthed containing pyrophoric materials than were anticipated; more than 600 concrete-lined drums containing highly contaminated liquids were recovered; several chromium waste sites reached groundwater at a depth of 85 feet; workers removed unexploded ordinance from a former Hanford firing range; and contamination was discovered below a former research facility. 

   Despite hazards and challenges, the River Corridor team has performed its work with a strong safety record; no recordable lost-day injuries have occurred in the past three years. WCH and its subcontractors reached 6.3 million safe hours in December. 

Washington Closure Hanford: Ten Years of River Corridor Cleanup

This timeline shows contractor Washington Closure Hanford's accomplishments over the past 10 years through its River Corridor Closure Contract.

River Corridor Work Creates Legacy of Success in Cleanup of Nation’s Plutonium Production

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Columbia River flows through the Hanford Site for approximately 50 miles. Nine reactors were built along its southern shore during World War II and the Cold War to produce plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

   The 300 Area, an industrial section, was built along the river near the city of Richland. There, more than 20 million pieces of uranium fuel were fabricated for Hanford’s reactors. Research on reactor operations and spent fuel reprocessing was conducted in smaller reactors and chemical laboratories.

   Altogether, more than 500 facilities were built to support plutonium operations in the 220-square-mile area known as the River Corridor. When the Cold War ended, plutonium production left a legacy of more than 1,000 sites with buried waste and soil contaminated by discharges from facilities and reactors.

   Several square miles of groundwater were contaminated with chemicals such as hexavalent chromium and radioactive material such as strontium and uranium. In the early 1990s, EM, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Washington State Department of Ecology set out to clean up along the river with a bias for action, resulting in the removal of sources of contamination — buildings and waste sites — and construction of the first systems for pumping and treating contaminated groundwater to slow the movement of contamination toward the river.

   Officials identified and workers began remediation of waste sites that contributed to groundwater contamination. The greatest potential hazard to the public in the River Corridor was 2,300 tons of corroding spent nuclear fuel stored in leak-prone basins in two reactors. The fuel was removed from the K-East and K-West reactors by 2004.

   By 2005, five of the nine reactors were “cocooned,” which involved cleaning and tearing down dozens of support facilities and demolishing the reactors down to the shield walls around the graphite core. This work set the stage for Hanford’s most successful cleanup and closure contract, the River Corridor Closure Contract, which created a legacy of success for the Richland Operations Office, EM, and the greater DOE.

Contractors Cleaned Up Most of Hanford Site's River Corridor, But Work Remains

The inset photo shows Hanford’s 300 Area in 1982 in comparison to the area today, shown in the larger image.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington Closure Hanford and previous contractors have completed much of the cleanup work in the River Corridor.

   They demolished more than 500 facilities, remediated approximately 1,000 waste sites, and cocooned all but three reactors, with one — the B Reactor — preserved as a National Historic Landmark. More than 16 million tons of cleanup debris have been transported away from the river to Hanford Site’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility for low-level waste. Treatment systems to remove contamination from groundwater were installed, and they will operate until cleanup levels are met.

   Work remains for other contractors in years ahead, including remediation of two burial grounds with radioactive and chemical waste from Hanford’s research facilities in the 300 Area. A highly radioactive waste site found under the 324 Building, a former chemical laboratory, is set to be remediated, and the building will be demolished.

   Also in the 300 Area, EM's Richland Operations Office and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company are set to install a treatment system, called sequestration, to bind uranium contamination in the deep soil that meets groundwater, reducing the migration of uranium to the groundwater. In the K Reactors Area, approximately 27 cubic meters, or 35 cubic yards, of radioactive sludge is set to be removed from a reactor basin and placed in storage. Plans call for removal of the sludge, cocooning of the K-East and K-West reactors, demolishing remaining building, and remediating waste sites near the reactors.

River Corridor Achievements

Washington Closure Hanford and previous contractors have completed much of the cleanup work in the River Corridor, shown here.

EM Richland Operations Office Manager Reflects on River Corridor's Safe, Successful Cleanup

EM Richland Operations Office Manager Stacy L. Charboneau

Conducting Work Safely is Greatest Accomplishment, Manager Says 

RICHLAND, Wash. – This month, Stacy L. Charboneau marks her first year as manager of EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL), responsible for management and oversight of cleanup of the 586-square-mile Hanford Site. With more than 20 years of work experience at Hanford managing projects involving safety, nuclear operations, construction, environmental remediation, and deactivation and demolition, Charboneau previously served as RL’s deputy manager, assistant manager for safety and environment, deputy assistant manager for River Corridor cleanup, and facility representative, among other roles. She recently talked with EM Update about the approaching completion in 2016 of EM’s contract with Washington Closure Hanford, called the River Corridor Closure Contract. Recognized as the nation’s largest environmental cleanup closure project, the work involved hundreds of projects designated to clean up existing contamination and waste sites near the Columbia River, preventing that contamination from reaching the river, and cocooning or demolishing structures no longer in use.

1. Of all the work that has been done on the River Corridor, what would you say is the greatest accomplishment?

   That’s actually a tough question because so much good work has been done on this project. Even though we’ve successfully cleaned up hundreds of facilities and waste sites in an area larger than the city of Chicago, our greatest accomplishment is that this work was done safely. We accomplished the cleanup of large industrial, radiological, and chemical facilities, and waste sites safely — most recently, 6 million hours of work completed without a lost workday due to injury. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment and a testament to the dedication and quality of our workers at Hanford.

2. How does the successful work DOE has performed on Hanford's River Corridor project better position Richland for cleanup successes in other areas of the Hanford Site?

   Success tends to create a culture of success, which is a good culture for our workers, regulators, and stakeholders to share. It’s important that we continue to demonstrate that we can make progress on our large and challenging projects and reduce risk in the EM program.  Richland has a substantial amount of cleanup left, and we need to accomplish that work efficiently and cost effectively. The successes of this project show that we are a good investment. We’ll be able to use the credibility and confidence we’ve built with stakeholders and regulators as we tackle the next cleanup challenges in the Central Plateau.

The inset photo shows the F Reactor Area during plutonium production operations, and the larger image shows an aerial view of the same area today.

3. More broadly, what lessons can EM take from the work done at the River Corridor and apply to other cleanup sites?

   Continuous focus on the work and people, and making sure we are accomplishing that work safely, instead of too much focus on cost and schedule, is a lesson from the River Corridor Closure Project. 

   One thing that has been different about the River Corridor cleanup is that we started this huge project — a 220-square-mile area — with a strong bias for action. We had early agreements with regulators that as long as we had enough information to perform work safely and dispose of the waste compliantly, the projects could proceed while being protective of the human health and the environment.  For EM, the lessons are having a strong vision with well-defined metrics or success factors, a well-defined end point, plans that are flexible, and good contracting tools.   

4. What role did the type of contract Washington Closure Hanford has play in the successful performance of work on the River Corridor? Are there contracting lessons EM could take and apply to other sites?

   The contract we have with Washington Closure Hanford is a cost-plus-incentive fee (CPIF) contract. In that kind of contract you do cost sharing with the contractor, so it is important to have a good definition of scope and quantities, built-in flexibilities, and understood hazards. It allowed for us to incentivize the contractor to perform work safely and benefit taxpayers as well. CPIF is a very good tool for completing this work in the most cost-effective manner. We’ll be looking at the success of this contract as we begin the process for the next round of big contracts at Hanford.

5. You’re now looking ahead to the next phase of cleanup at RL, which is focused on the site’s Central Plateau. What are the key projects and activities for this phase of cleanup?

   We have a number of activities and work to do in the Central Plateau, and first and foremost is completing demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, which is the highest hazard facility at Hanford.

   We’ll use the knowledge gained as we continue preparations for the demolition of the numerous canyon facilities in the Central Plateau.

   We also have cesium and strontium capsules that we need to put in long-term interim safe storage. There are 100 million curies of activity in nearly 2,000 capsules. It’s a high-hazard activity. 

   We will also continue with our extensive groundwater treatment, and expanding capacities and capabilities of our 200 West Pump and Treat Facility. We will be preparing the T Plant for storage of sludge that will come up from the 100 K Area. We will continue with safe storage of waste in our Central Waste Complex. As the “landlord of Hanford,” we will continue to maintain infrastructure and provide site services, securities and safeguards for the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection. We will also continue planning and actions for expanding future land uses like the newly created Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

   We have established a new vision which encompasses all of this work, and we are using this vision to guide our next phase of contract acquisitions. We have a long way to go and many challenges ahead, but we intend to continue demonstrating a legacy of success.

Institute Recognizes Washington Closure Hanford as International Award Finalist

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Project Management Institute (PMI) honored Hanford Site contractor Washington Closure Hanford (WCH) as a finalist for the international Project of the Year Award.

   WCH and the River Corridor team were recognized for their cleanup progress in this PMI-produced video. 

   “This was a very special honor for me to attend the PMI Global Congress award ceremony on behalf of our amazing team at Washington Closure Hanford,” said Scott Sax, president and project manager. “Our highly skilled and efficient workers have made tremendous progress and I am humbled to be a part of this fantastic team.” 

   WCH qualified for the competition by winning the local Project of the Year award from the PMI Columbia River Basin Chapter in March.  

   "Tremendous progress has been made in cleaning up the Columbia River Corridor area of the Hanford Site due to WCH's dedication to performance, safety and quality in delivering this project ahead of schedule and under budget," said Stacy Charboneau, manager of EM’s Richland Operations Office. 

   WCH and the other two finalists were introduced at the Global Congress 2015 award event. The winner was the El Segundo Drum Reliability Project in Los Angeles, Calif.  

   “To accomplish so much under the challenging conditions they face every day is a tribute to the project management tools and skills our workforce applied to their work every day,” Sax said. “These tools and a teamwork approach by our employees, DOE customer, local communities and regulators alike, played a key role in our clean up successes.”

Pump-and-Treat Systems Prove Effective, Deliver Cost Savings in Groundwater Cleanup

CH2M operates five pump and treat facilities along the Columbia River for EM's Richland Operations Office.

RICHLAND, Wash. – In conjunction with Washington Closure Hanford removing sources of contamination, including soil and facilities, the primary line of defense protecting the Columbia River is an extensive groundwater treatment system. The system includes five pump-and-treat facilities and a network of more than 2,000 wells to extract, inject and monitor groundwater.

   Combining proven science and innovative applications, EM’s Richland Operations Office and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) have significantly reduced hexavalent chromium groundwater contamination near the Columbia River.   

   Water from the aquifer is pumped through the wells and piped to the pump-and-treat facilities, where contaminants are removed through an ion exchange that relies on tiny resin beads, resembling cornmeal, packed into large tanks or columns. As the water travels through the columns, hexavalent chromium ions cling to the resin beads and are removed from the water.

Ion exchange columns in the 100-DX Pump-and-Treat facility.

   Hexavalent chromium entered the groundwater during reactor operations. Its source, sodium dichromate, a chemical used as a corrosion inhibitor, was added to the river water to cool Hanford’s reactors. The contaminant leaked or was discharged into the soil.

   In 2012, CH2M upgraded the pump-and-treat systems with a new, technologically advanced resin requiring fewer resin changes, avoiding more than 1,500 changes at a cost of $10,000 each — saving more than $15 million to date. 

   By optimizing the flow rates and planning the well locations, CH2M has operated the pump-and-treat facilities at 120 percent of their capacity. They removed 257 kilograms of hexavalent chromium in fiscal year 2015.

Contributors

Peter Bengtson, Hanford Site

Michael Nartker, EM Headquarters

David Sheeley, EM Headquarters

Geoff Tyree, Hanford Site

Kurt Workman, Hanford Site