EM Update | Vol. 8, Issue 1 | Jan. 14, 2016

DOE Office of Environmental Management sent this bulletin at 01/14/2016 02:05 PM EST

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In This Issue:

Completing Salt Waste Processing Facility is an EM Priority, Key to SRS Cleanup
EM Headquarters Office Ensures Safeguards, Security, Emergency Preparedness
New Phase of Demolition Ramps Up at Paducah
EM, University of Nevada, Reno Team on “Packaging University”
Los Alamos Demolition Work Progresses Toward Goal of Completing Cleanup
Hanford Site Prepares for Completion of Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition
EM’s Defense Waste Processing Facility Achieves Waste Cleanup Milestone
SRNS Brings College Within Reach for Local Students through $50,000 Donation
Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council Gives Gifts to More Than 100 Children in Need

Completing Salt Waste Processing Facility is an EM Priority and Key to SRS Cleanup Progress

SRS employees and contractors gather to celebrate SWPF contractor Parsons' Star status, the highest recognition in the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). DOE launched VPP in 1994 to encourage and recognize excellence in occupational safety and health protection. The program outlines areas DOE contractors and subcontractors can exceed compliance with DOE orders and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. It relies on cooperation between managers, employees, and DOE to continuously improve health and safety programs.

AIKEN, S.C. – Cleanup of the Savannah River Site (SRS) is set to reach an important milestone in May with completion of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) construction. When operational, the facility will significantly increase the amount of high-level radioactive tank waste processed and prepared for disposition.

“Once SWPF is operational, we will truly have a complete, high-functioning system for managing the liquid waste stored in the SRS tanks,” said DOE Savannah River Operations Office Federal Project Director Pamela Marks. “The SWPF will allow DOE to separate the salt waste at a much higher capacity than current operations, standing alongside the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) and the Saltstone Facility and the other vital portions of the liquid waste mission at SRS. Completing this suite of facilities will help DOE finish the job earlier and more efficiently.”

Construction of SWPF is 94 percent complete.

Following construction, SWPF contractor Parsons enters the startup and commissioning phase, with radioactive operations set to start by the end of 2018.

“We've implemented a number of strategies to safely and efficiently accelerate the schedule, and we have seen very positive results over the past 30 months. Our focus on safety, as well as the emphasis we've placed on aligning our engineering, construction, and commissioning groups, has really put us in a position to succeed,” Parsons Vice President and SWPF Project Manager Frank Sheppard said. “Our goal is not to simply deliver a facility, but rather to successfully complete testing and commissioning of the facility and begin hot operations. Our big win here will be to provide a facility that is capable of processing all of the salt waste at the Savannah River Site within 10 to 15 years of hot operations.”

In October, the project successfully installed 36 devices to concentrate radioactive cesium in the liquid waste streams, reducing the volume of waste sent from SWPF to DWPF. The final major piece of engineered equipment known as the Closed Circuit Television system has undergone testing and will be delivered by March.

EM and Parsons ramped up staff anticipating early construction completion. Nearly 100 testing, commissioning, and plant operations employees are focused on developing tests to prepare SWPF operations. The workforce will complete a review emphasizing safety and work control procedures.

“This is an exciting time for the project, and we are putting a particular emphasis on maintaining our focus as we pivot from construction to commissioning,” Sheppard said.

EM Headquarters Office Ensures Safeguards, Security, Emergency Preparedness

A Centerra Protective Force employee uses a mirror to check the undercarriage of a transport trailer before it enters a Savannah River Site Limited Area.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Safeguards, Security and Emergency Preparedness has a unique function supporting the EM mission.

Its role assisting, assessing, and advocating for EM field sites is similar to the functions of the rest of EM headquarters. But the office differs with its focus on ensuring EM’s safeguards, security, and emergency preparedness. These areas are not traditionally associated with environmental management activities but they are critical due to the nature of the nuclear materials EM is responsible for cleaning up. Late last year, EM established fire protection and emergency preparedness — two of the office’s core functions — as safety focus areas for fiscal year 2016.

A major priority for the office is the security of EM sites. The office assesses all sites equally, maintaining its commitment to serve their needs regardless of size or perceived security conditions. All sites are included in the office’s Field Corporate Board meeting, where they have the opportunity to bring up important issues. The office’s staff members work with site counterparts to learn about the issues prior to the meeting to ensure focused discussions and issue resolution.

The office is developing a report on its fiscal year 2016 work that will help staff members benchmark their performance to improve their work assisting, assessing, and advocating for their field counterparts. Key to the report are lessons learned on preparing for and responding to emergency situations, such as hazardous material releases, and ensuring classified documents and materials are properly handled. The lessons learned are based on nearly two years of evaluations and assessments conducted at the sites to identify trends. Research revealed 12 lessons learned in emergency preparedness and six in the classification program. The office believes that sharing the results of evaluating a wide range of reports will help improve the EM cleanup.

New Phase of Demolition Ramps Up at Paducah

A heavy equipment operator uses a shear to move a large section of wall from the C-746-B warehouse during demolition.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Heavy equipment operators safely demolished the first of 12 inactive facilities set for removal in coming months as part of EM’s ongoing Paducah Site cleanup.

See a video of the demolition here.

More than 500 facilities will be addressed over the life of the cleanup, 32 of which have already been demolished. Most recently, EM deactivation contractor Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project (FPDP) completed demolition of the C-746-B warehouse.

Built in the 1960s, the 72,000-square-foot warehouse stored out-of-service equipment from past operations. Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and hazardous metals waste were removed from the warehouse prior to demolition for shipment to an off-site disposal facility. Forklifts, welders, piping, mills, lathes, and other equipment were among the nearly 38,000 cubic feet of material removed prior to demolition. The building’s removal kicked off the current inactive facilities demolition project that also includes a fuel oil storage tank, acid tanks, waste storage facilities, a 50-ton truck scale building, and smaller ancillary facilities.

An excavator, equipped with a grappler attachment, sorts through debris to be loaded into roll-off bins for disposition.

The 12 projects build on the site’s decontamination and decommissioning efforts that have so far resulted in demolition of facilities totaling nearly 400,000 square feet.

“We have initiated additional smaller demolition projects after safely finishing demolition of the C-410/C-420 Feed Plant complex in 2015,” Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard said. “Removing these 12 buildings will positively change the landscape of the site and further our goal of making the site safer by removing inactive structures before they deteriorate.”

An estimated 1,600 cubic yards of the demolition waste — enough to fill more than 1,000 pickup trucks — will be disposed at an on-site landfill.

Shane Reeder, FPDP demolition project manager, credits proper planning and a knowledgeable subcontractor workforce for the efficient start to the new demolition phase. Lessons learned from the site’s previous demolition activities helped FPDP to begin demolition on schedule.

EM, University of Nevada, Reno Team on “Packaging University”

Ron Hafner with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory lectures for a course in San Ramon, Calif. on packaging and trasporting radioactive material.

A burgeoning relationship between EM and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) is giving new depth and breadth to a program that trains students and nuclear industry professionals in packing and transporting radioactive material.

EM for years has been a primary source of safety education in the specialized field of radioactive material packaging, providing training to hundreds of government and industry professionals from the United States and overseas.

But in the upcoming spring semester, instruction is being taken to a new level.

Classes taught by EM trainers and experts from around the world are being offered as part of the UNR curriculum, listed in the university’s graduate course catalog after being approved for accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

“It’s a new marriage between us but already we’re seeing some dividends,” said EM’s Dr. James Shuler, program manager for the DOE Packaging Certification Program within EM's Office of Packaging and Transportation. He helped establish what’s been dubbed “Packaging University.”

The partnership grew from a conversation between Shuler and Dr. Miles Greiner, then acting dean of UNR’s Mechanical Engineering Department, at a 2013 conference of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. Shuler outlined his vision of a course of study accredited toward a formal certification in nuclear packaging.

“As soon as I heard he wanted that, I knew I wanted to do my part,” said Greiner, who has conducted research into nuclear packaging for more than 20 years and whose school runs a thriving College of Engineering.

“I think there are certain fields that are out there that don’t yet have a formalized educational component,” Greiner said. “People pick up pieces. They might learn it on the job. They might take certain classes. But now we are trying to determine a set of courses (on nuclear materials packaging) that might have both depth and breadth.”

The class photo for a 2015 course on safety analysis reports for packaging in Pleasanton, Calif.

EM classes were organized into a program of study that would qualify for accreditation. Intense one-week and two-week classes in varying topics will be held at EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory, and the Lawrence Livermore and Argonne national laboratories, which are part of DOE’s network of national laboratories.

For starters, six courses totaling eight credits are being offered through the program, including ones dealing with nuclear transportation security, quality assurance for radioactive material packaging, and management of safety analysis report preparation.

Other courses being formulated at Sandia and Oak Ridge national laboratories will grow the program to 11 credits.

Students can earn formal certification upon successful completion of the program. Those who enroll at UNR can apply the credits towards a graduate degree. For UNR’s part, the school is hopeful students will become exposed to the school’s research into engineering, and incorporate it into their work.

In addition to valuable instruction, the EM classes offer students exposure to DOE, its varied activities, and what it might offer to those interested in jobs in the complex, or even careers.

“One of the neat things about this is you get to go to Oak Ridge, you get to go to Argonne, to Livermore, to Savannah River, and Sandia and meet with some of the top people in the world who are teaching these courses,” Shuler said.

“Not only do you meet other people in that field when you go there but you get to see what is happening on the sites and learn a little bit about that,” he said. “So that by the time you finish you have a pretty good idea about DOE, you understand what DOE is, how it works. So you are not coming in cold, you are coming in ready to rock and roll as a sprinter, not a walker. When people see that, they really comment on it.”

Los Alamos Demolition Work Progresses Toward Goal of Completing Cleanup

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – A sewage treatment facility is among the latest buildings to be demolished at Technical Area 21 (TA-21), a pivotal Manhattan Project and Cold War site at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“The demolition work being done at TA-21 reflects the EM commitment to reduce risk and complete cleanup. We will continue to reach our target milestones in a safe manner and look forward to achieving our site goal,” Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) Manager Doug Hintze said.

Led by EM-LA, specialists from EM contractor Los Alamos National Security and subcontractor ARS International cleared a quarter acre of historic structures, preparing the land for the eventual transfer to Los Alamos County.

The sewage treatment facility before demolition.

Debris from the sewage treatment facility.

Site of the demolished sewage treatment facility.

The team employed a variety of deactivation and decommissioning procedures to demolish the sewage treatment facility and several outlying buildings, sand filter and sludge drying beds, and an outfall structure. An excavator and concrete breaker were used for much of the work, which took four weeks to complete.

Roofing materials with traces of asbestos were disposed at a permitted facility. Other materials were recycled and disposed as construction and demolition debris based on the results of a multi-agency radiation survey and materials and equipment assessment conducted before and during demolition.

Hanford Site Prepares for Completion of Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition

Employees cut apart a two-stories-high glove box from the top down so they can remove the structure piece by piece from the facility.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Work crews are nearly done preparing for the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) demolition, a major remediation project that reduces risk to human health and the environment and lowers lifecycle costs for the Hanford Site.

One of the last tasks before demolition is decontaminating the Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) canyon, which supported recovery of plutonium from waste produced at Hanford and other weapons production sites. The canyon once held 52 pencil-shaped tanks, the last of which was removed in April 2015. Leaks and spills throughout the facility’s operating life left the canyon contaminated with radiological and chemical hazards.

Hanford contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) and EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) collaborated to bring in technology to help focus decontamination efforts inside the large canyon. In September, the team deployed the GrayQb (pronounced Gray Cube) gamma radiation mapping device in the canyon. Because radioactive contamination cannot always be seen, the device gives clear vision to cleanup efforts, taking pictures that help locate contamination hot spots.

Four of the devices were mounted on a crane platform and transported to 10 locations for analysis at various elevations. Floors, walls, and ceilings were examined, and the data was collected to deploy decontamination workers to hotspots that need attention.

“In this field trial, the GrayQb proved to be a very useful tool in pinpointing contamination concerns,” SRNL Senior Technical Advisor Mike Serrato said. “This translates to a safer decontamination process and more efficient operation. This technology developed at SRNL can provide almost immediate information to researchers to more accurately quantify the radiological environment, and do so at a reduced cost and reduced risk to workers.”

The GrayQb hangs from a crane inside the PRF canyon. Made of a custom tungsten shield, digital camera, and a radiosensitive phosphor storage plate, the device contains no radiological source and does not require a power source to operate, making it less expensive and more flexible than traditional detection technologies.

Workers gather at the PRF canyon door during the deployment of the radiation mapping device.

The yellow, orange, and red in this image shows a concentration of radiological contamination on a structure used for hanging pencil tanks. It also shows the wall in this location is uniformly contaminated and that the staining does not contain concentrated amounts of contamination.

Along with cleaning the PRF canyon, crews have been cutting up and removing from PFP the last of two large, hazardous glove boxes. The final glove box is approximately two stories high and contains high levels of radiological contamination requiring workers to dress in pressurized suits adapted from the Idaho Cleanup Project and use supplied air to perform the work. Workers anticipate removing this glove box in the first quarter of this year.

“Crews are working on the last and one of the toughest glove boxes in the plant in terms of hazards, including chemical and radiological contamination,” EM Richland Operations Office Federal Project Director Tom Teynor said. “Our goal is safe, steady progress toward having the plant ready for demolition to start this spring.”

Crews are removing contaminated ventilation ducting and preparing the outside of the facility for demolition equipment and demolition debris load-out zones.

“The collaboration across the EM complex through lessons learned, technology, and teamwork is a testament to the importance of this major risk reduction,” said PFP Closure Project Vice President Mike Swartz. “We have the right teams, the right tools, and we will ensure the project continues with safety and compliance as the ultimate goal.”

PFP was the last stop of plutonium production at Hanford. Plutonium “buttons” made at PFP were shipped to other sites in the nation for weapons fabrication during the Cold War.

Demolition of PFP will remove a significant safety hazard, and is expected to start in March, with the goal of demolishing the entire complex in approximately six months.

EM’s Defense Waste Processing Facility Achieves Waste Cleanup Milestone

The Defense Waste Processing Facility.

AIKEN, S.C. – As EM’s Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) closed 2015, workers poured the 4,000th canister of radioactive glass, a major milestone for the robust facility.

What’s more, DWPF will mark 20 years of operation in 2016 supporting EM’s cleanup and risk reduction priorities.

DWPF, which poured the milestone canister on Dec. 31, is the nation’s largest operating vitrification facility, reliably treating the high-activity portion of legacy tank waste. Savannah River Remediation (SRR) operates DWPF and other liquid waste facilities as part of its SRS contract with EM.

The facility converts high-level radioactive liquid waste stored in 43 underground tanks at SRS into a solid glass form suitable for long-term storage and disposal. DWPF operations began in March 1996 and are expected to continue for approximately 20 additional years. DWPF is scheduled to produce about 8,500 canisters.

If 4,000 of the 10-feet tall, 2-feet wide canisters were laid end to end, they would stretch more than 7.5 miles, the distance of a roundtrip from the Pentagon to the U.S. Capitol.

If 4,000 of the 10-feet tall, 2-feet wide canisters were laid end to end, they would stretch more than 7.5 miles.

DOE-Savannah River Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Jim Folk said DWPF continues to provide safe, reliable canister production.

“The results of nearly 20 years of DWPF workhorse operation shows how well this facility operates,” Folk said. “Turning waste into glass continues to provide significant risk reduction for South Carolina.”

The 36 million gallons of tank waste awaiting disposition have about 253 million curies of radioactivity, of which the vast majority will be vitrified at DWPF. A curie is a measure of radioactivity.

SRR President and Project Manager Stuart MacVean said the milestone represents a key achievement in waste disposition for SRS and the nation.

“Successfully immobilizing waste in glass is a technology that is important for our country,” MacVean said. “Our work demonstrates radioactive liquid waste can be put into a safe form, ready for permanent disposal.”

The glassified waste canisters are safely stored onsite until a federal repository is established.

SRNS Brings College Within Reach for Local Students through $50,000 Donation

Pictured (front row from left): Dr. Sean Alford, Aiken County Public School District superintendent; Dr. Susan Winsor, ATC president; Carol Johnson, SRNS president and CEO; Mary Commons, ATC Foundation director; Dr. Vinson Burdette, ATC vice president of enrollment management; (second row from left) 2015-16 Within Reach Scholarship recipients and first-year ATC students Bethany Lewis, Abby Camacho, and Katelynn Johnson.

AIKEN, S.C. – The management and operations contractor for the EM program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is partnering with Aiken Technical College (ATC) to help students pay college debt.

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) presented ATC with a $50,000 donation to the Within Reach Scholarships program.

“Savannah River Nuclear Solutions’ lead gift set the stage and sent a strong message to community corporations and individuals who chose to join in making an investment in Aiken Technical College and increase the educational attainment in Aiken County,” said ATC Foundation Director Mary Commons.

Studies show that 60 percent of the working age population will need an associate degree or higher by 2025 to sustain U.S. economic growth and viability. About 33 percent of Aiken County’s population has an associate degree or higher, compared to 39 percent nationally.

"Savannah River Nuclear Solutions is pleased to support this important program at ATC. These scholarships will directly impact the lives and future careers of high school students who are uncertain about pursuing higher education," SRNS President and CEO Carol Johnson said.

Students without plans beyond high school are being identified by ATC and South Carolina public school officials.

"We're looking out for our future as a business, and we need young people who have technical skills," Johnson said. "Our average age at the Savannah River Site is 51. So, if you look over the next 10 years, we'll be seeing our workforce change significantly.”

SRNS has agreements with area technical schools to focus on workforce sustainability at SRS and EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory. The goal is to ensure graduates have skills in welding, maintenance, radiation control, general plant operations, and other areas so they are qualified to start working in the nuclear industry.

"I feel like this scholarship and how they (SRNS) are donating so much for us is going to help greatly in the future," ATC freshman Katelynn Johnson said. "It's nice to know that I can go to school and further my education. Receiving this scholarship means so much to me."

Students can apply for Within Reach Scholarships through March 1 after qualifying for financial aid. A minimum 2.5 grade point average is required.

Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council Gives Gifts to More Than 100 Children in Need

For the fifth consecutive year, members of the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council’s 14 affiliates and other workers at the Hanford Site donated bicycles, helmets, toys, clothes, books, diapers, and other items to 107 children in need over the holidays.

Members of the union, which represents employees on the site, delivered a truck full of the wrapped gifts to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services in Richland, which coordinated the giving. Donations for each child were valued at least $75, and all children received stockings full of goodies.

Contributors

Dean Campbell, Savannah River Site

Timothy Harms, EM Headquarters

Destry Henderson, Hanford Site

Steven Horak, Los Alamos Site

Dylan Nichols, Paducah Site

Lana Patterson, Savannah River National Laboratory

David Sheeley, EM Headquarters

Stephan Tetreault, EM Headquarters

DT Townsend, Savannah River Site

Dianne Whitten, Hanford Site