EM Prepares to Demolish Most Hazardous Hanford Site Facility
Demolition of PFP will occur in stages, as indicated in the shaded sections above. Demolition will start with the Plutonium Reclamation Facility (green), followed by 242-Z (red), the main processing building (blue), followed by the ventilation stack (orange).
RICHLAND, Wash. – One of EM’s most complex risk-reduction projects is expected to wrap up in coming months as crews demolish a Cold War relic at the Hanford Site: the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP).
Preparing to safely demolish the facility has required contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) employees to perform hazardous work, including dismantling and removing the largest and most heavily contaminated glove box. Crews are removing the last of many miles of chemical lines, tanks, and ventilation ductwork. This infrastructure supported 40 years of fabrication of plutonium metal “buttons” used in the nation’s nuclear weapons.
“The teams conducting this work continue to meet every challenge and situation with great professionalism and focus,” said Tom Teynor, project director for the EM Richland Operations Office. “We continue to view their collective work, bringing us toward demolition, as the most significant project we have this year.”
PFP workers wearing specialized protective suits are cutting up and removing the largest and most heavily contaminated glove box from PFP. Since 2008, workers have removed nearly 240 similar structures.
Demolition groundwork is underway as smaller support buildings are being removed to make room for demolition equipment and disposal of waste packages. EM is working with regulatory agencies and the contractor to monitor airborne hazards and weather conditions during demolition. Crews are testing procedures and systems to ensure safety of employees and the environment.
Heavy equipment will remove building components, such as glove boxes and ventilation ducts, which are too contaminated and too large to be demolished within the building. To reduce waste buildup, demolition activities will primarily occur during the daytime and waste will be loaded out at night. Dust suppression and fixatives will limit airborne hazards. Demolition is expected to take about six months, after which a protective cap will be installed over the footprint of the former structure.
Demolition of support structures around PFP, like this building in August 2015, is necessary to create room for demolition equipment to operate.
“Taking down PFP will remove a significant hazard on the Hanford Site,” said Mike Swartz, CH2M vice president of the Plutonium Finishing Plant Closure Project. “Our dedicated and experienced workforce has made significant progress so far, and as we begin demolition, we will continue focusing on the fundamentals: performing our work safely and compliantly.”
“We all have the same goal: to complete demolition safely,” said Frank Hammitt, PFP radiological control technician. “I have a lot of pride in what I do, and that’s performing cleanup for my community and my kids, who will be here long after I am gone.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM and other federal government entities working to spur advances in robotics have issued a new call for research proposals in their campaign to develop co-robots that can work in cooperation with people.
The recent call for proposals is the first step toward awarding new grants, including some that will carve a new niche for the use of robotics in nuclear applications, with practical benefits for EM’s environmental cleanup mission.
“Everything else has been nonnuclear, but ours is really the first that is focused on the nuclear industry, with an emphasis on entering spaces that we would not allow workers to enter because of the nature of the hazards,” said Rodrigo Rimando, EM senior technical adviser.
NSF and its partners including the Defense and Agriculture departments, NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and National Institutes of Health announced $37 million in robotics grants last month.
Applications for a new round of funding are due March 7. It’s the first round in which EM is a participant, and Rimando said he expects a robust reaction based in part on an enthusiastic response that greeted an earlier DOE solicitation to universities for robotics proposals.
“That is an indicator to us that within the robotics community there is a lot of interest in applying that technology to the work we have to do,” Rimando said.
Participation in NRI is an opportunity to leverage EM’s expertise.
“Because we have such a diverse work scope with problem sets that cross-cut many domains of robotics, we are very well postured to take a lead in the Department for robotics, and that’s exciting,” Rimando said.
“Robotics is an enabling tool,” he said. “It will allow us to do our work safer and smarter. If there is anything that can improve the safety, the quality and the efficiency of our workers, robotics is something that can be done. There are so many benefits we can gain from employing that type of technology.”
Rimando shakes hand with a Robonaut 2 at Johnson Space Center. It was the first human-like robot NASA launched to space.
Rimando is working to establish a partnership with NASA after he met with key roboticists from the agency and visited one of its premier robotics laboratories at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“If you were to compare the conditions on the moon or Mars, and the tasks that astronauts have to perform in space, you quickly realize that the challenges of working in hazardous or harsh environments or handling high consequence materials that we face in cleanup are similar, and robotics is a common solution,” Rimando said.
“Leveraging American taxpayer dollars being spent on robotics by other federal agencies is a no-brainer. By partnering with those agencies, EM will benefit greatly from those investments,” he added.
Innovative Approach Reduces Costs of Removing Contaminated Oil from Paducah Site
When operating, one transformer could distribute enough power to provide electricity to approximately 6,300 average-sized homes.
PADUCAH, Ky. – For more than 60 years, 60 electrical distribution transformers supplied some of the power to enrich uranium at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP).
Each transformer supplied enough electricity to power four 3,000-horsepower motors, which is equivalent to providing electricity to 6,300 average size homes.
The transformers contained oil with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), which helped with electrical insulation properties and cooling of internal parts while also being non-flammable. After the PGDP ceased operations, these transformers were disconnected from the power system, and the PCB oil was safely drained, shipped, and dispositioned.
“The removal of the PCB oil from the large transformers was a priority due to its potential impact on human health and the environment,” said Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard of EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.
PCB-containing oil from the transformers was drained into totes. The oil later was pumped into a tanker truck for off-site disposition.
In compliance with the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project initiated removal of PCB oil from the transformers in early summer 2015. To ensure all PCB oil has been removed from the transformers, Environmental Protection Agency regulations required that the transformers be rinsed. Rather than purchasing a rinsing agent, such as kerosene, EM and its contractors developed a unique idea to rinse the transformers with lube oil already at PGDP that also was scheduled for disposal. This idea saved nearly a half-million dollars, while enabling an existing product to be reused before its ultimate disposal.
“We were pleased we were able to bring forward a unique idea that recycled an existing product on the site,” Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project Deputy Program Manager Bob Nichols said. “This ultimately saved DOE money that can be pumped back into the project.”
The last shipment of the total of nearly 100,000 gallons of transformer oil and 113,000 gallons of the rinsing agent were shipped off-site on Dec. 31, 2015 for disposal, completing the project ahead of schedule.
“Removing the PCB-containing oil from the transformers advances DOE’s goal of protecting the environment and workers while preparing the plant for future demolition,” Woodard said.
EM's Oak Ridge Office Contractor Scores High in Latest Award Fee Evaluation
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EMgave URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) a score of nearly 96 percent, allowing the contractor to earn over $4.4 million of the available fee of more than $4.6 million for the period from April to September 2015. UCOR is responsible for cleaning up the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), formerly the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, as well as other select sites on DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation under a contract valued at $2.4 billion.
UCOR received high ratings across the board, including “excellent” marks for environmental management as well as project management and business systems.
“UCOR has continued to execute the scope under the East Tennessee Technology Park contract very well,” DOE’s Oak Ridge Environmental Management Office Manager Sue Cange said. “We are extremely pleased with our progress, and look forward to continuing our momentum as we begin a new year.”
Each year, EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments — earned by completing the work called for in the contracts — to further transparency in its cleanup program.
In its award letter, EM cited work on K-31, K-27 — the last two remaining gaseous diffusion buildings — and the 3042 Oak Ridge Research Reactor Pool. Also noted were significant design activities for the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility and timely shipments of contact-handled waste to the Transuranic Waste Processing Center.
EM also highlighted continued improvement of UCOR’s safety culture initiative and noted that the contractor received STAR status in the DOE Voluntary Protection Program, which encourages and recognizes excellence in occupational safety and health protection. UCOR was also recognized for outstanding support to ongoing reindustrialization efforts at the ETTP site.
Opportunities for improvement were noted, including recent incidents involving respiratory protection and industrial hygiene and management attention in the Nuclear Safety and Criticality Program and the Transportation Program.
View DOE's letter to UCOR on its award fee determination here.
Hanford Site Contractor Receives Overall ‘Very Good’ Rating for Tank Operations
WRPS workers do preparatory work at the A/AX tank farms at Hanford in April 2015. They are the next tank farms from which waste will be retrieved at Hanford. WRPS recently received an 88 percent award fee for its performance in fiscal year 2015.
Each year EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments — earned by completing the work called for in the contracts — to further transparency in its cleanup program.
WRPS also received an overall “very good” in 2014, but the 2015 award fee was five percent higher than the previous year.
The company was recognized for strong, consistent leadership in several key activities, including:
Taking over responsibilities for the Effluent Treatment Facility, which removes radioactive and hazardous contaminants from waste water;
Implementing recommendations from the independent Tank Vapors Assessment Team, which has worked to minimize risks to workers, including chemical vapors in the tank farms; and
Improving integration between ORP contractors and the DOE national laboratories.
WRPS exceeded many significant award fee criteria and met overall cost, schedule, and technical performance requirements, according to the fee determination scorecard.
The scorecard lists eight special emphasis areas of which WRPS received “very good” ratings in six and “excellent” in two: management of the single-shell and double-shell tank system, and nuclear safety.
WRPS is responsible for safely managing the Hanford Site’s 56 million gallons of nuclear and chemical waste in 177 underground tanks, and preparing the systems to feed waste to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for vitrification.
Grand Challenge Semifinalist Study Yields Results for Hanford Plant's Ventilation System
Results could lead to an increase in low activity waste glass production
RICHLAND, Wash. – Results of a recent EMOffice of River Protection (ORP) effort to develop a test method and measure of the thermal properties of waste glasses show that the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility is adequately designed to allow for the cooling of hot glass in the containers.
Additionally, there is a basis to pursue the evaluation that could result in a more than twofold increase in the number of vitrified waste glass containers produced there each day.
The study, commissioned after its associated presentation was selected as a semifinalist submission in ORP’s first Grand Challenge competition in 2013, shows that the current HVAC system is capable of meeting the design requirements of base operations and supporting the engineering evaluation that could result in the use of upgraded melters that would allow the creation of up to 50 metric tons of glass each day.
The HVAC system will be needed during the cooling process, after the waste glass is poured into stainless steel containers.
The current plan is to produce 30 metric tons of glass per day at full capacity. An increase would speed the overall vitrification mission and save a yet-determined amount of taxpayer money.
ORP glass scientist Albert Kruger and engineer Ricky Bang submitted the paper to the Grand Challenge and oversaw the resulting work.
While there have been many studies on thermal properties of glasses, explained Kruger, few studies have been performed for glasses used in vitrifying waste.
“Difficulties involved in experimental measurements of these glasses have added significantly to the uncertainty in their thermal properties,” he said. “The objective of our study was to determine the heat capacity and thermal conductivity of representative high-level and low-activity waste glasses.
“These properties are crucial inputs for heat load calculations to assess the impact of canister filling and cooling,” said Kruger. “As a result they will affect the design of the HVAC system of the Waste Treatment Plant.”
These results will be used in the finite element analysis performed by mechanical engineering staff at Idaho National Laboratory that will allow the HVAC systems safety oversight employee to assess the full impact. ORP officials will review the study results and determine whether other aspects of the facility and vitrification process can support the upgraded melters.
DOE Rates EM’s Savannah River Site Contractor as ‘Very Good’ in Fee Determination Scorecard
H Canyon Control Room operators Terry Usry and Audrey Davis start the first process operation in H Canyon, which purifies the uranium solution for eventual use as commercial nuclear reactor fuel.
DOE noted several milestones by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) in its work for EM and the National Nuclear Security Administration at SRS. DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program recognized SRNS as a STAR participant for continued excellence in safety programs, performance, and culture. The recertification process for DOE’s highest safety honor takes place every three years and analyzes DOE contractor safety performance, work activities, employee engagement, and overall safety culture. SRNS employees demonstrated a strong safety performance by reaching 10 million work hours without lost workdays resulting from job-related injury or illness.
The SRNS EM operations organization safely accomplished significant high-hazard work in nonproliferation and remediation missions without recordable injuries or contamination cases. DOE noted that workers completed four dissolver batches of Material Test Reactor spent nuclear fuel. The batches are used to dissolve the aluminum fuel bundles by heating nitric acid to a boiling point and converting solids to a liquid uranium solution for further process operations at H Canyon, which is the only operating, production-scale, radiologically shielded chemical separations facility in the U.S. DOE also noted the startup of the first process operation in H Canyon, which purifies the uranium solution for eventual use as commercial nuclear reactor fuel. The organization also successfully staged 40 bundles of spent nuclear fuel ahead of schedule in newly installed bundle storage racks inside the canyon. This ensures the availability of fuel to maintain process operations in the canyon through fiscal year 2016.
In SRNS spent fuel operations, workers completed a shielded transfer modification project to allow for receipt of National Research Universal/National Research Experimental fuel in advance of the original scheduled date. SRNS was able to overcome issues with subcontract supplied components to ensure that the first cask was received and processed prior to the end of fiscal year 2015. Modifications to the L Basin were completed ahead of schedule and below budget.
Operations at the SRS K Area Complex provide for the handling and interim safe storage for much of DOE’s excess plutonium and other special nuclear materials. In fiscal year 2015, SRNS completed all storage container surveillances and examinations required to ensure the safe storage of materials in K Area, which is DOE’s only Category 1 Special Nuclear Materials storage facility.
EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), which is part of the network of DOE national laboratories, applies its expertise and applied technology to EM’s cleanup. DOE noted SRNL’s success in attracting strategic partnership projects, such as the Nuclear Chemical Manufacturing Collaborative Facility, and for serving EM with excellent support. SRNL continues to play a pivotal role internationally and nationally, working in 24 states and more than 50 countries.
In its performance feedback, DOE identified opportunities for SRNS improvement, citing a procedural violation in HB-Line, the loss of power to a storage tank that uses an agitator to mix the material inside HB-Line, and other conduct of operations weaknesses that did not meet DOE expectations. The HB-Line is part of H Canyon.
DOE also pointed to other deficiencies, including inadequate coordination by SRNS employees that resulted in a loss of electrical power, and concerns with the SRNS emergency management planning resources and conduct of drills.
As a result of the operational performance issues, SRNS implemented a company-wide operational pause for all work not essential to the site’s safety and security. The pause was perceived as a positive action to strengthen the SRNS safety culture, leading to a comprehensive review of site-wide procedures and an engagement with the workforce on the importance of effective conduct of operations.
Centerra Earns High Performance Rating for Savannah River Site Security Operations
Centerra protective force personnel conduct a vehicle inspection to prevent the introduction of prohibited items into a limited area at SRS. The canine team is trained to detect the presence of explosives and assists with vehicle and package inspections.
AIKEN, S.C. – The Savannah River Site (SRS) security contractor Centerra received high performance ratings from DOE in fiscal year 2015, earning $5,280,546 of the available $5,739,724 fee.
Each year, EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments — earned by completing the work called for in the contracts — to further transparency in its cleanup program.
“The Centerra-SRS protective force personnel executed their duties in an exceptional manner,” DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager Jack Craig said. “The protective force demonstrated effective and efficient protection strategies and adhered to approved security plans and security and post orders to ensure protection of special nuclear material, and supported site operations and missions on a day-to-day basis.”
In its award fee determination scorecard, DOE listed key achievements in Centerra’s protective force operations, training, management, and support; environment, safety, health and quality assurance; and cost control.
“Once again, our employees have demonstrated their commitment to excellence,” Centerra Senior Vice President and General Manager Mark Bolton said. “We understand the importance of conducting our mission effectively every day in a safe manner, and we appreciate the confidence placed in our team by the Department of Energy.”
In the most recent evaluation period for which Centerra earned a 94 percent rating, its protective force effectively handled several real world security incidents, initiating appropriate response plan activities and demonstrating exceptional command and control.
DOE commended Centerra’s safe, effective aviation operations and noted the company’s consistent, effective work, including a safety committee’s review of proposed equipment and processes; an analysis program’s review and determination of causes related to accidents and injuries; and work performance observations by safety lieutenants and subject-matter experts.
Centerra budget analysts worked closely with DOE-Savannah River personnel to evaluate trends and budget expenditures. DOE noted that Centerra achieved all contractual requirements under budget and continued to pursue cost savings initiatives.
“We are proud of our accomplishments during these rating periods,” Bolton said. “We conducted our national security mission safety and effectively. We have a commitment to continuous improvement and will work with DOE and other site contractors to ensure that SRS safety and security remains at the forefront of all operations.”
EMCBC Honored for Helping Administer American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) honored the Cincinnati-based EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) this month for work EMCBC completed under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. In 2010, the two offices entered into an agreement for procurement support for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants Program (EECBG) and for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) support. In total, 45 grants valued at $515 million were awarded. The competitive grants were awarded to local governments, Tribes, states, and territories to reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and for improvements in energy efficiency. “It is my pleasure to accept this award on behalf of the team of EMCBC employees, led by Karen Bahan and Pete Yerace, who supported EERE in this important effort. We appreciate being given the opportunity to be of service to the Department and the nation,” Holland said. Pictured, front row, left to right, EERE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary David Freidman and EMCBC Manager Ralph Holland; back row, left to right, EERE Project Management Coordination Office (PMCO) Management Analyst Kara Peralta, Ted Donat, supervisor in PMCO, EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto, PMCO Director Scott Hine, and EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney.
A robotic arm sorts contaminated materials in an AMWTP boxline.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM is working to obtain new robotic arms to help in the treatment of legacy waste at an Idaho Site facility.
Much of the 56,000 cubic meters of legacy waste treated at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) over the past 12 years was examined, sorted, and treated using robotic arms. They have torn open more than 20,000 drums and boxes containing waste that came to the Idaho Site from the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, a weapons facility EM closed in 2006 after completing a complex environmental cleanup project there.
The arms are located in the facility’s boxlines, huge concrete and metal hot cells where the containers of radioactive waste are opened and sorted without exposing workers to the hazardous materials inside.
EM plans to replace other key AMWTP equipment, including portions of the conveyor system that moves drums, the robotic computer control system for the cranes and lidding machines, and new components for the ventilation system if funding permits.
It’s important for DOE to maintain the viability of the project, according to EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto.
“This is a special facility within our complex. Seeing it again, and this safe, compliant, and experienced workforce, makes it clear to me why AMWTP is so important to the Department’s transuranic waste processing program,” Regalbuto told AMWTP employees.
An AMWTP operator manipulates a robotic arm while sorting waste in an AMWTP boxline.
Shown here is a new robotic arm EM is seeking to acquire for AMWTP.
EM is working to better leverage technology development to reduce time and life-cycle costs associated with its cleanup across the DOE complex.
EM focuses on the use of robotics in some of the cleanup’s most hazardous, challenging environments. The program believes there is an important role for robotics in monitoring, and detecting abnormal conditions, and conducting cleanup, reducing the potential for human exposure to hazardous operations.
Electrical Safety Investment Safeguards Employees at Large Idaho Facility
An Idaho Site electrician racks out a breaker so a cubicle can be cleaned as part of preventive maintenance.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Idaho Site’s main cleanup contractor is using a $1.8 million DOE investment to safeguard employees from the threat of second- and third-degree electrical arc flash burns.
When an uncontrolled arc occurs, besides intense light and deafening sound, workers can be subjected to extreme heat, flying projectiles, and showered with molten metal. CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC (CWI) aims to reduce such risks from occurring on the Idaho Cleanup Project.
The $1.8 million investment covers innovative software, development of preventive maintenance work orders for all equipment, and training and equipment to support maintenance and replacement of substation breakers at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC).
INTEC was built in the early 1950s to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. After that mission ended in 1992, INTEC became the site’s main spent nuclear fuel storage facility and also continued to manage both liquid and solid radioactive waste resulting from its reprocessing operations, still requiring hundreds of megawatts of electricity annually.
Formed in 2008, INTEC Power Operations (IPO) safely operates INTEC’s high-voltage electrical system that keeps lights on, equipment operating, and utilities functioning throughout the facility without interruption.
IPO Manager Theresa Axelson said a software program funded by DOE determines arc flash capacities at individual equipment locations based on the electrical system’s configuration. The software has been installed for most of INTEC’s 13,800-volt outside power distribution system, along with new electrical breakers, but more remains to be done.
“Technology has progressed a lot. This is a very sophisticated way to determine the potential for arc flashes,” Axelson said, explaining how the system interprets what could happen in a worst case scenario and then provides the recommended level of personal protective equipment to wear when tackling a project.
Future software enhancements and installation of a new utility control system are anticipated for the rest of INTEC to further enhance safety and efficiency.
The IPO team has completed preventive measures, including the annual cleaning and calibration of breakers, and continues to maintain the complex electrical system.
EM’s Laboratory Partners with University for Excellence in Research
Pictured left to right, Fluor Government Group President Bruce Stanski, SRNL Deputy Director Sharon Marra, Clemson President Dr. James P. Clements, Clemson Provost Dr. Bob Jones, and SRNL Laboratory Director Dr. Terry Michalske.
AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) and a South Carolina University have entered a unique partnership that provides for an independent peer review program to ensure the laboratory’s continued high scientific and technical standards.
SRNL and Clemson University signed an agreement establishing the External Review Committee (ERC) managed by Clemson to focus on the laboratory’s scientific and engineering capabilities. SRNL is a multi-program applied research and development laboratory for DOE, applying state-of-the-art science and engineering to provide practical, high-value, and cost-effective solutions for EM’s cleanup as well as nuclear security and clean energy challenges.
The ERC will provide guidance and feedback on technical matters, including core competencies and technical facilities, and highlight opportunities to advance new capabilities through partnerships between the laboratory and university. The committee will depend on independent reviews by researchers at Clemson and universities across the country. Those reviews will help guide future SRNL investments and give a greater depth needed to forge new collaborations with the academic community.
“As a land-grant university, Clemson is working toward a lot of the same goals as the Savannah River National Laboratory — to make South Carolina and our nation stronger, and to protect the environment for future generations,” said Clemson University President James P. Clements.
SRNL Director Terry Michalske said the new collaboration will continue to build the relationship between Clemson and SRNL, opening a new channel for scientific exchange and collaboration.
“Peer review is the backbone of technical excellence. This new institutional partnership will help integrate and elevate the scientific and engineering resources in South Carolina,” Michalske said.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, SRNL’s management and operations contractor, established the ERC with financing from its parent companies of Fluor, Newport News Nuclear, and Honeywell.
“SRNS is pleased that Clemson University, one of the nation’s premier science and technology institutions, has agreed to manage this important function needed to ensure both excellence and success for SRNL," Fluor Government Group President Bruce Stanski said.
According to the National Academy of Science, external peer reviews are a robust means to evaluate ongoing research programs because they provide objective assessment of relevance, quality, and merit.
Savannah River Site Crane Operators Show Dedication, Skill in Complex Work
H Canyon Crane Operator Steven Thomas has just under 40 years of experience at SRS.
AIKEN, S.C. – Savannah River Site (SRS) H Canyon operations have changed substantially since the facility’s construction in 1950, but the training, dedication, and skill of its crane operators have not.
With an interior resembling a canyon, the chemical separations facility has a “hot” side with higher radiation levels than its “warm” side. Highly skilled operators perform work remotely using overhead bridge cranes.
Originally, warm side work was done by sight by crane operators in a shielded cab suspended over the canyon, while the hot side operations were conducted by crane operators looking through a periscope in a lead-lined cab. In the early 1990s, operations moved into a control room where the operators now use video cameras suspended from the crane bridge.
“It takes a lot of skill and practice to become a crane operator,” said H Canyon Senior Operations Support Specialist Russell Jordan, who began as an SRS crane operator trainee in 1984. “Working in the hot canyon, before the crane control room came along, was really hard because you had to keep both eyes open to see through the periscope. Now, it’s all done through video cameras and computer. That sounds easier, but it’s really not; it’s just a different set of skills.”
It can take up to four years for new operators to complete training that begins in the classroom and ends with hands-on practice. Jordan says operators become proficient in six years.
“You have to have a knack for it, too,” he said. “You have to have a lot of patience and to love it, and most of all, respect what you are doing. We are working with some truly hazardous materials, and it’s important not to lose sight of that.”
Jordan had wanted to be a crane operator since he was a child.
“When my parents took me to the fair, my favorite game was one operating a crane. I’m lucky to be doing what I love,” he said.
Crane operator Bruce Cain joked that people ask if him if running a crane is like playing video games.
“Everyone asks us that, but no. This is much, much different than video games,” he said.
H Canyon has undertaken a variety of processing missions over the years, a versatility made easier by the fact that canyon equipment can be remotely removed. Mockups of the identical-looking canyon cells allow testing of new or replacement mission equipment to ensure proper fit before installing in the highly contaminated and radioactive canyon environment. Specialty crane tools have been developed over the years, such as stainless steel brushes attached to impact wrenches to clean sealing surfaces. The crane operators often design and initiate the fabrication of the specialty tools to assist in their work.
H Canyon is the only operating, production-scale, radiologically shielded chemical separations facility in the U.S. Originally constructed to produce nuclear materials to support the nation’s defense weapons programs, the facility’s mission changed after the Cold War into one of helping to disposition and stabilize nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuel from legacy cleanup, and foreign and domestic research reactors.
Public Utility Awards EM’s Idaho Site Contractor for Energy Conservation
Displaying the reward of a team effort between CWI and Idaho Power, from left to right, are Jim Floerke, Chuck Urbanski, and Brian Preussner, all with CWI, and Bo Hanchey and Vern Porter with Idaho Power.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM’s main cleanup contractor at the Idaho Site received nearly a quarter-million dollars in incentive checks from Idaho Power’s Custom Efficiency program for implementing energy-conservation ideas at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC).
The publicly owned utility gave CH2M-WG Idaho (CWI) nearly $200,000 for installing energy-efficient LED lights in a large, industrial warehouse and for optimizing INTEC’s facility exhaust and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. LED bulbs provide several times more light than traditional lamps, making them safer for personnel to complete their work.
INTEC’s annual savings for these projects total 1.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity, which is enough to light and heat 130 homes, and 79,000 gallons of diesel — more than $300,000 in annual expenses.
Idaho Power also gave CWI $50,000 for replacing more than 50 standard lights in a large, crane maintenance area and equipment decontamination room with 31 more LED lights. With this switch, INTEC saves nearly $25,000 a year in electricity costs.
In addition to saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in energy costs, the light-replacement projects have an added benefit. The Custom Efficiency program is a cash-incentive program for large commercial and industrial customers that undertake complex projects to improve efficiency of electrical systems or processes. The energy-incentive checks that CWI receives, now totaling more than $600,000 over the last three years, are used to reinvest in ongoing projects or activities.
INTEC was built in the early 1950s to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and recover unused uranium, an endeavor that resulted in the construction of scores of massive buildings and support equipment needing to be heated and cooled in the harsh Arco Desert. After that mission ended in 1992, INTEC became the site’s main spent nuclear fuel storage facility and also continued to manage both liquid and solid radioactive waste resulting from its reprocessing operations.