EM Update | Vol. 8, Issue 7 | April 14, 2016

DOE Office of Environmental Management sent this bulletin at 04/14/2016 10:54 AM EDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Energy Department Honors Savannah River Site Project Team with Secretary’s Award
Hanford Site Services Contractor Receives Fiscal Year 2015 Evaluation
EM Shares Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Lessons Learned with Nuclear Energy Agency
Award Fee Determination Shows Performance Improvement in WTP Contractor
U.S. Representatives Newhouse, Heck Tour Hanford Site Projects, Facilities
After Years of Curiosity, Resident Learns Firsthand About EM’s Cleanup on Tour
Matching Controls to Declining Risks at the Hanford Site's Plutonium Finishing Plant
EM, N.M. Officials Celebrate New Emergency Center for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
Oak Ridge’s EM Program Unplugs Former Electrical Switchyard
EM Cleanup Chief Surveys Progress in Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Underground
Study Builds Knowledge of Nuclear Waste Glass, Provides Insight to Facility Design
Chief Information Officer Talks Savannah River Site Cybersecurity with Army School
Portsmouth Site Engineer Authors Safety Standard
National Nuclear Security Administration Official Tours Cleanup Operations for Navy
EM Contractor’s System Yields $8.9 Million in Savings at Savannah River Site
Engineer Joins Esteemed Fellows with Celebrated Contributions
New Grants Fund Continued Research, Outreach for EM's Portsmouth, Paducah Sites
SRS Engineers Join Students in Buddy Program
Donation Improves Nuclear Training, Education
Contributors

Energy Department Honors Savannah River Site Project Team with Secretary’s Award

Pictured, left to right: Pam Marks, Federal Project Director, DOE-Savannah River Salt Waste Processing Facility Project Office (SWPFPO); Mary Ann Hopkins, President, Parsons Government Services, Inc.; Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, DOE Deputy Secretary; Kim Rapp, Project Controls Lead, SWPFPO; Shayne Farrell, Deputy Federal Project Director, SWPFPO; and Frank Sheppard, Senior Vice President and SWPF Project Manager, Parsons.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Savannah River Site’s (SRS) Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) project team recently garnered the Department of Energy Secretary’s Project Management Improvement Award for 2015.

Once operational, SWPF will be a key component in the site’s salt waste processing strategy, greatly increasing the rate of processing about 90 percent of the 37 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste in the underground tank farms at SRS for disposal.

In an important milestone in the SRS cleanup, SWPF construction is expected to be completed this spring, with commissioning and startup targeted for December 2018.

DOE honored the SWPF project team for developing a new acquisition strategy, negotiating contract changes including a construction cost cap, partnering with SWPF contractor Parsons to improve project relationships, enhancing the project metrics, and improving communications through monthly reporting.

The team improved performance with the goal of completing construction ahead of schedule and under cost. Team members enhanced DOE staffing and oversight, embraced routine external reviews, and added supplemental reviews aimed at project improvement.

“The changes set high expectations and challenges for both DOE and Parsons to achieve the best possible project performance,” DOE-Savannah River Salt Waste Processing Facility Project Office Federal Project Director Pamela Marks said. “The results of the changes were improved project performance and increased trust and confidence. SWPF construction is nearly complete, ahead of the revised construction schedule and budget.”

The award is presented annually to project teams that implement new ideas, methods, or processes that lead to measurable improvements in project management.

Hanford Site Services Contractor Receives Fiscal Year 2015 Evaluation

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) announced that contractor Mission Support Alliance, LLC (MSA) earned approximately 89 percent of available fee for services provided at the Hanford Site last fiscal year.

In its evaluation of MSA’s performance in fiscal year 2015, DOE stated MSA earned roughly $18.8 million of the $21 million available for its work, which includes several aspects of integrated services across the Hanford Site. However, DOE payment of the fee to MSA is on hold pending resolution of a dispute over payment of $63.5 million in affiliate fee by MSA to subcontractor Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. for information technology services from 2010 to 2014.

During fiscal year 2015, MSA met or exceeded the majority of performance goals and objectives for the performance period, according to RL management.

“Overall, I am pleased with the progress attained this past fiscal year. I look forward to continuing to work with MSA in right-sizing the Hanford Site infrastructure, improving site-wide safety, and overall, driving for safe and cost effective cleanup,” wrote Stacy Charboneau, RL Manager, in a letter conveying to MSA the fee determination.

“MSA had a very high success rate at meeting performance targets,” according to a scorecard detailing the contractor’s accomplishments. “Although, for brief periods, some service areas did not meet the established performance goals, MSA swiftly implemented corrective actions to improve performance and ensure that all service areas achieved site cleanup-related goals.”

DOE determined that MSA did outstanding work in maintaining and improving Hanford Site infrastructure to support environmental cleanup. Other accomplishments included shrinking the information technology footprint, completing periodic inspections of five former nuclear reactors that have been “cocooned” — ahead of schedule and with no safety incidents — conducting work within funding controls, and “outstanding” work in achieving small-business goals.

Noting the transition to a new MSA management team at mid-year, RL cited the success of the new team in making “improvements in a number of areas to include their conduct of operations, internal audit organization, and business relations.”

Payment of fee to MSA for its fiscal year 2015 performance is on hold until the dispute between DOE and MSA over repayment of $63.5 million in affiliate fee is resolved. The matter is before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. The DOE Inspector General recently concluded in an April 2016 audit report, titled “Management and Oversight of Information Technology Contracts at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site,” that Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. may have inappropriately received the affiliate profit.

To view a copy of the fee determination scorecard, click here.

EM Shares Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Lessons Learned with Nuclear Energy Agency

PARIS – EM officials shared lessons learned from the 2014 Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground fire and radiological release with the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Division of Radiological Protection and Radioactive Waste Management in a seminar in Paris recently. Seminar participants sought to further strengthen safety culture and essential management and regulatory elements for continuous safety enhancement throughout the lifetime of nuclear waste management facilities. EM officials pictured include Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto, second from left, foreground, Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Frank Marcinowski, far left, and Carlsbad Field Office Recovery Communications Manager Tim Runyon, far right. DOE Accident Investigation Board Chair Ted Wyka and EM Policy and Strategy Senior Advisor Elizabeth Lisann attended the seminar but are not pictured. NEA officials pictured include William Magwood, fourth from right, Michael Siemann, third from right, and Gloria Kwong, second from right. Punam Thakur, with Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring Research Center, also participated in the seminar.

Award Fee Determination Shows Performance Improvement in WTP Contractor

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Office of River Protection (ORP) Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) contractor Bechtel National Inc. improved its performance slightly in calendar year 2015 compared to the last half of 2014, earning 66 percent of its possible award fee, or $8.31 million out of a possible $12.6 million.

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.

Bechtel’s performance evaluation and measurement plan was changed from a semiannual award fee determination to an annual one in 2015.

The company received an overall “good” rating in the award fee categories of project management and cost.

The project management category objectives include the One System integrated team; environmental/safety/health and safety conscious work environment; quality assurance program and quality of performance; and nuclear safety and technical issue resolution.

The company was rated at 100 percent for its work in the One System objective and 97 percent in environmental/safety/health and safety conscious work environment objective.

In the One System objective, Bechtel was recognized for leading “efforts to align U.S. Department of Energy orders and directives between Tank Farms and WTP contracts.”

The cost category covers one award fee objective: project performance, which includes cost, schedule, and efficiencies. Bechtel received a 75-percent award in this objective.

Bechtel was recognized for its high productivity in the High-Level Waste Facility, “with 22 total concrete placements, exceeding (the) goal of 20,” among other areas.

The company was also recognized for initiating an independent expert review team that assessed all managed improvement plan initiatives. The team concluded that the “health of its program is improving.”

View Bechtel’s full scorecard here.

U.S. Representatives Newhouse, Heck Tour Hanford Site Projects, Facilities

RICHLAND, Wash. – U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (far left) and U.S. Rep. Dennis Heck, (third from left), toured various projects and facilities at the Hanford Site on April 11, including the Waste Treatment Plant, C Tank Farm, 200 West Area groundwater treatment facility (pictured), Plutonium Finishing Plant, and Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. Also pictured are Richland Operations Office Manager Stacy Charboneau (second from left), John Ciucci, CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company President (third from right), Office of River Protection Manager Kevin Smith (second from right), and CH2M Project Manager Bill Barrett (far right).

RICHLAND, Wash. – U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse (front, right) and Dennis Heck (front, center) listen as EM Office of River Protection Assistant Manager for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project Bill Hamel (left) talks about the melters inside the WTP’s Low Activity Waste Facility. The representatives toured various projects and facilities at the Hanford Site on April 11, including the Waste Treatment Plant, C Tank Farm, 200 West Area groundwater treatment facility, Plutonium Finishing Plant, and Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.

After Years of Curiosity, Resident Learns Firsthand About EM’s Cleanup on Tour

Tour participants are provided additional information on Yucca Flat geology. Radomski is second from right in the front row.

LAS VEGAS – Carrie Radomski had never been to the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) despite living in Beatty, about 30 miles from Pahute Mesa, a historical underground testing area at the site.

Radomski attended an open-house meeting about groundwater and watched videos of historical atmospheric tests. She even had friends that worked at NNSS during nuclear testing. But she had never seen the site herself.

That changed on Feb. 25.

“Now I can say I’ve seen it,” she says. “It’s not just a picture. It’s not abstract anymore.”

For Radomski, NNSS is significant for more than its history. She is interested in how the public is protected from the effects of nuclear testing on the groundwater and wants to educate herself on NNSS groundwater flow as a Beatty resident.

After several educational briefings during a tour on groundwater characterization and sampling, Radomski says she has a better understanding of the program.

“My perspective definitely changed. It was heartening to see the people involved in the monitoring and to understand the impact of what we’ve done in the past. The people that were out there did a great job of condensing information to bring it to an understandable level,” she said.

An NNSS hydrogeologist briefs tour participants, including Radomski, sixth from left, on construction of a well and the surrounding geology during a stop at the Mercury Core Library.

At the first tour stop, the Mercury Core Library, Radomski appreciated learning about how wells are drilled at NNSS.

“I do feel better about the information we received,” she says. “About the groundwater specifically in Beatty, I have a better understanding.”

The tour stopped at an active drill site.

“[We see] the drill site and then look across the way and see where the detonation was that we’re concerned about monitoring,” she says. The detonation Radomski referred to was named Wagtail and occurred in 1965.

At Yucca Flat, water from recent rain collected in the basin, creating a shallow pool. The water showed the reflection of the mountains and cloudless sky. The group spotted antelope grazing in the brush. It was the ideal spot to learn about the geology and hydrogeology of Yucca Flat.

By the tour’s end, Radomski wanted more information on the geology at NNSS, the groundwater program, and radiation in general.

“You get enough information to kick the brain into gear and then you keep wanting more,” she said.

Radomski left NNSS feeling grateful for the opportunity to see a place with so much historical value.

“It’s a great thing to make it available,” she says. “It’s something that everybody here should see.”

For more information on the NNSS, as well as how to sign up for a public tour, click here.

Matching Controls to Declining Risks at the Hanford Site's Plutonium Finishing Plant

Jeff King reviews safety postings on doors at PFP, which are adjusted as safety controls at PFP are changed.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Imagine cutting a hole in the side of a nuclear facility that once produced weapons-grade plutonium to safely remove debris.

It’s happening at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) on the Hanford Site. A large access opening with new doors has been engineered so employees can remove large pieces of contaminated equipment more safely than size-reducing inside and hauling the pieces down stairs for load-out.

During production days and later, numerous safety controls ensured public and environmental safety from the building’s radiological and chemical hazards. Sophisticated ventilation systems kept radiological contamination inside glove boxes or hoods. Around-the-clock surveillances monitored the integrity of safety systems as a shift office kept tabs all the time.

“The preparations leading up to PFP demolition require a constant focus on safety performance. This obsession for safety drives PFP personnel to continuously evaluate each and every work activity to ensure compliance with requirements, procedures, and the necessary controls to protect the workers, the public, and the environment,” said Al Colburn, nuclear safety staffer with EM’s Richland Operations Office.

As workers remove hazards within PFP and prepare the building for demolition, corresponding safety controls are reduced. Jeff King ensures the new safety controls correspond to the risks. He began working at PFP in 1982 as a radiological control technician and is now a nuclear operations and licensing specialist. During his tenure, King has watched the building transition from production mode to demolition mode.

“The amount of work the crews have done to take these systems out — the process piping, the glove boxes — is amazing,” he said.

As each contaminated component is removed, a corresponding amount of residual nuclear material, called “material at risk” (MAR), is also removed, which means the risk to the public, environment, and workers decreases.

King was there when the PFP team successfully developed a tiered approach to reduce controls while preparing to demolish the facility’s plutonium storage vaults in 2012. He also supported the team that developed a similar approach to demolition of the PFP’s main facilities.

What resulted, after a lot of team work, was Documented Safety Analysis, Revision 12, which was implemented in January 2016. Revision 12 contains revised accident analyses that reflect the MAR reduction at PFP that has occurred since 2004.

King describes Revision 12 as a simpler controlled approach, tailored to remaining risk levels for fire and ventilation systems, giving PFP operations and maintenance crews more flexibility in how they maintain building systems. The project is now implementing Revision 13, which further refines controls based on updated demolition plans.

As risks continue to decrease, the plant transitions into pre-demolition and then demolition phases, and King will be there, too.

EM, N.M. Officials Celebrate New Emergency Center for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

CARLSBAD, N.M. – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney joined New Mexico officials and others to mark the completion of a new state-of-the-art Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Emergency Operations Center in a ribbon-cutting ceremony recently. The facility is among EM’s many significant improvements to ensure that WIPP will be able to resume waste emplacement operations safely later this year. Pictured, from left, are Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) Deputy Recovery Manager Tammy Reynolds; New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn; New Mexico Energy and Natural Resources Secretary David Martin; NWP Emergency Management and Security Department Manager David Stuhan; New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez; Whitney; EM Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader; and AECOM Nuclear and Environment Strategic Business Unit Acting General Manager Dr. Todd Wright.

Oak Ridge’s EM Program Unplugs Former Electrical Switchyard

A worker surveys the switchyard before electrical equipment is taken down as part of demolition and cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EM’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) recently completed the final shipment of material from the first phase of its demolition and cleanup of the K-732 Switchyard at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).

Completion of this project phase comes after months of disassembling, removing, recycling, and disposing electrical equipment and legacy metal from the former electrical switchyard. It was not always an easy task that sometimes involved specialized trailers to move supersized shipments. The project required workers to transport three 110-ton condensers, each shipped individually, to a local landfill.

The switchyard was constructed in 1944.

A view of the switchyard following the first phase of demolition and cleanup.

A condensor was among the supersized shipments for disposal from the K-732 Switchyard.

The K-732 Switchyard involved disassembling, removing, recycling, and disposing electrical equipment and legacy metal.

“The removal of the old infrastructure at the K-732 Switchyard moves us another step closer toward achieving our goal of converting ETTP into a privately-owned and operated industrial park,” said OREM Manager Sue Cange. “Once cleanup is complete, we will coordinate with the City of Oak Ridge on the possible transfer of the switchyard area so it can be used to meet the site’s future electrical distribution needs.”

The switchyard was constructed in 1944 to provide power to the K-27 uranium enrichment process building, which has not been operational since 1964, and is now the final gaseous diffusion plant undergoing demolition at the site. The grounds, which also housed minor support facilities, were later used to store surplus electrical equipment.

Teams will conduct soil surveys and characterization to determine what soil remediation may be needed in the area. The contract also contains optional work to remove any contaminated surface gravel and subsurface soils and replace it with clean material.

EM awarded the project’s firm-fixed-price contract in June 2015 to CTI and Associates, Inc. of Wixom, Mich., a minority-owned small business under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program.

EM Cleanup Chief Surveys Progress in Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Underground

CARLSBAD, N.M. – EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto recently toured the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to view progress toward safely resuming waste disposal operations there later this year. Since the 2014 underground fire and radiological release events forced the temporary closure of WIPP, improvements have included mine stability and habitability, initial panel closure, radiological risk remediation, and the addition of an interim ventilation system. The site also has made significant changes to all safety management programs. Pictured from left are Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) Project Manager Phil Breidenbach; Regalbuto; EM Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Frank Marcinowski; Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Facility Representative-in-Training Phil Theisen; Hannah Paterson, who is serving a five-month assignment in EM as a member of the United Kingdom nucleargraduate program; NWP Hoistman Javier Leyva; and CBFO Office of Program Management and National TRU Program Assistant Manager Casey Gadbury.

A view of the entrance to Panel 7 in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground. In September 2015, zone recovery activities were completed along the pathway from a waste hoist to the entrance of Panel 7, where waste emplacement operations will begin when operations resume at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant later this year.

Study Builds Knowledge of Nuclear Waste Glass, Provides Insight to Facility Design

RICHLAND, Wash. – An EM Office of River Protection (ORP)-directed study recently helped determine accurate temperature measurement methods for heat dissipation from high-level and low-activity waste containers during the vitrification process at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).

The idea for the study, completed by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in February 2016, came from a 2013 ORP Grand Challenge workshop submission by glass scientist Albert Kruger and facility representative Ricky Bang, both of ORP.

“When this study was proposed in the Grand Challenge, I recognized that this work could be used to validate the Low-Activity Waste (LAW) facility design and add to the WTP glass knowledge base,” explained WTP Federal Project Director Bill Hamel. “As I envisioned, this work has achieved both of those objectives.”

The study results come as EM works to implement a path to glass for tank waste through the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Initiative, which is intended to allow EM to begin vitrifying Hanford tank waste as soon as 2022. Vitrification involves combining the tank waste with glass-forming materials and then heating the mixture to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. The material is then poured into stainless steel containers, where it cools to a solid glass form facilitating long-term storage.

Simulated low-activity waste is cooled in a prototypic steel container as part of ORP-sponsored testing at a Columbia, Md., facility in September 2003.

The study determined that a combination of methods for testing the heat capacity, thermal diffusivity, and density of the canisters and containers was most effective in providing accurate measurements for assessing the capacity of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system during cooling of the canisters.

The canisters must be cooled without overwhelming the HVAC system or slowing production at the plant. The amount of heat in a canister or container, and the rate at which it is released, depends on the thermal property of the glass, which will vary as the glass composition changes.

Since the tank waste batches entering the facility vary in nuclear and chemical composition, the glass formula has to be adjusted for each batch, meaning a single standard temperature measurement process for each container or canister is not accurate.

There have been many studies on the thermal properties of glass, but very few on nuclear waste glasses. Those studies, according to background information in the PNNL study, showed significant uncertainties in the thermal properties, owing to difficulties involved in experimental measurements.

The combination of methods identified in the study helps alleviate these uncertainties.

Hamel said the study will be forwarded to Bechtel National, Inc., the WTP contractor, for inclusion in the LAW facility design.

Chief Information Officer Talks Savannah River Site Cybersecurity with Army School

Lewann Belton, left, director of the Cyber and Information Technology Division at DOE’s Savannah River Operations Office, visits the headquarters of the U.S. Army Cyber School at Fort Gordon, Ga. He was greeted by the school’s staff, from left, Todd Boudreau, deputy commander; Maj. Charlie Lewis, chief of the Cyber Leader College; and Thomas Barnes, director of Cyber Training and Education.

FORT GORDON, Ga. – The Savannah River Site’s (SRS) chief information officer recently spoke with students in a U.S. Army Cyber School course on advanced cyber warfare about operations at the DOE site.

Lewann Belton, director of the Cyber and Information Technology Division at DOE’s Savannah River Operations Office, talked with nearly 50 members of all military branches and civilians from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security and other federal agencies in the school’s Joint Advanced Cyber Warfare Course – Georgia (JACWC-G). The members of the military in attendance work in the Defense Department’s Cyber Mission Forces or related cyberspace operations, mainly at Fort Gordon.

“Collaboration with other government agencies and industry is an important part of this course,” said Maj. Charlie Lewis, chief of the school’s Cyber Leader College and manager of the JACWC-G course. “Lewann brought a different perspective on government cyber operations to a group that usually focuses on Department of Defense priorities. We have a lot in common, but there are differences, too. It’s good to look at those, and also to learn a little about the mission at SRS.”

Belton provided an overview of the SRS mission and history before narrowing in on cybersecurity’s role at the site.

SRS is a DOE industrial complex dedicated to environmental stewardship, national security, and clean energy. The site and EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) develop and deploy technologies to support radiological and chemical cleanup activities at SRS and other DOE sites. More than half the resources at SRS are dedicated to EM operations, while the rest support the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) missions managed by the Savannah River Field Office.

Belton’s IT and cybersecurity responsibilities involve EM, NNSA, and SRNL, and SRS employs federal employees and contractor staff from several different companies. As with any IT operation, Belton said, many factors compete for priority: major missions need connections and computing power, while dangers inside and outside the network threaten security. He emphasized the importance of protecting not only the national security, but also the personal information of workers and the intellectual property of the government and the contractors.

The two-week JACWC-G course provides a detailed overview of the U.S. Cyber Command, intelligence community, and other U.S. government cyber partners. Cyberspace threats, planning, operations, and analysis considerations are among the key topics.

The school, part of Fort Gordon’s U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence, conducts JACWC-G in partnership with the Army Cyber Command’s Joint Forces Headquarters-Cyber at Fort Gordon, with oversight from U.S. Cyber Command. The program is modeled after U.S. Cyber Command’s JACWC course.

Portsmouth Site Engineer Authors Safety Standard

Richard Mayer, right, is pictured with Portsmouth Site Director Dr. Vincent Adams with a plaque commemorating Mayer’s accomplishment.

PIKETON, Ohio – Decontaminating and decommissioning a more than 60-year-old Cold War uranium enrichment facility at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant is a task of extraordinary magnitude requiring stringent policies and procedures so work can be performed safely.

That’s where people like Richard Mayer come in. Mayer is a safety systems oversight engineer for EM who has worked in the nuclear industry for more than 30 years. A graduate of Ohio State University’s chemical engineering program, Mayer has led teams that authored four standards for the esteemed American Standards and Testing Materials (ASTM) organization. ASTM standards dictate how work in the nuclear engineering environment is performed.

“These standards are important because we incorporate lessons learned and apply sound scientific evidence to ensure that people can perform this type of work consistently,” Mayer said. “And when people perform work more consistently, they perform work more safely.”

Most recently, Mayer led an ASTM writing group of about 15 professionals dedicated to standards related to Non-Destructive Assay (NDA), which is a range of analysis techniques to evaluate the properties of a component or system of components without disturbance of the system. At Portsmouth, NDA is used to measure uranium “holdup” material, or residues inside the uranium enrichment cascade, so the equipment is accurately characterized before removal.

In January, one of the standards was approved, culminating more than six years of work by the group’s members. The standard is titled ASTM Standard Guide for Non-Destructive Assay of Special Nuclear Material Holdup Using Passive Neutron Measurement Methods.

Measuring uranium holdup in process gas equipment and auxiliary equipment is done by determining gamma or neutron radiation. Earlier in his career, Mayer helped develop a procedure for measuring gamma radiation in similar systems at DOE’s Oak Ridge site.

“We knew then that there was a need to develop a similar standard for neutron radiation,” Mayer said. “Developing these standards is an exercise in perseverance, so it is rewarding for our team to have the standard approved.”

Mayer’s other three NDA standards were for an enrichment meter principle, a guide to good NDA practice, and a guide to modeling. A Columbus native, Mayer has been a voting member of ASTM since 1990 and lives in Portsmouth, Ohio, with his wife, Jaclyn.

National Nuclear Security Administration Official Tours Cleanup Operations for Navy

RICHLAND, Wash. – Adm. James F. Caldwell Jr., director of the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, recently toured the Hanford Site cleanup activities managed by EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL). RL Manager Stacy Charboneau welcomed Caldwell to the site. RL provided Caldwell and his staff an overview of the site and showed them the area where disposal activities for reactor compartments are conducted for the U.S. Navy. The admiral also took a road tour of the package transportation path and the disposal trench for reactor compartments.

EM Contractor’s System Yields $8.9 Million in Savings at Savannah River Site

Brad Keefe, director of Tritium Business Planning and Integration, presents an acquisition forecasting process during a rapid improvement event at the Savannah River Site.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s management and operations contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently marked its first year under a new business system that has led to taxpayer savings of $8.9 million.

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employees celebrated efforts to improve performance, cost, and delivery through the system, Focused Improvement Transformation (FIT).

“The Focused Improvement Transformation is all about people, and allowing people to work as teams to improve processes, using problem-solving tools to identify and eliminate waste and non-value-added work from their processes,” said P. K. Hightower, manager of SRNS Continuous Improvement.

In a successful FIT initiative to improve supply chain management, SRNS created an annual savings of $944,000 by shortening the acquisition approval process and increasing the number of requisitions that complete the approval process without any changes.

SRNS reviewed “value stream analyses,” or all the activities required to deliver a specific product or service. These areas include supply chain management, information technology, project management, and the integrated priority list.

In FIT’s first year, subject-matter experts, federal employees, and individuals with an “outsider’s perspective” took part in 20 weeklong rapid improvement events (RIEs) to lay out how processes currently work, how they should work, and how they could look in the future.

The improvements led to streamlined processes and the elimination of unnecessary steps, resulting in a reduction of work hours and representing a significant cost savings.

“The first year of FIT has been outstanding. We’re embarking on our second year with a great deal of momentum,” SRNS President and CEO Carol Johnson said. “Over the next year, more employees will have the opportunity to participate in transforming their work processes and the company, with the ultimate goal of making our work life better as we deliver results safely and securely.”

FIT is built on the company’s continuous improvement and IDEAS (Individuals Developing Effective Alternative Solutions) programs. The continuous improvement program looks to improve products, services, and processes, and all employees have the opportunity to submit suggestions to improve and make work safer through the IDEAS program.

Consultants from Simpler, Inc. helped SRNS by addressing problems with the “Lean” philosophies and problem-solving tools. Lean is a system that focuses on continuous efficiency and quality improvement.

“In today’s business environment, it’s important to gain efficiencies,” said Zachaery Todd, with DOE-Savannah River’s Office of Integration and Planning. “Simpler’s experience with implementing value stream analyses and RIEs at other DOE sites has helped the Savannah River Site achieve significant cost savings as well as numerous process and procedure improvements over the past year.”

Engineer Joins Esteemed Fellows with Celebrated Contributions

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Office of River Protection’s (ORP) Raman Venkata, a structural safety system oversight engineer, was selected as an American Society of Civil Engineers fellow.

The fellow designation, according to the society’s website, is given to those who “have made celebrated contributions and developed creative solutions that change lives around the world.”

Fewer than 3.5 percent of ASCE members have attained this status.

“ASCE fellows have made celebrated contributions and developed creative solutions that change lives around the world,” said Elaine Diaz, ORP chief engineer.

Venkata said that three to five highly-respected fellows have to provide professional references for a nomination, which is then voted upon by a review board.

To even be nominated, a member must have at least 10 years of “responsible charge in the grade of member, and [have a] a professional engineer or professional land surveyor license,” according to the ASCE site. Venkata is a registered professional engineer in civil/structural engineering.

He said he knew he had been nominated, but was surprised and honored to be selected.

“This is an honor for me,” said Venkata. “I came from a small village and grew up in total obscurity since my childhood in the southern Indian states. I feel really humbled. The United States of America has given me so much that I cannot thank our country enough.”

Raman Venkata is a structural safety system oversight engineer at EM’s Office of River Protection.

Venkata has been with ORP for eight years, having previously worked in commercial, chemical, and nuclear engineering and construction, and now nuclear waste treatment engineering fields.

Since entering the engineering field in 1974, he has worked as a designer, responsible engineer, professional engineer, supervisory engineer, manager and senior technical engineer at various locations and reputable companies throughout the country.

“In addition to [his] long list of contributions, he has remained involved in national codes development and participates in several committees to advance structural and seismic engineering design methods for nuclear safety-related structures,” said Diaz. He also “has continuously contributed to advancement of structural engineering design at ORP and across the nuclear complex.”

“I have worked through all the ‘ranks,’ literally,” he said. “It has been very challenging and gratifying.”

While his selection as an ASCE fellow is the culmination of his nearly 45-year career, Venkata said, it comes on the cusp of what he said is another professional highlight — working to complete the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford site.

“I came here simply because I love the challenge and idea of being responsible for protection [of the environment],” he explained.

Diaz noted that Venkata was named the ORP Safety Systems Oversight Officer of the Year in 2014 for his contributions to the WTP project.

New Grants Fund Continued Research, Outreach for EM's Portsmouth, Paducah Sites

Ohio University held discussions with the public on future uses of the Portsmouth Site as part of the PORTSfuture process.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – EM recently awarded grants to Ohio University (OU) and the University of Kentucky (UK) to develop publicly available information related to the cleanup of the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plant sites in Ohio and Kentucky.

The five-year, $2.5-million-dollar grants will also continue public outreach initiated under previous DOE grants, including informing stakeholders on cleanup activities and future use of the DOE sites. This work involves OU’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and its PORTSfuture project, and UK’s Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and the Environment (KRCEE).

“The Department of Energy values these university partnerships that provide important research and outreach supporting the cleanup of our gaseous diffusion plants,” Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Acting Manager Robert Edwards said. “These institutions of higher learning play an important role in helping DOE and communities address challenges and identify opportunities associated with these historic sites.”

With the new funding, OU will continue assisting the local community reuse organization and other site stakeholders to inform site cleanup and property transfer efforts while identifying viable opportunities for future use of the Portsmouth Site.

“A major goal of this project is to provide support to the local community reuse organization in their efforts to realize the citizens’ articulated preferences to reindustrialize the site,” said Stephanie Howe, PORTSfuture program director. “This will support stable, good-paying jobs that contribute to the regional economy and improve the quality of life for many families in the surrounding counties.”

Dr. Steven Price, University of Kentucky Department of Agriculture/Forestry, presents habitat information to Marshall County High School advance placement ecological science students at the West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area lodge as part of a visit for the Annual Site Environmental Reports project.

University of Kentucky students and faculty view a video by UK College of Design students that envisions future cleanup strategies to be considered for EM’s Paducah Site.

A recently launched Virtual Symposium is among the outreach tools used by the Kentucky and Ohio universities as part of their EM-grant-funded activities.

The grants also support educational outreach programs, including work with students at high schools in western Kentucky and in Pike County, Ohio. The high school students prepare summaries of DOE’s Annual Site Environmental Reports for Paducah and Portsmouth to communicate complex cleanup information to the public.

A recent addition to the PORTSfuture and KRCEE programs, which is continued under the recently awarded grant, is the Virtual Symposium, a portal featuring presentations covering recent activities completed by both OU and UK under the DOE grants.

UK is also continuing the development of a virtual museum for the Paducah site. A Portsmouth virtual museum launched in 2012.

Rodney Andrews, director of UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), says the funding allows CAER to continue partnering with UK’s College of Design to envision potential cleanup strategies for the Paducah Site.

“This new DOE grant to support KRCEE is a great example of how CAER is working to improve education, research, and outreach in Paducah,” Andrews said.

SRS Engineers Join Students in Buddy Program

SRNS Engineer Michael Mitchell assists Jackson Middle School student Le'Landra Jarvis with a science project as her teacher Sally Brady looks on.

AIKEN, S.C. – Sixth-graders near Savannah River Site (SRS) stretched their collective knowledge when the school building temporarily closed for a planned water outage, prompting staff members to challenge them to devise an innovative, efficient alternate water system.

With the help of SRS engineers, the school’s teachers are incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) into all of the curriculum, including English, history, and art. The new SRS Engineering Buddy Program integrates the site’s engineering resources with the school’s growing STEM program, allowing professionals to impact academia.

“I was proud of them. They took it in stride and performed well,” Jackson Middle School Principal Jason Holt said of the students.

Holt says the students’ thirst for knowledge grows under the STEM-based system, which changes how information is delivered, processed, and understood.

“This is a grassroots, teacher-driven, first-of-its-kind program in Aiken County,” he said. “One of our primary goals is to create a school of engineers and let the students reap the benefits, which is why we are so pleased with the SRS buddy program.”

DOE Savannah River Office Manager Jack Craig said this initiative is one of several SRS educational outreach programs funded by DOE that target the growth of STEM-based education in the region.

Kim Mitchell is the coordinator of the program managed by SRS management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. She said the alternate water system exercise is a good example of how teachers can tap the wisdom and experience of SRS veteran engineers with STEM expertise.

Even the school’s arts program reinforces what the students learn in STEM-based classes. For example, they learn about photosynthesis in science class and create artwork that shows how plants obtain energy in art class.

“We no longer want our teachers to continually pour out information in a form of one-way communication, be it mathematics, history or any other subject area,” Holt said. “Our teachers have embraced this innovative concept of primarily being facilitators, encouraging an investigative, give-and-take approach that creates a questioning and discerning attitude towards learning. The increased student interaction and potential benefits related to this shift in perspective are endless.”

Student growth will be measured twice a year, and the school will use this data to demonstrate the program’s practicality and effectiveness to parents.

“Our kids are really pushing us to take it to the next level,” Holt said. “They want to be challenged, and we want to create as many junior scholars as possible.”

Mitchell believes the partnership will stimulate the kids and reward SRS employees.

“We want the SRS Engineering Buddy Program to result in the creation of a new instructional model involving SRS engineers working within the STEM system,” Mitchell said.

Donation Improves Nuclear Training, Education

WRPS President and Project Manager Mark Lindholm voices his support for the Columbia Basin College Nuclear Technology program at a demonstration hosted at the college in March.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A $32,000 donation from Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), the Hanford Tank Operations Contractor for EM’s Office of River Protection, is improving nuclear training and education at a local community college.

Nuclear technology students at Columbia Basin College (CBC) in Pasco, Wash., demonstrated a state-of-the-art system that will help workers more effectively avoid radiation exposure. The WRPS donation helped fund the Q-Track system, which allows instructors and students to simulate radiation conditions. The college paid an additional $80,000 for it.

WRPS has contributed more than $300,000 to CBC since the nuclear technology program was established in 2009. WRPS currently employs 10 graduates of the program.

“By investing in CBC’s nuclear technology program, we’re getting students finishing the program and coming out to work at the Hanford Site with a base level of knowledge and skills,” WRPS President and Project Manager Mark Lindholm said. “Our investment at this level allows us to accelerate employee training and development once they get out to the field.”

Q-Track is a computer-based system that follows students’ movements and can display them on a large monitor. The need for a radiation tracking system was identified about five years ago, but the college couldn’t cover the cost alone. That’s where WRPS stepped in.

“WRPS’ donation is of critical importance to our program,” said Dawn Alford, director of the CBC Nuclear Technology program. “This new piece of technology is paramount to the success of our students. The caliber of our training has been elevated, and students leave the program even more prepared to work safely in the nuclear industry.”

Contributors

Jason Chudy, Hanford Site

Susan Clizbe, Savannah River Site

Rick Greene, Portsmouth Site

Destry Henderson, Hanford Site

Kaylyssa Hughes, Nevada National Security Site

Dona Merritt, Nevada National Security Site

Brad Mitzelfelt, Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office

Michael Nartker, EM Headquarters

Nuclear Waste Partnership, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Thomas Pinkerton, University of Kentucky

Caroline Reppert, Savannah River Site

Rob Roxburgh, Hanford Site

Elizabeth Scott, Portsmouth Site

David Sheeley, EM Headquarters

Ben Williams, Oak Ridge Site