EM Update | Vol. 8, Issue 19 | Oct. 17, 2016

DOE Office of Environmental Management sent this bulletin at 10/17/2016 11:40 AM EDT

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EM’s Mark Whitney Reflects on DOE Tenure
Twenty Years of Preparations to Culminate in Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition
West Valley Site Prepares for Vitrification Facility Demolition in 2017
Proposal to Control Tank Vapors Wins ORP’s Grand Challenge
EM Marks Groundwater Characterization Milestone at Nevada Site
DOE Representatives Mark 60 Years of IAEA General Conference
Paducah Site Improves Groundwater Treatment
Moab Project Hosts International Meeting on Uranium Mining and Remediation
New Idaho Site Robotic Technology Adds Muscle, Enhances Safety
Savannah River Site Begins Double-Stacking Waste Canisters
Hanford Site Technology Completes Cleanup to Protect Groundwater
Progress Moves West Valley Closer to Finishing Canister Relocation Project
Hanford Site Completes Successful River Corridor Closure Contract Transition
EM Contractor Instrumental in Providing Observatory’s Continuous Power Wave
Contributors

EM’s Mark Whitney Reflects on DOE Tenure

EM Update recently spoke with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney to look back over his tenure in the DOE cleanup program as he prepares to leave the Department after more than 10 years for a new position in the private sector.

How would you compare EM today to when you came to headquarters?

There have of course been a lot of changes over the past few years. I’d like to begin the answer to this question by noting a couple of important points. First, all of these changes were informed to some degree by the EM workforce; through individual meetings, group discussions, AM with EM, and other engagements, as well as recommendations by the Organization Improvement IPT (Integrated Project Team). We have really begun to transform the organization, in my view, in a positive manner. I also want to mention that I really view what we’ve done as a continuation of the efforts of our EM-1 (EM Assistant Secretary) and EM-2 (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary) predecessors to improve the organization and make EM a better place to work.

I think one of the biggest changes is that we’re now well on the path to being a truly field-centric organization. All of the work EM does, and all of the successes and accomplishments we’ve realized, are in the field. It’s the local communities near our sites that feel the impact of our mission — past, present and future — and they are why we do our job.

It’s incumbent on all of us who work at EM headquarters to be in a position to do all that we can to support the men and women at each cleanup site who are allowing EM to continue to make and sustain progress. This summer’s reorganization of EM headquarters really puts us in a solid position to provide that support. We’ve placed field operations right at the center of our organizational structure through the creation of the new Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations position, and EM headquarters is so fortunate that Stacy Charboneau has agreed to serve in that position and bring her years of experience from Hanford to assist all EM sites.

I’m excited how the new structure of EM headquarters will help us be even more effective and prepare us for the future. I know that some people were surprised by the timing of the reorganization, but as Assistant EM Secretary Monica Regalbuto and I have said before, it’s never too late to do the right thing, and this was the right thing to do to ensure that EM headquarters is able to effectively support the field. I also understand that we are experiencing some growing pains and, to a certain extent, we are still figuring this new structure out. That is to be expected with such a major change and I know that we’ll emerge from this better than ever, precisely because of the talented and dedicated men and women who work in Forrestal, Germantown and 270CC (CC stands for Corporate Center, and all three locations are facilities where EM headquarters employees work in the Washington, D.C. area).

Another significant change I’ll mention is a new emphasis on developing new technologies to aid the EM mission. It’s going to take decades to complete the current cleanup scope, and we need to do all we can to find ways to perform that work more efficiently and in a more cost-effective manner while maintaining worker safety and quality of life.

This new emphasis really got underway in late 2014 thanks to Secretary Moniz and his Advisory Board Task Force on EM Technology Development, which led to us reinvigorating our technology development program. And Monica of course has put the full weight of the EM-1 office behind this important effort. We’re seeking more funding in FY 2017 to support our technology development program. We’ve developed new technology roadmaps to help tackle challenges like mercury and technetium contamination and we’re finalizing a new Innovation and Technology Plan that outlines our approach to developing and implementing technologies to address the most difficult cleanup challenges across the complex. We’re also exploring ways advanced robotics can be utilized to aid and improve our cleanup efforts and make some of the most hazardous jobs safer for our workforce.

In addition, through the reorganization, we’ve created a new dedicated Technology Development office at EM headquarters to help identify and develop those new technologies that really have the potential to be “game changers” in how the EM mission is performed. We’ve also created a new policy office to help better utilize the expertise and capabilities of Savannah River National Laboratory, EM’s corporate lab, to aid not only the cleanup work underway at Savannah River, but across the entire EM program.

What are the main things you’re most proud of during your tenure in EM?

I have been very fortunate when it comes to timing because I’ve been able to see EM realize a number of significant physical accomplishments across the DOE complex. At Hanford, we completed the bulk of the cleanup along the Columbia River corridor; this is an area that’s larger than our last three closure sites — Rocky Flats, Fernald and Mound — combined. This was an effort that resulted in six of the nine former production reactors being placed in an interim safe storage condition; the preservation of the historic B Reactor as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park; the removal of approximately 16 million tons of waste removed; the remediation of more than 1,200 waste sites; and the demolition of more than 500 facilities.

At Oak Ridge, a site near and dear to my heart, we’ve completed the demolition of all five of the former uranium enrichment process buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). These were massive facilities that dated back to the Manhattan Project, one of which, Building K-25, was the largest building in the world under a single roof when it was built. Now the ETTP site is the first site in the world to have decommissioned all its gaseous diffusion plants. Not only is that an achievement for Oak Ridge, but the lessons learned there are going to help us clean up the Portsmouth and Paducah sites.

At Savannah River, we’ve made significant progress in tackling the largest environmental risk there — radioactive tank waste. We’ve completed the closure of eight of the site’s underground tanks and we completed construction and began startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility. That facility is the last major component in the liquid waste system at Savannah River, and once in operation, it’s going to significantly increase our ability to treat tank waste and to empty and close the remaining tanks.

From a more programmatic standpoint, I’m proud of the work we’ve done to help strengthen EM’s relationships with the EPA and with the state regulators that oversee our work. We’ve begun a senior-level dialogue to help better share information and improve communications at all levels. We don’t want the first time we talk to someone be when we have an issue to deal with. We also want to ensure that the cleanup program is understood by all parties. It’s important for EM’s stakeholders to understand each other’s priorities in the context of frank discussions.

EM has a difficult situation in that the cost of the regulatory commitments we’ve made is significantly higher than our annual budget. Since one site’s decisions necessarily impact other sites in many cases, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that all parties understand our complex-wide challenges. I think communications and relationships have already improved, and I’m optimistic EM will continue and build upon this effort.

What do you think will be EM’s next major near-term accomplishment?

I think there are several things on the horizon for EM, and it’s going to continue to be an exciting time for EM going forward. Our highest priority is the recovery of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), and we are in the final stages of preparing to resume waste emplacement activities there, but only once it is safe to do so. The reopening of WIPP is critical for cleanup activities across EM.

At Hanford, demolition is now getting underway at the Plutonium Finishing Plant, once one of the most dangerous buildings at Hanford and in the entire DOE complex. It has been a 20-year process to safely get to this point, and the start of its demolition will represent a huge step forward for EM, plant workers, the community, and stakeholders, as well as the agencies we’ve worked with to get to this point.

A little further out, I think you’ll see EM make significant strides in establishing the capabilities we need to tackle tank waste at Hanford and Idaho. We’re on a path to complete sections of the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant to allow us to begin actual tank waste treatment there as soon as 2022. And we’re moving forward with a phased approach to starting up the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at Idaho that, once in operation, will allow us to address the last remaining liquid waste and tanks at that site. We understand the need to begin waste treatment at Idaho as soon as possible, but safety is our overarching concern and we will not begin radioactive waste treatment until we are convinced we can do it safely and efficiently.

Now, is there something you wish you could go back and do over or do differently?

I’m a firm believer in the leadership philosophy that you hire good people, give them the tools they need to do the job and clear direction at the outset and then let them do their jobs. You ensure that accountability and rewards are appropriate. An important element to this philosophy is really knowing your folks, so you can understand when additional help or support may be needed along the way. For this, you have to invest the time to see them, talk to them and get to know them better. I do regret that I did not spend nearly as much time as I would have liked “in the trenches,” particularly in Germantown.

What words of advice would you give to your successor?

Don’t assume you know everything! Nobody expects that. We have a talented workforce in EM, many with decades of experience in this business. Trust them, listen to them attentively — you will learn a lot and you will make better, more-informed decisions for the program.

What can you tell us about your future plans? What are you most looking forward to?

I’ll be returning to the private sector after almost 12 years of federal service in DOE and NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration). I’m excited about the challenges that the position presents and the world-class organization that I’ll be joining. Like EM, it has really good, hard-working, and dedicated professionals. I’m looking forward to working with them and helping them solve some complex challenges. I’m also really happy that I’ll be continuing, albeit in a different capacity, to work on critical environmental and national security issues.

What I’m least looking forward to is being a degree separated from the outstanding EM professionals I’ve had the honor to work with over the years; however, I’ll treasure those relationships and know that they’ll be enduring!

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Twenty Years of Preparations to Culminate in Plutonium Finishing Plant Demolition

Demolition will progress from the Plutonium Reclamation Facility (green) to the Americium Recovery Room (red) during the remainder of 2016. Demolition of the main processing facility (blue) and the fan house and ventilation stack (orange) will begin in spring 2017.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Demolition of the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) is scheduled to begin within weeks, capping years of challenging preparatory work.

EM’s Richland Operations Office and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) will conduct demolition slowly and methodically, with numerous controls and extensive monitoring in place to ensure employee and environmental safety.

“Today, we’re near the end of a 20-year remediation project to prepare the facility for safe demolition,” EM Federal Project Director Tom Teynor said. “The start of its demolition will represent a huge step forward for the Department, plant workers, the community, and stakeholders, as well as the agencies we’ve worked with to get to this point.”

Crews open a portion of the PRF roof to remove pre-staged glove boxes inside.

Crews recently opened portions of the Plutonium Reclamation Facility (PRF) roof for a crane to remove eight glove boxes from the upper three floors (see a time lapse video here). Crews had already cleaned, decontaminated and prepared the glove boxes for removal. Heavy equipment will demolish PRF after those hazards are removed.

“We will move forward through demolition with our continued focus on safety and each other, our continued cooperation, our teamwork and our skillful approach to every task,” said Tom Bratvold, CH2M’s vice president of the PFP Closure Project. “If we aren’t sure we can do it safely, we won’t do it.”

Glove boxes will be removed from PRF and packaged for off-site disposal.

PRF is the first of four main PFP facilities to be demolished. Next is the Americium Recovery Facility, nicknamed the “McCluskey Room” after a 1976 explosion that severely injured Harold McCluskey, who was working inside. Using personal protective equipment, CH2M employees have already prepared that building for demolition.

Demolition of the main processing and ventilation facilities is expected to begin in early 2017. Crews have prepared the main building, which is the largest of the four, by removing (or prepared to remove during demolition) about 75 percent of contaminated process vacuum piping and 65 percent of the contaminated ventilation duct. Workers are removing asbestos, contaminated piping and filter boxes from the ventilation building.

All demolition is scheduled for completion in summer 2017.

West Valley Site Prepares for Vitrification Facility Demolition in 2017

Workers verify deactivation progress in the vitrification cell.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project has completed 95 percent of deactivation activities at the Vitrification Facility, preparing for its scheduled demolition in spring 2017, several months ahead of schedule.

Workers safely and compliantly removed all major equipment, cleaned and sealed interior surfaces, disconnected all utilities and connections with adjoining structures and obtained characterization data to plan for demolition and waste disposal.

Demolition will produce approximately 6,500 tons of material requiring transport for disposal. EM and contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley will conduct the demolition under the protocols used for the teardown of the site’s once-contaminated 01-14 Building in 2013.

A cutaway drawing shows the internal workings of the Vitrification Facility.

Operating from 1996 to 2002, the Vitrification Facility produced 275 stainless steel canisters from solidifying 600,000 gallons of liquid high-level waste and sludge generated from spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The facility is made up of a vitrification cell, which housed all major radioactive process equipment, operating aisles and working areas, and auxiliary buildings.

Standing 50 feet tall with walls and a roof up to 4 feet thick, the 11,000-square-foot concrete Vitrification Facility is reinforced with structural steel and sided with sheet steel. Demolition workers will use heavy equipment to size-reduce the waste and load it into containers before shipping it to an off-site licensed disposal facility.

All activities will be conducted in accordance with state, federal and regulatory requirements. Workers placed 16 ambient air monitoring stations at locations outside the site boundary and will install real-time air monitors around the demolition area to monitor for potential airborne contamination releases.

An aerial view of the West Valley Demonstration Project. The Vitrification Facility’s deactivation activities are 95 percent complete and the Main Plant Process Building’s deactivation activities are 56 percent complete.

WVDP took special precautions to protect the workers, public and environment from radiological and hazardous constituents prior to demolition and to ensure safe handling of building debris, including:

Removing hazardous and radiological constituents and marking remaining items with high-visibility paint to ensure safe removal and handling during demolition;
Cleaning vitrification cell walls and floor to remove loose contamination;
Sealing floor with grout to protect workers and to prevent water infiltration during demolition;
Training qualified heavy-equipment operators for the Vitrification Facility demolition;
Evaluating the structure before developing the work sequencing plan to identify and ensure safe continuity of demolition activities;
Establishing demolition boundaries to ensure safe equipment operation and to prevent unintentional intrusion;
Setting barriers for dust suppression and runoff to prevent contamination migration; and
Performing daily demolition area housekeeping to prevent release of contamination from waste debris.

Proposal to Control Tank Vapors Wins ORP’s Grand Challenge

Mark Edgren, ORP chief of staff, left, presents Larry Shaffer and Clinton Summers with a plaque announcing their Grand Challenge-winning proposal. The two were part of a four-person team whose proposal aims to destroy organic bearing compounds and remove mercury by installing special skid-mounted treatment units to the vent pipes of Hanford tanks.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A proposal to destroy organic bearing compounds and remove mercury by installing special skid-mounted treatment units to the vent pipes of tanks in Hanford’s tank farms was recently named the winner of the 2016 Grand Challenge.

Participants in the annual competition, now in its fourth year, propose and present creative ideas that can make a significant difference in the safety, quality, schedule and cost of EM’s Office of River Protection (ORP) mission. Judges then evaluate and select ideas for potential implementation.

The target cost savings for each Grand Challenge proposal is over $250 million.

A four-member team made up of Joe Enneking, Larry Shaffer, Clinton Summers and Paul Kovach of the Columbus, Ohio-based NUCON International, Inc. won with their proposal titled “Control of Vapors from Hanford Storage Tanks.”

Their proposal would require about $1 million to produce and test a prototype, but could save ORP up to $20 million a year. That could mean more than $250 million as tank farms activities are anticipated through at least 2040.

Grand Challenge judges reviewed 34 submissions from 20 organizations and partnerships, and selected 10 finalists who presented their proposals in September. Judges looked at factors such as technical viability and risks, whether proposals were achievable within a timeframe to meet mission needs, whether they were executable with existing safety basis requirements, cost avoidance, cost savings, and process efficiencies.

ORP will study about 18 of the proposals for potential implementation, according to Ricky Bang, an ORP facility representative and Grand Challenge advisor.

If only the top 10 were implemented, it could save taxpayers a significant amount of money, said Elaine Diaz, ORP’s chief engineer and Grand Challenge lead advisor.

“Grand Challenge is about getting the job done better, safer and sooner, and spending less of our tax dollars in the process. We all want that,” she said. “By tapping into great ideas from industry, academia, our network of national labs, and our own employees, we can make a significant difference.”

Employees from DOE and its contractors, national laboratories, universities and corporations entered submissions.

“I think this year was good because a variety of organizations participated,” said Bang. “I would say we got an improvement over last year through the increased collaboration between organizations. That resulted in better, more complete ideas that we can study.”

The second-place proposal was “Optimization of Sodium Concentration in Direct-Feed, Low-Activity Waste Feed,” by Sahid Smith, Wendell Wrzesinski and Ben Harp, all from ORP.

The third-place proposal was “Hanford Waste Storage Capacity Management: Double-Shell Tank Life Extensions Supported by Forensics, Diagnostics, and Prognostics,” by Kayte Denslow, Kenneth Johnson, and Michael Rinker of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Kayle Boomer, Theodore Venetz and Jason Gunter of contractor Washington River Protection Solutions; and Dennis Washenfelder of AEM Consulting.

EM Marks Groundwater Characterization Milestone at Nevada Site

NNSS Scientist Jenny Chapman (foreground) discusses groundwater characterization at Frenchman Flat with a resident of Amargosa Valley, Nev. at the 2016 NNSS Groundwater Open House.

LAS VEGAS – EM recently achieved a groundwater characterization milestone at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) when the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection approved transitioning a groundwater investigation area to long-term monitoring.

That’s the end goal of a strategy outlined in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order for five groundwater investigation areas at NNSS. Frenchman Flat, the site of 10 underground nuclear tests between 1965 and 1971, is the first to enter this important final stage.

The Frenchman Flat success follows over 20 years of hard work and continuous study by multiple organizations, including two external peer reviews. In that time, multiple groundwater characterization wells were drilled, three-dimensional computer models were developed and refined and boundaries for restricted access were established.

“The NNSS is one of the most studied locations in the world, and this achievement is a testament to the teamwork between all organizations involved,” said Bill Wilborn, manager of NNSS groundwater characterization for EM.

The underground nuclear tests at Frenchman Flat provided valuable data in a few spectacular seconds. In the decades to follow, NNSS scientists worked to understand the effects of those tests on the site’s groundwater. Their studies confirmed that the contamination from nuclear testing in groundwater at Frenchman Flat poses no risk to the public.

While entering long-term monitoring signifies a thorough understanding of the groundwater flow system, routine monitoring at Frenchman Flat will continue, and results will continue to be reported annually in a publicly-released report.

Scientists prepared a report detailing the Frenchman Flat studies. Their findings include that contaminated groundwater is not expected to leave the Frenchman Flat basin, and that radionuclides in the groundwater will travel less than a mile in 1,000 years.

“The groundwater flow system and potential for contaminant movement is well understood, to the point that protection of the public is ensured,” said Wilborn.

Transitioning Frenchman Flat to long-term monitoring provided NNSS scientists and staff with an invaluable experience for understanding the necessary balance of modeling, monitoring and restricted access protective of the public and the environment. It also sets the stage for other NNSS groundwater investigation areas.

“Although the regulatory strategy is the same, each will have unique challenges due to the varying subsurface environments,” said Wilborn.

NNSS groundwater studies will continue with the goal of transitioning all areas of the NNSS to long-term monitoring.

Click here to learn more about groundwater characterization at the NNSS.

DOE Representatives Mark 60 Years of IAEA General Conference

EM Assistant Secretary Monica Regalbuto (front row, second from right), at a recent U.S.-hosted reception at the Palais Ferstel in Vienna celebrating the 60th anniversary of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) General Conference. Also pictured, front row, left to right, are Ben McRae with the DOE Office of General Counsel, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, and Farah Benahmed, NE; back row, left to right, Michelle Scott, NE, NE Acting Assistant Secretary John Kotek, Andrew Richards, NE, and Aleshia Duncan, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency.

Paducah Site Improves Groundwater Treatment

Operators drill wells during the first phase of the project to further optimize groundwater treatment.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Nine new monitoring wells have been installed in the northeast section of EM’s Paducah Site, representing the first phase of a project to enhance groundwater treatment.

Data from the new wells will support the project’s next phase, which includes installing an additional 13 monitoring wells, two extraction wells, and a new treatment facility to augment the existing pump-and-treat unit. The next phase begins when samples from the nine new monitoring wells are assessed.

A horseshoe-shaped area of contaminated groundwater plumes containing trichloroethene (TCE) extends under the site. TCE was used to clean equipment when the gaseous diffusion plant operated. The chemical’s use was discontinued in the early 1990s.

Two pump-and-treat operations reduced the size of the plumes’ high-concentration portion. More than 3.6 billion gallons of water were treated and more than 4,200 gallons of contamination were removed from the groundwater.

“The optimization project is another positive step in containing and controlling the groundwater contamination at the Paducah Site,” said Dave Dollins, project manager with EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO).

Fluor Federal Services, as EM’s prime contractor for the Paducah Deactivation Project, is setting up the new systems.

“The first phase of installing the new monitoring wells is a major undertaking and key to the successful outcome of the optimization,” Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project Environmental Management Director Myrna Redfield said.

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Moab Project Hosts International Meeting on Uranium Mining and Remediation

The visitors pose for a group photo on the disposal cell cover at the Crescent Junction site.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – More than 40 people from around the world met recently for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting to share lessons learned and address environmental aspects of uranium mining and remediation projects.

EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project hosted the meeting and provided a tour of EM’s project sites in Moab, Utah to the environmental and project managers, operators, researchers and regulators from the U.S. and 13 other countries in attendance.

The meeting at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction highlighted the local academic institution, which offers degrees in environmental science and geology and is expanding its engineering programs. University President Tim Foster welcomed the group.

Dr. Peter Woods, IAEA’s organizer, considered the meeting a success.

“I have had very positive feedback from participants,” he said. “With 26 technical talks involving over 40 participants from 13 IAEA Member States, the meeting was diverse and well attended. This shows the wide interest in the topic of the remediation of former uranium mining and milling sites.”

The participants toured the site where 16 million tons of mill tailings, the remains from the former uranium-ore processing mill, are being excavated, conditioned and placed in metal containers for shipment by rail to Crescent Junction for permanent disposal.

EM Federal Project Director Donald Metzler (orange vest) discusses mill tailings removal and conditioning processes during the Moab Site tour.

EM Federal Project Director Donald Metzler and Moab Technical Assistance Contractor Senior Program Manager Joe Ritchey described the regional geology and history to the tour participants as they traveled by bus 100 miles from Grand Junction to Moab.

Longtime Moab Mayor Dave Sakrison kicked off the tour in Moab, emphasizing the importance of working with the local community to gain support for cleanup projects.

Metzler, who gave an overview of the Moab project to the tour participants, has a long history of participation in IAEA meetings, especially with the Uranium Mining and Remediation Exchange Group, which was adopted under the IAEA in 2012.

“Being the host for one of these meetings, which I feel benefits our project as much as any of the others discussed, has been on my bucket list for many years. I’m glad we were able to show other parts of the world the important work that we’re doing to take care of our legacy waste,” Metzler said.

Woods expressed his appreciation for the tour.

“The field trip to the Moab project, including the disposal cell site at Crescent Junction, was a highlight for many,” Woods said. “I thank the DOE team for their great cooperation, organization and hospitality.”

New Idaho Site Robotic Technology Adds Muscle, Enhances Safety

Waste awaiting retrieval at AMWTP’s Transuranic Storage Area Retrieval Enclosure.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Thanks to new robotic gear, EM’s Idaho Site is better armed to safely and compliantly handle the cleanup complex’s transuranic radioactive waste.

A safe, reliable and accessible tool for opening waste drums and boxes, the new robotic arm began operating this month at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project’s (AMWTP) Treatment Facility.

It’s the first of two arms being installed, replacing the facility’s original robotic arms used to examine, sort and treat much of the legacy waste at AMWTP in the past 12 years.

The new arms are intended to create a safer work environment, enhance productivity and reduce maintenance costs by an estimated 80 percent. In 2015, maintenance personnel entered the facility’s highly contaminated boxlines more than 500 times, each time at a cost of at least $3,600. Crews also report the new arm is easier on their hands and wrists.

Updating AMWTP’s capabilities is timely as retrieval crews remove the last of the waste containers stored at the site for nearly a half century.

The crews currently deal with the most challenging degraded containers. Experience from retrieving more than 64,000 cubic meters of stored waste has helped them prepare to remove the last 550 cubic meters.

In preparing for the final retrieval work, crews reported the need for equipment for increased ventilation to reduce potential contamination levels. Their suggestions led EM to develop a system of pulleys and rails to move a newly designed ventilation hood and hose inside the inner contamination enclosure, a large, movable tent for seriously degraded drums and boxes. The system increases air flow and prevents the crews from sustaining strains and sprains caused by moving the ventilation equipment.

AMWTP’s retrieval operations are scheduled for completion by May 2017.

Savannah River Site Begins Double-Stacking Waste Canisters

This graphic shows the innovative concept for the canister double-stack project. Each current canister position is being modified to accommodate two canisters per existing slot.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM began double-stacking radioactive canisters recently at the Savannah River Site (SRS), part of an innovative effort to increase onsite interim storage capacity of glassified high-level waste.

A shielded canister transporter is used to stack two canisters in the Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) 1 at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). Savannah River Remediation, the SRS liquid waste contractor, is conducting the process.

To modify the canister positions to accommodate two, 10-foot tall canisters, SRS employees developed a remote cutting tool to remove the existing canister support crossbar.

SRR engineers created the tool for less than $120,000 — approximately 25 percent less expensive than commercial ones.

DOE-Savannah River Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Jim Folk said the project is a win for SRS and for saving taxpayer money.

“At DOE, we want to see safe, creative solutions to solve issues,” Folk said. “Finding this new method for canister storage is a game-changer in terms of finding new storage space that will save tens of millions of dollars.”

The first two canisters stacked on top of each other. In the bottom photo, the first canister sits on the crossbar. In the top photo, the second canister is positioned on top of the first canister.

SRS has removed more than 250 of 2,254 crossbars, and 150 of those have been prepared for double-stacking, including installation of a new support plate and shield plugs. The project will continue to modify canister positions for up to eight years, as needed.

Double-stacking increases the storage capacity in GWSB 1 from 2,254 slots to 4,508 slots, creating adequate safe interim canister storage until at least fiscal 2029 and postponing the expense of another storage facility estimated to cost $74 million.

The radioactive canisters contain vitrified waste produced at DWPF. High-level waste from SRS waste tanks is received at DWPF, mixed with a borosilicate glass and heated to create a molten glass, which hardens when poured inside the stainless steel canister. The canister is temporarily sealed, the exterior is decontaminated, and a weld seals the canister prior to storage transport.

The canisters are destined for a future federal repository, but pose no technical or radiological issues staying at SRS in this interim double-stack storage arrangement, according to engineering studies.

Hanford Site Technology Completes Cleanup to Protect Groundwater

Equipment used in soil vapor extraction was used to reduce the level of carbon tetrachloride on the Hanford Site.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Regulators have approved the completion of a cleanup project on the Hanford Site that began nearly 25 years ago that successfully removed nearly 90 tons of deep-soil contamination and reduced groundwater risk using a remediation technology known as soil vapor extraction.

EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) employed the technology to clear contamination by the chemical carbon tetrachloride, which was used in Cold War plutonium processing operations. It spread to an area approximately three-fourths of a square mile and approximately 200 feet in the ground in the 200 West Area.

“This is a major accomplishment and success in our primary goal of protecting the groundwater, which also protects the Columbia River,” said Michael Cline, director of the RL soil and groundwater division.

Nearly 90 tons of contamination has been removed since workers began operating the soil vapor extraction system to clean up carbon tetrachloride in 1992.

The system was shut down in 2012 after carbon tetrachloride levels were below final cleanup levels. A study performed from 2012 through 2015 showed the chemical was sufficiently removed, leaving no continuing source.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a soil vapor extraction action report in August, completing all actions associated with removal of carbon tetrachloride in that area.

“Our team of experts worked to track the contamination and maintain the systems to assure removal of the largest amount of contamination possible,” said Karen Wiemelt, vice president of CH2M’s Soil and Groundwater Remediation Project. “Due to the expertise of our team and other support groups we achieved the legal cleanup level for carbon tetrachloride and were able to permanently end soil vapor extraction operations.”

Removal of contamination from the vadose zone was crucial because it reduced the amount of contamination reaching the groundwater.

Progress Moves West Valley Closer to Finishing Canister Relocation Project

Workers place a vertical storage cask liner on a construction pad.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) is about 70 percent complete toward relocating all high-level waste canisters from a building to be demolished.

The site’s High-Level Waste Relocation Project has safety relocated 195 of the 278 canisters and is on track to move the rest of them to an interim dry storage facility before the end of 2016, nearly one year ahead of schedule.

The canisters must be moved from a former chemical processing cell in the Main Plant Process Building before WVDP and contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley can demolish that building and the Vitrification Facility.

The relocation project, which began in November 2015, marked the first time vitrified high-level waste was relocated for onsite interim storage in the U.S.

The canisters are loaded into vertical storage casks. Nearly 40 casks, each weighing about 88 tons, have been moved about a half mile away to the onsite interim storage pad for eventual disposal offsite.

NAC International, a U.S. supplier of dry storage technology and services to the nuclear industry, constructed all 56 casks for the project. With a design life of at least 50 years, each cask was built onsite, constructed of 20-inch-thick reinforced concrete and containing 4-inch-thick stainless steel liners. Their design is based on spent nuclear fuel dry cask storage systems used throughout the world, with modifications for long-term storage of vitrified high-level waste.

The company previously developed 10 major Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-licensed systems and the first storage and transport canister-based system fully approved by the NRC.

The NAC team, including subcontractors NAES Constructors and local craft, Petersen Industries and Lift-Systems, partnered to provide WVDP’s solutions for interim storage and future shipment of the high-level waste for disposal.

Watch this video of workers constructing the casks and learn more about the project.

Hanford Site Completes Successful River Corridor Closure Contract Transition

CH2M President and Chief Executive Officer John Ciucci welcomed transitioning employees at an orientation session.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Approximately 320 Hanford Site workers arrived at work in late August as new employees of CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M), which assumed the River Corridor Closure Contract scope when Washington Closure Hanford's (WCH) contract ended Sept. 30.

“The contract ended, but the cleanup work important to the community and our stakeholders did not,” EM Richland Operations Office Transition Manager John Neath said. “Many people were involved in ensuring a collaborative and smooth transition.”

Teams from WCH and CH2M spent months making the transition as safe and seamless as possible, reviewing project statuses, timelines, scope, compliance requirements and processes for the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility and 618-10 Burial Ground work.

Weekly meetings served to transition human resources, IT and other support services. Regular communications kept WCH and CH2M employees informed.

“I appreciate the long hours and attention to detail that ultimately allowed important cleanup work to continue during this time,” said Mike Jennings, CH2M transition manager. “The knowledge and skill that we retained on this important cleanup work will allow us to advance the mission into the future.”

Contractors Work Together to Ensure Successful IT Transition

The IT transition team.

CH2M, WCH and Mission Support Alliance (MSA), the contractor responsible for managing IT and other services across the site, completed a major accomplishment in record time by joining forces to provide a smooth transition for the approximately 320 workers under the new contract.

As WCH's contract winded down, CH2M reached out to MSA to help make sure computers, Internet and phone services were available to CH2M workers on their first day.

After months of planning and behind-the-scenes preparation, the technicians, network and software engineers, project managers and teamsters had only three days to successfully reset work stations for the employees.

“This was a great team effort that demonstrated cooperation and efficiency under a very tight deadline and short timeframe for the actual transition,” said Ben Ellison, RL chief information officer.

The team removed WCH computers, equipment and networks at six locations across the site and installed new desktop computers, phone lines and thousands of feet of new cable.

“We were happy to partner with CH2M and WCH to help complete the IT portion of the transition,” said Todd Eckman, MSA vice president of information management. “When you sit back and think about all of the things that needed to be completed in a short amount of time, it’s an impressive feat.”

The team transitioned 75 buildings from the WCH network to the Hanford Local Area Network over a weekend.

As a part of the IT transition, crews installed fiber lines for the Hanford Local Area Network.

The contractors closed WCH’s data center containing 65 servers to help DOE reduce its IT and carbon footprints. The closure was intended to cut energy use, consolidate inefficient infrastructures, optimize existing facilities, achieve cost savings and transition to more efficient infrastructures in compliance with the following:

Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade;
the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act; and
the Office of Management and Budget’s Data Center Optimization Initiative.

The team successfully completed its work before the “go-live” date of Aug. 29, when the employees reported for work with their new company. The IT transition has since run smoothly and without major problems.

EM Contractor Instrumental in Providing Observatory’s Continuous Power Wave

MSA and Benton Public Utilities District linemen set up the cables to be pulled into the vaults.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) recently completed work to ensure continuous electrical power at a unique Hanford Site facility that detects gravitational waves predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

Using lasers to measure the minute ripples in space-time caused by passing gravitational waves, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made headlines last year for detecting such waves 100 years after Einstein predicted their existence.

Since the late 1990s, LIGO has had a single power source from a substation on the site. Performing substation maintenance had become increasingly difficult for MSA’s Electrical Utilities (EU) division as required minimum four-to-six-hour outages had the potential to disrupt LIGO’s expanding scientific research. MSA provides site-wide services and integrated infrastructure.

LIGO proposed establishing a secondary power source. Tim Haddick, RL electrical utility program manager, reached out to MSA EU to begin planning. The project’s scope was wide and included several parties, including Bonneville Power Administration, the Benton Public Utilities District, other Hanford contractors, and several work groups within MSA.

“It took a lot of parties working together and that cooperation is what made this possible. MSA EU deserves the credit for overcoming a lot of obstacles to make this happen,” Haddick said.

The project included the installation of 600 feet of underground cable through 600 feet of conduit that had not been accessed in 20 years, and connecting them to the substation. Coordination between the 13 customers impacted by the project and those performing the work was essential.

On a recent Friday afternoon, power was shut down to all of the site’s 400 Area, parts of the 300 Area, and the 618-10 Burial Ground to allow the work. The project was safely completed in three days, and LIGO’s second power source was fully operational.

“Everyone in EU was involved. It was a lot of work to perform in a short period of time. Safety was our priority so communication was vital,” said Rob Johnson, MSA supervisor of substation electricians.

The observatory is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated on land leased from the Department of Energy by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Contributors

Lynette Bennett, West Valley Demonstration Project

Renee Brooks, Hanford Site

Patrick Conrad, Hanford Site

Rick Dale, Idaho Site

Colleen Hart, Savannah River Site

Destry Henderson, Hanford Site

Kaylyssa Hughes, Nevada National Security Site

Sonya Johnson, Hanford Site

Michael Nartker, EM Headquarters

Dylan Nichols, Paducah Site

Tania Reyes-Mills, Hanford Site

Wendee Ryan, Moab Site

David Sheeley, EM Headquarters

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