Updates from EM's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Oak Ridge, Hanford, Savannah River, Idaho, and Paducah sites; and Much More!

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EM Update | Vol. 9, Issue 12 | June 28, 2017

Oak Ridge Contractor Earns 93 Percent of Available Fee for First Half of Fiscal 2017
PFP Demolition Progress Continues With Ventilation System Shutoff
Cleanup Organizations Address Aging Infrastructure Challenges
EM Sites Share Resources, Lessons Learned to Advance Dry Storage Efforts
Passive Treatment Systems Aid Sustainable Cleanup at Savannah River
WIPP’s Elite Drivers Receive Rigorous Training to Safely Transport TRU Waste
Duo Has Safety Transported WIPP Shipments Over 5 Million Miles in 20 Years
Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit Startup Benefits from Testing
EM, Contractors Collaborate on U.K. 'Snake Arm' Robot Demonstration
EM Hosts Meeting on Robot Software Development
Hanford Workers Complete Key Tasks at Large Waste Site Cleanup
Savannah River Site Employees Safely Repair Cracked Glovebox
Workers Upgrade Idaho Site Facility to Allow for New Waste Treatment Mission
Oak Ridge Contractor Wins International Innovation Award
Hanford Site Workers Remove Waste From 324 Building
International Standards Help Reduce Risk of New D&D Technologies
Two Paducah Site Contractors Receive Governor’s Safety and Health Award
State Honors Savannah River Site Contractors With Safety Awards
Team Receives Award for Best Practice on Contractor Assurance Systems

Oak Ridge Contractor Earns 93 Percent of Available Fee for First Half of Fiscal 2017

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC completed demolition of Building K-731, the former switch house that provided power for gaseous diffusion operations, ahead of schedule and under budget earlier this year.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleanup contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) earned almost $3.4 million for its performance from October 2016 through March 2017, nearly 93 percent of the total award fee available for the evaluation period.

OREM recently issued its latest six-month fee determination scorecard for UCOR.

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.

UCOR received a “very good” rating for project management and “high confidence” for cost and schedule.

The contractor executed its scope under the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) contract very well and advanced multiple projects for Vision 2020, OREM’s goal to complete ETTP cleanup in 2020 and transfer the site to the private sector for industrial development.

UCOR completed demolition of Building K-731 ahead of schedule and under cost. Characterization of Building K-631 and characterization, repacking and shipping of waste containers in Building K-1037 is underway at a cost less than planned.

At ETTP, the contractor reduced risks of excess contaminated facilities and expanded onsite sanitary waste disposal capacity. UCOR provided excellent support to reindustrialization efforts, such as ETTP closure planning and electrical distribution system changes necessary for property transfer.

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, UCOR responded aggressively to issues related to failing infrastructure, ensuring regulatory compliance and enabling the laboratory’s mission activities to continue uninterrupted. UCOR progressed toward construction of the Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility, critical to cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

With 8.8 million hours without a lost workday due to injury, the contractor increased productivity and enhanced worker safety. UCOR employed practices to eliminate organizational weaknesses that contribute to errors and implemented a program in which employees can recognize coworkers who demonstrate a questioning attitude to prevent an injury, equipment failure or adverse event. UCOR also improved radiation protection and industrial hygiene.

OREM pointed to opportunities for improvement in areas such as facility maintenance and work planning and control. For example, OREM noted violations of work authorization, work planning and control, confined space, and radiological control requirements in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment project. UCOR instituted a safety pause to address the issues.

View the scorecard here.

-Contributor: David Sheeley

PFP Demolition Progress Continues With Ventilation System Shutoff

RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford Site workers recently shut off the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) ventilation system, moving the main processing facility closer to demolition this summer. Watch a brief video about the work here.

Since the plant began operating in 1949, the ventilation system had helped keep employees and the environment safe from contamination inside the building by pulling air from process areas and glove boxes and filtering out contaminants. Past and present PFP employees removed hazards from the building, so the ventilation system is no longer necessary.

With the fans no longer operational, workers shut power off to the fan house and stack. EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company is scheduled to begin demolishing the fan house this month and the stack in mid-July. An outside firm experienced in the controlled use of explosives will implode the stack. That company has safely demolished several structures at Hanford using this method.

-Contributor: Destry Henderson

Cleanup Organizations Address Aging Infrastructure Challenges

Participants in the technical information exchange included representatives from DOE headquarters and its Oak Ridge, Hanford, Idaho and Savannah River sites; the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority; and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

OTTAWA, Canada – EM headquarters and field site officials joined representatives from the nuclear cleanup programs of Canada and the United Kingdom (U.K.) earlier this month to share best practices and develop common approaches to address their common aging infrastructure challenges.

Attendees noted that all three government programs — EM, the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) — face similar regulatory and budgetary challenges. Representatives from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Canadian Department of Defense joined the exchange. AECL funded the exchange and EM contractor Longenecker & Associates organized it.

Aging infrastructure at the cleanup sites compounds those challenges. Participants stressed the critical need to establish prioritization approaches to manage aging infrastructure. They discussed the importance of ensuring funding is allocated to the highest-priority items while not compromising other parts of their cleanup programs, such as deactivation and decommissioning. Attendees also toured the Chalk River site, one of Canada’s cleanup sites.

“This has been an excellent few days for DOE to understand the scope and the scale of the issues faced by other similar entities, and build a network of international experts facing the same challenges,” EM Office of Infrastructure Management and Disposition Policy Director Barton Barnhart said.

Martin Grey, NDA’s Asset Management Strategic Authority, described the exchange as a great opportunity to collaborate to resolve common issues.

“The experience of others in identifying and implementing sustainable solutions to the challenges showed the art of the possible for collaboration between geographically dispersed organizations,” Grey said. “It was particularly beneficial to see how those solutions are manifesting themselves through the visit to Chalk River, which I am grateful to Garry Yaraskavitch and his AECL team for sponsoring and organizing. The experience of the Canadian defense organization and the U.S. NNSA in aligning their information management systems will be particularly useful to NDA.”

AECL Senior Director of Plant Operations & Infrastructure Garry Yaraskavitch acknowledged that AECL was privileged to host the exchange and tour of the Chalk River site, where workers are decommissioning facilities while building new utilities and research facilities.

“The technical exchange provided valuable insight into best practices, decision-support tools, and information management that can serve to enhance the respective strategic business decisions in managing aging infrastructure,” Yaraskavitch said.

Working groups will address the critical infrastructure issues common to all three cleanup programs in the months ahead.

- Contributors: Barton Barnhart, Laurie Judd, Andrew Szilagyi

EM Sites Share Resources, Lessons Learned to Advance Dry Storage Efforts

Hanford Site CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company employees who visited EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project included, left to right, Gary Cannell, engineer; Jim Wabaunsee, nuclear chemical operator; Marie Gillespie, design and fabrication project manager; Rick Wilbanks, Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility manager; and Scott Garrison, fuels facilities maintenance manager.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Collaboration between two EM sites thousands of miles apart will result in a safer, more efficient risk-reduction effort involving the relocation of radioactive capsules.

Workers at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in New York state will share lessons learned and equipment with employees at the Hanford Site in Washington state, as the Hanford team prepares to move the 1,936 cesium and strontium capsules to dry storage. The two teams recently met at WVDP.

Last year, WVDP contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV) finished relocating nearly 280 canisters of vitrified high-level waste from the Main Plant Process Building to an onsite interim storage pad, a necessary step to support the building's eventual demolition.

"The West Valley high-level waste relocation team was very excited to share their successes and lessons learned. The technology and equipment, as well as the procedures and processes, will help improve safety and lower overall project costs for the Hanford project. Understanding the differences in the projects also allowed the West Valley team to offer suggestions relative to minor design changes or use of equipment,” said Lettie Chilson, CHBWV high-level waste project engineer.

A white “tug” pulls a blue vertical cask transporter to the West Valley Demonstration Project’s (WVDP) storage pad. Hanford Site workers will use the WVDP vehicle to move casks of cesium and strontium to dry storage.

EM Richland Operations Office and its contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M HILL) plan to relocate the capsules from underwater storage at the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) to dry storage casks on a storage pad.

Dry storage is safer and more efficient than the WESF pool cells and supports future building deactivation. Like West Valley’s storage pad, the Hanford pad will be modeled after dry spent fuel storage systems that use passive cooling at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The systems feature above-ground, shielded cask storage requiring little maintenance and no supplementary ventilation.

“The people we met were very knowledgeable and talked about planning, procedures and simulating the work in a nonradioactive setting, also known as mockups,” said Jim Wabaunsee, WESF nuclear chemical operator. “They shared with us their lessons learned and how they safely overcame the hazards they encountered.”

The Hanford team also viewed a hauling vehicle for moving the casks to outdoor storage. It will be transferred to Hanford, allowing RL to avoid the cost of purchasing one.

“As we move forward with planning and design, to procurement, and eventually through the work itself, we will continue working with the West Valley team to share more knowledge and equipment,” said Mark Buckmaster, CH2M HILL Management of Cesium and Strontium Capsules (MCSC) project manager.

Design work for the MCSC project is scheduled to be completed in fiscal 2018, followed by construction and capsule transfer.

- Contributor: Destry Henderson

Passive Treatment Systems Aid Sustainable Cleanup at Savannah River

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) remote operators Matthew Easley (left) and Tony Craps take readings of a microblower used to remove underground chemical solvents. In the background, SRNS Senior Scientist Branden Kramer explains the solar-powered system to intern Sydney Goodlove.

AIKEN, S.C. – The Savannah River Site (SRS) continues to expand its use of passive groundwater cleanup systems that rely on nature to help lower costs, consume less energy, and reduce carbon emissions.

“Using low-power, low-maintenance methods has proven to be a consistently viable cleanup option at SRS. It’s a matter of using the right tool for the right job. We want to be efficient and cost conscious while ensuring we have the full support of our environmental regulators as well,” said Mike Griffith, a project manager with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the site’s management and operations contractor.

“Years ago, one of our first groundwater cleanup approaches was to use active cleanup technologies to remediate potentially hazardous chemicals in groundwater under SRS,” Griffith said. “These systems required large amounts of electricity and frequent maintenance.”

SRS will continue to use the active pump-and-treat systems in small areas. As groundwater cleanup projects mature and the systems remove the bulk of contaminants, SRS is transitioning to more efficient technologies, such as solar-powered, soil-vapor extraction units. Each of these systems require between 20 and 40 watts of power, easily produced by a small solar panel.

“During a 10-month test, a single solar-powered unit removed 234 pounds of volatile organic compounds from chemically contaminated groundwater beneath SRS,” SRNS Senior Scientist Branden Kramer said.

SRS developed many of these technologies with EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory, working closely with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Kramer acknowledged that the extraction units’ microblowers eventually will be replaced by a simpler system relying on changes in atmospheric barometric pressure to force chemical vapors from underground through plastic pipes.

“We currently have 87 solar-powered and over 100 barometric soil-vapor units functioning at eight different locations onsite,” Kramer said. “We’re down to just a few full-powered vapor-extraction units, so we’ve made significant progress towards low- or no-power passive cleanup technology.”

Another SRS passive technology involves the injection of vegetable oil into the ground to promote the growth of naturally occurring bacteria. They aggressively consume the oil, along with chemicals such as solvents, accelerating the cleanup and saving millions of dollars.

About 60 acres of trees serve as a passive remediation system that removes low-level radioactive contamination from groundwater near the center of the site.

“In essence, we work with nature and use thousands of trees to safely absorb the radioactively-tainted water,” Kramer said. “Using passive cleanup processes reminds me of that old saying, ‘Work smarter, not harder.’”

- Contributor: DT Townsend

WIPP’s Elite Drivers Receive Rigorous Training to Safely Transport TRU Waste

A driver transports transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

CARLSBAD, N.M. – Drivers who transport transuranic (TRU) waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) are trucking industry veterans with impeccable driving and safety records.

CAST Specialty Transportation, which holds the transportation contract for WIPP, is required to hire individuals who meet standards such as driving a semi-tractor trailer combination at least 325,000 miles within the last five years or 100,000 miles per year in two of the last five years.

“The Department of Energy places great importance on the safe transportation of TRU waste to the WIPP facility,” EM Carlsbad Field Office Intuitional Affairs Program Manager James Mason said.

CAST will not hire people with chargeable incidents or convictions for moving violations in commercial motor vehicles within the past five years. WIPP drivers must be U.S. citizens with no felony convictions. They must pass a background investigation.

“Finding qualified drivers is often a challenge due the number of requirements that must be met,” CAST Specialty Transportation Terminal Manager Gallon Fuller said.

Once employed, drivers undergo training for about two months to become qualified to transport WIPP shipments. Instruction covers TRU waste package tie-down requirements, inspections, and recovery techniques. This ensures drivers can work with local officials and recover a TRU waste package in the event of an incident.

Drivers also learn how to assist local first responders in responding to an incident and operate radiation detection equipment.

WIPP shipments are inspected according to criteria of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an association that aims to achieve uniformity, compatibility, and reciprocity of commercial motor vehicle inspections and enforcement by certified inspectors. WIPP drivers learn to conduct pre-inspections for each shipment, ensuring vehicles pass stringent inspections and shipments remain on schedule.

Since beginning operations in 1999, WIPP has received more than 11,900 shipments, accounting for over 14.2 million loaded safe miles, equal to 571 trips around the Earth’s equator.

- Contributor: Bobby St. John

Duo Has Safety Transported WIPP Shipments Over 5 Million Miles in 20 Years

Stan and Linda Taylor in front of a WIPP truck transporting transuranic waste.

CARLSBAD, N.M. – The EM Carlsbad Field Office requires two drivers or a team transport a transuranic (TRU) waste shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), ensuring the truck is never left unattended unless it’s at a secured location.

One of those teams is comprised of two highly skilled drivers: Stan and Linda Taylor.

Stan began his commercial driving career over 35 years ago. Linda began hers 20 years ago, and they have been driving together since. The married couple has logged more than 5 million miles in commercial vehicles, neither receiving a moving citation in the past 30 years.

WIPP receives defense-generated TRU waste shipments from DOE facilities across the U.S. Once a loaded shipment departs the point-of-origin facility, drivers only stop for food and fuel en route to WIPP in southeast New Mexico. This requires drivers to take turns sleeping and driving.

“We have spent the last 20 years no more than four feet apart,” Stan said. “You have to trust and believe in your driving partner. I trust mine”.

A satellite tracks all WIPP shipments. The tractors have numerous safety features, such as lane departure alerts.

“The training we receive before ever transporting waste is very in-depth and beneficial,” Linda said. “The safety of the WIPP shipments is second to none.”

- Contributor: Bobby St. John

Idaho Integrated Waste Treatment Unit Startup Benefits from Testing

The Hazen Research pilot plant’s Denitration Mineralization Reformer vessel is shown at right, and its steam superheaters at left.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Recent bench-scale and pilot plant testing is providing valuable data to aid EM’s efforts to start up and operate the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at DOE’s Idaho Site.

The IWTU will use a fluidized bed steam-reforming process to treat the remaining 900,000 gallons of liquid radioactive waste from the Idaho Site’s underground tank farm.

The IWTU’s primary reaction vessel, the Denitration Mineralization Reformer (DMR), contains billions of tiny beads kept in a fluidized state with the help of superheated gases. Liquid waste enters the fluidized bed, coating the beads like the formation of pearls. The waste product is transferred to stainless steel canisters and ultimately concrete vaults.

Fluor Idaho, EM’s Idaho Site cleanup contractor, has enlisted Hazen Research in Golden, Colorado to conduct testing to correct problems with the DMR involving fluid bed stability and a wall-scale formation resembling bark on the DMR’s interior walls.

The waste feed nozzle atomizes and sprays the liquid waste into the fluidized bed of the Denitration Mineralization Reformer.

Testing proved that controlling the operating conditions — including the size of liquid droplets of simulated waste injected and the size of the resulting solidified waste particles in the vessel — reduces the wall-scale formation and improves the fluid bed stability.

Testing showed that introducing carbon dioxide gas into the bottom of the vessel minimizes the formation of clumps resulting in the bed instability and wall-scale formation.

Researchers are also examining the chemical properties inside the scaled-model reaction vessels as the liquid is converted into a granular solid. Increasing the conversion speed decreases the likelihood of the wall-scale formation.

“During prior demonstration runs at IWTU, the formation of wall scale became a problem because the cause was unknown and it appears to interfere with the fluidization process inside the DMR,” said DOE-Idaho project manager Kevin O’Neill. “The testing at Hazen has been beneficial because they’ve been able to significantly reduce, if not virtually eliminate, this problem.”

An operator works on the facility’s distributed control system.

Testing will continue for several months, providing valuable input into the next IWTU demonstration with simulated waste planned for later this year.

Fluor Idaho is integrating the test results with DMR process modeling and laboratory-scale work performed by the National Energy Technology, Idaho National, and Savannah River National laboratories to establish necessary modifications and operating parameters for the demonstration and ultimately operation of the plant.

- Contributor: Erik Simpson

EM, Contractors Collaborate on U.K. 'Snake Arm' Robot Demonstration

The "snake arm" robot cuts through a quarter inch of steel.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Representatives from EM headquarters, the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, Savannah River National Laboratory, and cleanup contractors came together for a demonstration on new technology combining robots and lasers for use in hazardous, confined spaces.

The May 17 demonstration focused on the "snake arm" robot, which can assist with size-reduction cleanup tasks at nuclear reactors and gaseous diffusion plants, such as EM’s Portsmouth Site. Users can deploy the robot remotely in areas of high radioactivity and limited access. It quickly cuts through materials and generates less secondary waste and debris than other methods, such as hand-held plasma arc cutters.

In a mockup demonstration, the robot’s laser cutter made longitudinal, radial and angled cuts of steel and concrete up to an inch and a half thick to show how it would reduce the size of components as part of deactivation and decommissioning (D&D). It also demonstrated how it can manage angled profiles.

EM is increasingly promoting the use of advanced robotic technologies to enhance worker health and safety and improve performance, productivity and overall quality. EM’s mission and cleanup challenges match with the many domains of robotics, involving underwater, belowground, aerial, and access-restricted locations.

EM Office of Infrastructure and Deactivation and Decommissioning Director Andrew Szilagyi planned the demonstration with the Electric Power Research Institute. EM contractors Atkins, Westinghouse and Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, the Portsmouth Site cleanup contractor, attended.

The "snake arm" robot follows the contour of an angled piece of steel to ensure a complete and accurate cut.

United Kingdom’s (U.K.) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield Ltd., OC Robotics and TWI developed the robot and the laser, which has been used to reduce the size of large metal artifacts, such as fuel skips and dissolver vessels, in the past year.

“We have been talking with the U.K. about the development of this system for some time and it is pleasing to see the long-running collaboration between DOE and NDA bearing fruit, especially in the field of robotics,” Szilagyi said. “I hope this is the first of many similar projects between our organizations.”

PPPO D&D Federal Project Director Judson Lilly described the demonstration as “spectacular.”

“It answered a number of questions we have had about the use of laser cutting for this application and showed that the technology has moved on a lot further than we realized,” Lilly said. “I was particularly impressed with the fact that the system uses regular shop voltage of 415 volts and has a self-contained chiller unit for the laser so that no major building modifications are necessary for these utilities.”

NuVision Engineering hosted the demonstration at its testing facility in Mooresville, North Carolina in May. NuVision has a contract with EM headquarters to support international technology transfer and demonstration.

Demonstration participants will discuss a path forward following the event.

- Contributors: Laurie Judd, John Ritter, Andrew Szilagyi

EM Hosts Meeting on Robot Software Development

Rod Rimando, director of the EM Technology Development Office, addresses the U.S. Federal Executive Departments and Independent Agencies Meeting on Robotic Operating System, held June 26-27 in the Washington D.C. office of Argonne National Laboratory. The meeting, hosted by EM, brought together government experts to discuss collaboration among departments and agencies on the application of frameworks for robot software development.

Hanford Workers Complete Key Tasks at Large Waste Site Cleanup

Workers removed more than 300,000 tons of soil from a waste site contaminated with uranium, digging 67 feet to groundwater at the project site near the Columbia River.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) is closer to completing remediation of a hazardous waste site after workers recently removed the final piece of a buried pipe and finished clearing more than 300,000 tons of contaminated soil.

Altogether, crews have removed more than 400,000 tons of low-level waste from the 618-10 Burial Ground. Completion of the project is an objective in RL’s 2020 cleanup vision, which addresses remaining cleanup along the Columbia River and focuses future operations on the Central Plateau’s waste sites, aging facilities, and infrastructure.

“Removing this highly contaminated waste from the Cold War marks a proud moment in our progress, and we have the team of hard-working, highly experienced people at the 618-10 project to thank for it,” said Bryan Foley, RL’s federal project director for the burial ground cleanup.

Employees developed a new approach to remove 14 pipes buried 20 feet underground, vertically, filled with radioactive waste from the 1950s and '60s.

Workers from RL contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) finished digging 67 feet to groundwater to remove uranium-contaminated waste in May. They disposed of the low-level radioactive soil at the Hanford Site’s onsite landfill, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.

Employees took out the last of 94 vertical pipe units (VPU) buried 20 feet belowground. They contained radioactive waste from the Hanford Site’s 300 Area laboratories and fuel development facilities during plutonium production. Click here for a video overview of the 618-10 project.

The last 14 VPUs remediated were made of heavy-gauge steel and smaller in diameter compared to the 80 units completed in February. They required a new technology that exposed short segments of the pipes, which were then sheared and processed under a grout mixture.

“These achievements are the result of years of preparation,” said Tammy Hobbes, vice president of the 618-10 project at CH2M. “We are near the end of this remediation project, and we are proud of the teamwork and safe progress made.”

Crews are preparing to remediate a nearby waste site associated with testing contaminant migration through soil during the early years of cleanup.

- Contributor: Jennifer Copeland

Savannah River Site Employees Safely Repair Cracked Glovebox

Employees work in an HB Line glovebox.

AIKEN, S.C. – Employees from more than 20 Savannah River Site (SRS) organizations repaired a glovebox cabinet in the HB Line ahead of schedule.

“Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the management and operations contractor at SRS, replaced the HB Line Operational Area 5 glovebox panel that had been cracked during normal operations within six weeks of the planned 11 weeks,” SRNS HB Line Operations Manager and Project Lead Lee Sims said.

A glovebox is a stainless steel box with safety glass panels that shields and segregates workers from hazards. It has fitted glove-port openings to allow contaminated materials handling.

The panel was cracked during a routine processing activity when equipment internal to the glovebox inadvertently came into contact with the inner-glass panel. The panel is made of a multilayer, shatter-proof safety glass, one of many safety features that protect workers.

“Over 20 functional organizations across SRS came together to ensure we completed this work safely,” Sims said. “We looked at lessons learned from prior panel replacements before beginning work and planned each step carefully.”

Workers replaced the HB Line Operational Area 5 glovebox panel that had been cracked during normal operations.

Management used the panel replacement as a teaching opportunity.

“We paired seasoned operators, and radiological protection department and construction personnel with less experienced employees. Because this is not an activity that is done often, it is important for experienced personnel to pass on the know-how for future work,” Sims said.

SRNS implemented corrective actions associated with this event. The contractor worked with the Savannah River National Laboratory material group to help design improvements to equipment used in that glovebox to mitigate risk associated with equipment contacting the glovebox panel.

“I am proud of all the organizations and employees who came together to ensure the panel replacement was completed safely and successfully,” said Wyatt Clark, SRNS vice president of environmental operations.

- Contributor: Lindsey MonBarren

Workers Upgrade Idaho Site Facility to Allow for New Waste Treatment Mission

Ken Krivanek, a project engineer with EM contractor North Wind, inspects fabrication of a new hatch cover, part of the upgrades to the New Waste Calcining Facility hot cell.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Workers at EM’s Idaho Site are upgrading a hot cell in the New Waste Calcining Facility at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center to allow for the safe processing and treatment of a backlog of waste stored at the Materials and Fuels Complex.

EM must process this waste stream to meet a site treatment plan commitment with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The waste originated from the Argonne National Laboratory-West Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor programs from the 1960s through the 2000s.

In preparation for the facility’s new mission, operators helped determine updates needed to make their jobs more efficient and safer. They participated in all design reviews.

“It was a true collaborative effort between engineering and operations to finalize the new process configuration to meet future commitments and milestones,” said EM Idaho Cleanup Project Contractor Fluor Idaho Engineering Manager David Morgan. “Everyone had a singular goal in mind: safe operations.”

- Contributor: Erik Simpson

Oak Ridge Contractor Wins International Innovation Award

URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC’s Gary Kephart and Bill Evans, far left, accept the Innovation Award from the event hosts.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s (OREM) cleanup contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) was among 11 winners internationally of the Environmental Health & Safety Innovation Awards.

UCOR was the public sector category winner. The award highlights the company’s use of sensors, drones, information technology, wearables, and occupational health and safety software in cleanup projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park, Y-12 National Security Complex, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

“They’ve done a tremendous job fostering a culture where employees are encouraged to approach and perform sensitive and complex projects in new and creative ways,” said Jay Mullis, OREM acting manager. “Our mission is reaping the benefits as we continue making progress while helping keep the workforce safe.”

The company recently used a drone for the first time to inspect a 250-foot stack at ORNL. The 65-year-old brick structure is critical to the laboratory’s gaseous waste system, requiring periodic visual inspections due to its age.

Following commands from its ground-based operator, the camera-mounted drone circled around the stack, searching for flaws that could threaten its structural integrity and safety. Using the drone reduced risk by eliminating the need for workers to climb the stack and establish work platforms high in the air.

“Health and safety are foundations of our business approach, and we are honored to receive an award that recognizes the innovations used to ensure our employees remain healthy and injury-free,” UCOR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter said. “This award belongs to our workers, who drive the implementation of advanced technologies across our site. Our employees constantly evaluate how we do our work and look for ways to do the job better and with less risk to themselves and their coworkers.”

An independent judging panel selected winners based on key parameters of their projects and business results.

More than 200 delegates shared best practices and technologies to improve health and safety at the event in Houston, Texas.

- Contributors: Mike Butler, Ben Williams

Hanford Site Workers Remove Waste From 324 Building

RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford Site workers are removing waste from the 324 Building’s airlock so they can eventually clear out contaminated soil from beneath the building. The airlock helps provide contamination control when accessing adjacent hot cells where workers once handled radioactive materials.

The airlock will serve as an access point to install remote-operated equipment to remove the contaminated soil underneath one of the hot cells and place it in other hot cells for eventual disposal. This work is necessary before demolition of the 324 Building begins in 2019.

Waste in the airlock, including plastic and contaminated clothing, is scheduled for removal by September. Workers with EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company are preparing a full-scale mockup of the airlock and B Cell. They will install the remote-operated equipment there for testing and training before moving it to the 324 Building.

- Contributor: Destry Henderson

International Standards Help Reduce Risk of New D&D Technologies

Hanford Site workers applied a fixative to lock down contamination before beginning demolition of the Plutonium Reclamation Facility canyon, part of the Plutonium Finishing Plant. Read more about the work here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM relies on new technologies to address challenging deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) projects. Ensuring such tools integrate into the cleanup program safely and smoothly is critical.

To mitigate risk associated with implementing cutting-edge technologies, EM is turning to international standards for development and testing protocols, and updating directives and handbooks with advancements in technology development. The efforts come after EM consulted its field sites to gain a better understanding of obstacles workers encounter incorporating new technologies into cleanup.

Under its cooperative agreement with EM, Florida International University Applied Research Center researchers are working with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International to develop new standards to support the nuclear industry’s testing and evaluation requirements for D&D technologies.

An ASTM International subcommittee on radiological protection for D&D of nuclear facilities and components is creating consensus- and science-based standards that align with technical specifications and safety, regulatory, and operational requirements.

The group — comprised of about 40 international representatives from government, national laboratories, academia, and the private sector — is working to promote relevant, uniform testing protocols for use in nuclear environmental management that could increase worker safety, efficiency, and cost effectiveness. These standards could also serve to update the directives and guidance documents, such as DOE handbooks on airborne release fractions and respirable fractions for nonreactor nuclear facilities.

ASTM International establishes critical measurement solutions and uniform testing protocols in an open, collaborative process. The subcommittee formed a working group that drafted specifications for permanent and strippable coatings and fixatives for decontamination and mitigating the spread of radioactive contamination. A fixative is a permanent coating, stabilizing residual loose and transferrable contamination. It prevents contamination from spreading and becoming airborne, reducing workforce exposure and enabling future D&D activities. Strippable coatings decontaminate surfaces; loose and transferrable contamination is removed when the coatings dry and are peeled off the surfaces.

The subcommittee voted unanimously to approve the specifications. ASTM’s 120-member committee on nuclear technology and applications will vote on them next.

The subcommittee will pursue testing protocol and standards development for other D&D technology categories.

Check for updates to the standards at EM’s D&D Knowledge Management Information Tool website.

- Contributors: John DeGregory, Peggy Shoffner, Joseph Sinicrope

Two Paducah Site Contractors Receive Governor’s Safety and Health Award

Left to right, Deputy Kentucky Labor Secretary Michael Nemes; Swift & Staley Environment, Safety and Health Manager John Hobbs; Swift & Staley Team United Steel Workers Safety Representative Phillip Easley; and Kentucky Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Two companies working for EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) received the Kentucky Governor’s Safety and Health Award.

The Swift & Staley Team (SST), infrastructure support services contractor, was recognized for 507,044 hours worked without a workplace injury or illness resulting in days away from work during the previous year, and the employees of Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS), the operations contractor for the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities, achieved 796,234 hours during the same period.

The Governor’s Awards, presented May 12 at the Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s 33rd annual Safety and Health Conference, recognize outstanding safety and health performance.

“The Department is pleased to see our contractors receive such recognition,” PPPO Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard said. “Safety is our first priority, and awards like these encourage managers and employees to always embrace a safety-conscious work environment.”

Swift & Staley Team Instrument Mechanic John Stinson (left) and Electrical Mechanic James Rodgers install a guy wire at EM’s Paducah Site.

Prime contractor SST, which consists of Swift & Staley Inc. and major subcontractors North Wind Solutions LLC and Wastren Advantage Inc., is responsible for Paducah Site roads and grounds maintenance, janitorial services, safeguards and security, information technology, radiological monitoring services, records management and document control, building maintenance, property management, and training. SST began its current contract in December 2015.

“This award is the result of each and every SST employee’s daily commitment and ownership of personal safety,” SST Environment, Safety and Health Manager John Hobbs said. “The work environment can be dynamic and unpredictable but through effective leadership, training, and employee involvement, SST employees are successfully accomplishing the mission without serious injury.”

Left to right, Deputy Kentucky Labor Secretary Michael Nemes; Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS) Environment, Safety and Health Manager Joe Johnson; MCS Radiation Health and Safety Technician Doug Raney, a United Steel Workers (USW) safety representative; MCS Production Support Operator John McWaters, USW vice president; MCS Production Supervisor Jeff Nienaber; and Kentucky Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey.

Prime contractor MCS operates PPPO’s DUF6 conversion facilities and storage yards at the Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio sites.

"Without the hard work and dedication from each of our employees and management team, awards like this would not be achievable," MCS President and Project Manager Alan Parker said. “Now, we just need to aim for next year.”

A joint venture of Atkins Global Nuclear Secured, Westinghouse Government Services, and Fluor Federal Services, MCS assumed responsibility for facility operations under its contract in February 2017. The previous contractor was BWXT Conversion Services.

Mid-America Conversion Services workers move a Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride storage cylinder at the Paducah plant.

The DUF6 project began processing DOE’s more than 700,000 metric tons of the uranium enrichment byproduct in 2011 at its specially designed Ohio and Kentucky facilities. The conversion process results in two materials suitable for beneficial reuse and disposal: depleted uranium oxide and hydrofluoric acid.

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was built in the early 1950s to enrich uranium for national defense and later for commercial energy purposes. The plant ceased commercial operation under lease in 2013 and was returned to DOE in 2014 for deactivation and decommissioning. Extensive cleanup of the site began in the late 1980s.

- Contributors: Kearney Ackermann, John Hobbs, Kentucky Labor Cabinet

State Honors Savannah River Site Contractors With Safety Awards

Savannah River Remediation employees participate in a safety briefing before starting work.

AIKEN, S.C. – Three Savannah River Site (SRS) contractors won the state of South Carolina’s 2017 Palmetto Shining Star Safety Award for exemplary safety performance in 2016.

The award went to EM’s liquid-waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR), security contractor Centerra, and management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS).

SRR exceeded one million hours without a workday lost to injury in 2016. Its injury rate was at least 75 percent below the South Carolina average injury rate for similar industries. SRR has more than 3 million safe hours to date and an injury rate of 0.46 per 100 employees, well below the state average of 2.0 per 100 employees. The SRR construction workforce recently surpassed 29 million safe hours since 1998.

SRR President and Project Manager Tom Foster is proud the SRR team maintains a strong safety culture.

“Throughout the lifetime of the contract, SRR has been recognized as a leader in safety,” Foster said. “As we head toward the end of eight years of successful liquid-waste operations, obtaining the 2017 Palmetto Shining Star Safety Award demonstrates our continued commitment to safety.”

Centerra instructors ensure employees train safely at the Savannah River Site.

Centerra, the site’s security support contractor, set a company record by achieving nearly 1.4 million hours without a workday lost to injury in 2016.

Centerra General Manager Mark Bolton stressed the significance of the company’s safety culture.

“We understand the importance of maintaining a safe work environment in all operations, and our goal every day must be to avoid injury,” Bolton said.

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions employee Tekila McCoy wears protective equipment to safely complete work inside a glovebox in the Savannah River Site F and H Area Laboratory.

SRNS attained more than 9.7 million safe hours in 2016 by safely conducting highly technical and hazardous operations without a workday lost to injury in 2016. The SRNS employee injury rate was significantly less than the state average — 0.27 per 100 employees for its construction workforce and 0.15 per 100 employees for its operations workforce.

“We're proud of our employees earning this recognition,” said SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean. “Our culture is nurtured and sustained by frontline workers who are driven by a genuine desire to perform their work as safely as possible."

The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation presented certificates to 26 South Carolina-based companies recognizing safety excellence.

- Contributors: Angie Benfield, Rob Davis, Ashley Dernberger

Team Receives Award for Best Practice on Contractor Assurance Systems

Five members of the award-winning team are pictured, left to right: John Longenecker, Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Managing Director and President of Longenecker and Associates; Patricia Allen, EFCOG Chair of the Integrated Safety Management and Quality Assurance (QA) group and Director of Environmental, Safety, Health, and QA and Contractor Assurance for Savannah River Remediation; Jan Preston, EFCOG Vice Chair of the Integrated Safety Management and Quality Assurance group and Project Director at Fluor Government Group for Environmental/Nuclear; John McDonald, EFCOG Chair of the Safety Working Group and Organizational Performance Improvement Manager for Washington River Protection Solutions; and Ray Skwarek, EFCOG Board of Directors and Environmental, Safety, Health, and QA Manager for URS | CH2M Oak Ridge. Team members not pictured are Juan Alvarez, Deputy Laboratory Director for Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC; Brian Andrews, Feedback & Improvement Manager for Consolidated Nuclear Security; Mike Hassell, Director of Performance Assurance for CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company; Halter Steve, Senior Program Manager for Kansas City National Security Campus; Lori Fritz, Vice President for Mission Support Alliance; Sharon Steele, General Engineer for DOE; Scott Nicholson, Director for the Office of Safety and Quality Assurance for DOE at the Savannah River Site, Jeff Eichorst, Performance Assurance Engineer for DOE Office of River Protection; Danny Field; Todd LaPointe, South Carolina Safety and Security Director, DOE; Jim Hutton, EM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Safety, Security and Quality Assurance; and Robert Boston.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) honored a team of federal and contractor employees for developing a best practice to improve contractor assurance systems (CAS) across the DOE complex.

The 17-member task team received the 2017 Energy Facility Contractors Group Annual Teamwork Award at EFCOG’s annual meeting this month. The team created the Effectiveness Validation Best Practice, which helps determine best practices for CAS for DOE contractors. DOE uses CAS to manage performance consistent with contract requirements, providing transparency between the Department and its contractors.

The team’s tool provides common attributes that DOE and contractors can use to validate CAS effectiveness. Access the tool on the EFCOG website.

In the future, the EFCOG CAS task group will be responsible for the Effectiveness Validation Best Practice. That group is led by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Quality Assurance and Operational Excellence Director Darlene Murdoch. The group falls under the EFCOG Integrated Safety Management subgroup chaired by Savannah River Remediation Environmental, Safety, Health, and Quality Assurance and Contractor Assurance Director Patricia Allen, who received a team award for her work on the project.

“One of the key areas where the EFCOG and DOE partnership has been particularly valuable over the past decade has been contractor assurance.” Allen said. “Developing tools geared toward continuously improving CAS processes will help improve facility and laboratory performance across the complex. That is our goal.”

Washington River Protection Solutions Organizational Performance Improvement Manager John McDonald is co-chair of the EFCOG task team and chair of the EFCOG Safety Working Group. He said the tool contributes to improved mission execution and operational excellence.

“This was an outstanding team comprised of EFCOG and DOE subject-matter experts,” McDonald said. “We were able to converge on the team goal and produce a quality product ahead of the schedule we had set for ourselves. It was a rewarding experience to be on this team.”

Pat Worthington, EM Director of Health and Safety within the Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security is co-chair of the EFCOG task team. Worthington said this project addresses several DOE and contractor initiatives related to CAS effectiveness.

“I applaud the team for executing an important initiative that resulted in delivering a Contractor Assurance Effectiveness Evaluation Best Practice to be used by contractors across the DOE complex,” Worthington said. “After reviewing existing practices from the various DOE program areas, the team came to a general census on attributes that can be used to validate CAS effectiveness.”

- Contributor: Maddie Blair

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