EM Update | Vol. 10, Issue 8 | Feb. 27, 2018

• Jack Craig Looks Back on 29 Years in Cleanup
• Hanford Site Services Provider Receives 94 Percent of Available Annual Fee
• Role of Soil Remediation Grows as Oak Ridge Buildings Come Down
• Moab Site Marks Milestone of Moving 9 Million Tons of Mill Tailings to Disposal Cell
• Paducah Site Restores Rail Service to Support Cleanup, DUF6 Operations
• New Mexico Legislature Honors WIPP Communications Veteran

Jack Craig Looks Back on 29 Years in Cleanup

Jack Craig is retiring as manager of the Savannah River Operations Office.

AIKEN, S.C. – DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager Jack Craig retires Feb. 28 after 32 years of federal service, including 29 years of leadership in the environmental cleanup program. EM Update spoke with Craig about his accomplishments, opportunities for success at Savannah River Site (SRS), his tenure at EM headquarters, and plans for retirement.

What are some of your proudest accomplishments during your lengthy career in EM? How would you assess the state of the EM program today?

I have been fortunate over my career to have worked on some interesting and challenging projects along with some great people. There are four different and distinct projects and assignments that stand out:

• Working at Fernald in the early days of the EM program and later as director where we successfully completed site cleanup and closure ahead of schedule and under budget. Later during this timeframe I was also able to play a role in the completion of the Rocky Flats and Mound projects.
• Creation and standup of the EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) in 2004, where we were able to staff the organization with competent business and technical staff and improve overall EM acquisition and business processes.
• Working on overall EM budget development, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recovery, and EM Los Alamos National Laboratory work scope as Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at EM headquarters in 2014.
• Serving as the manager of SRS at a time when great progress was made in the liquid high-level waste (HLW) program, Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) construction, nuclear materials processing, and expansion of the work at Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). 

The EM program today is in a great position to address the many challenges that exist. The continued focus on major risks such as liquid HLW should see dramatic progress over the next few years with the ramp-up at SRS, with SWPF becoming operational, and the startup of low-activity waste vitrification facilities at Hanford. Great progress has been made at WIPP, and over the next few years improvements will be made to facility infrastructure and ventilation, leading to increase both in the receipt of transuranic waste and in disposal capacity. These and other successes will help drive confidence in the overall program which should lead to stable or increased resources and funding.

What do you see as the next opportunities for major successes at Savannah River? What are you most proud to have accomplished there?

I’ll point to three areas that are great opportunities for near-term success:

• The liquid HLW program at SRS has closed eight liquid HLW tanks, operated the Defense Waste Processing Facility for 20 years, producing over 4,000 HLW glass canisters, and is disposing low-activity waste grout in the site’s Saltstone Facilities. Over the next three years, SWPF will become operational and ramp up treatment capabilities by over five times the current capacity, leading to the accelerated cleanup and closure of the remaining 43 liquid HLW tanks.
• The nuclear materials program has an opportunity to fully utilize H Canyon and K Area to ramp up spent nuclear fuel (SNF) processing, DOE’s only current capability to treat, remove, and dispose of SNF, and to downblend excess plutonium for disposal at WIPP.
• Expand SRNL’s ability to provide world-class research and development and engineering solutions to address challenges across the department and within other federal agencies.

I am proud that the areas outlined above, along with the other environmental stewardship and national security missions at SRS, have met or exceeded our mission goals in a safe manner. We have been able to accomplish these goals with a great workforce, an effective working relationship with our regulators, and with outstanding collaboration and support of the community. 

During your tenure in EM, you held leadership positions at both EM headquarters and in the field. How did your experiences in one help you in the other?

In my experience, I’ve learned if EM is to be successful there must be alignment of mission, priorities, and goals between the field and headquarters. One of my priorities as a field manager has always been developing effective communication and alignment with my counterparts at headquarters. This has led to better understanding and support in the budget process and in decision-making for projects or contract issues. Having spent most of my career in the field, it was valuable for me to spend 2014 in EM headquarters to better understand challenges from a different point of view, but also to reinforce the importance of alignment between headquarters leadership and field management. My time in headquarters made me a better field manager and helped me develop relationships with other headquarters staff organizations outside of EM which sometimes have roles in decision-making.

You were instrumental in the creation of two EM field offices — EMCBC and the EM Los Alamos Field Office. How would you assess how those entities are functioning today and how they are aiding EM in carrying out its mission? 

In 2004, I was asked by EM management to create an office — the EMCBC — to:

• Centralize business functions for the EM program, with a focus on improving efficiency and developing expertise primarily in contracting and acquisition, but also in business support functions such as cost estimating, financial management, and legal contracts support.
• Develop necessary technical and business functions to provide line management for the completion of the three large closure sites — Rocky Flats, Fernald, and Mound — and for the oversight of ongoing work at EM small sites, including the West Valley Demonstration Project, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Energy Technology Engineering Center, Moab, and Separations Process Research Unit.

I believe over the last 13 to 14 years the EMCBC has been a success as measured by the successful closure site and project completions, and the improvements in EM acquisitions. The ability to have the competent federal resources in the acquisition and support areas, the standardization of the procurement process, and better communication, through industry days and draft requests for proposals, has led to more efficient new EM acquisitions. I believe the improved efficiency has been noted by industry and has also streamlined the DOE selection process.  

The creation of the EM Los Alamos Office was the result of the WIPP events in early 2014, but also a desire to have major EM work in the complex report to the DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management through line management. Many people were involved in its creation, including Christine Gelles, and the office is now being led by one of EM’s most capable field managers, Doug Hintze. The first step was to separate the EM work at Los Alamos into a scope of work and contract separate from the National Nuclear Security Administration activities with the incumbent contractor. This was completed prior to the establishment of the new EM office. Then, this new scope of work was the subject of a new competitive EM contract. With the recent award of the new contract for the EM work at Los Alamos and with oversight from the new EM Los Alamos Office, I believe safe and steady progress will be made in the upcoming years.

What are you most looking forward to in retirement from federal service?

I look forward to spending more time with my family and playing more golf. I plan to stay in touch with the EM program because it has been part of my life the last 29 years and I look forward to seeing some great program successes over the next few years. 

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Hanford Site Services Provider Receives 94 Percent of Available Annual Fee

As the site services provider at Hanford, Mission Support Alliance’s responsibilities include maintaining the site’s roads, infrastructure, utilities, and emergency services.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office site services contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) earned $20.4 million, or 94 percent, of the available award fee for EM work performed from Oct. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2017, according to a recently released scorecard.  

   “Overall, I am pleased with the progress attained this past fiscal year,” said Richland Operations Office Manager Doug Shoop in a letter to MSA that accompanied the scorecard. “I look forward to working with MSA in continuing to right-size the Hanford Site infrastructure, improving site-wide safety, and driving for safe and cost-effective cleanup.”   

   Each year EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments, earned by completing the work called for in the contracts, to further demonstrate transparency in its cleanup program.

   The scorecard said MSA met or exceeded the majority of performance goals and objectives for the performance period. The scorecard also detailed some of MSA’s significant accomplishments, like the Hanford Fire Department doing an exceptional job during an extreme fire season, the roads program operating beyond expectations in an unusually severe winter, and MSA’s strong leadership in the ongoing administration of the Contractor Interface Board in resolving issues between contractors.

   Although there were no significant deficiencies, the scorecard noted areas where MSA could improve, including the need for MSA to develop a software quality assurance program that meets DOE requirements and to increase its focus on vehicle safety. 

   A copy of the scorecard is available here.

- Contributor: Kristen Holmes

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Role of Soil Remediation Grows as Oak Ridge Buildings Come Down

Soil excavation in the Poplar Creek area at East Tennessee Technology Park.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Soil remediation has become a larger part of cleanup at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) since workers safely demolished many of the contaminated and unneeded buildings at the former uranium enrichment complex.

   EM’s goal is to convert ETTP into a private-sector industrial park to benefit the region economically. Finishing major soil remediation is one of the final requirements before DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) can complete cleanup and transfer the site from government ownership. 

   OREM and contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) are responsible for surveying and analyzing the 2,200-acre area that comprises ETTP. Zone 1 is a 1,400-acre area outside the main plant, and Zone 2 is an 800-acre area that comprises the main plant area. 

   Teams sample the soil at varying depths and locations to determine where contamination exists from previous operations and the extent of contamination. If results show contamination levels that exceed regulatory limits, the soil is excavated and replaced with clean fill. Most sites are then seeded and returned to grassy fields. 

A project underway on the footprint of K-25, which was once the world’s largest building and one of EM’s largest cleanup projects.

   So far, OREM has remediated approximately 200,000 cubic yards, or approximately 16,000 truckloads, of soil at the site. Most soils are low-level waste and can be disposed in special facilities on the Oak Ridge Reservation. Certain soils with higher contamination are shipped offsite for disposal.

   UCOR employees conduct excavation at locations throughout the main plant area. Workers recently remediated areas near the former K-25 Building and Poplar Creek. They are also remediating soils on the actual footprint of K-25, which was once the world’s largest building and one of EM’s largest cleanup projects.

   “While building demolitions create the most visible changes, soil cleanup is vitally important to remove risks, protect the environment, and ultimately to complete the total cleanup effort at ETTP,” said Karen Deacon, acting ETTP portfolio federal project director.

   A major upcoming effort involves sampling the footprint of the K-29 Building, one of the five former gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment buildings at ETTP. That area is currently covered with asphalt and houses several worker trailers. UCOR is transitioning employees to different offices to remove the trailers and asphalt and explore the soil beneath.

   “ETTP is in a constant state of change, and the end result will be a cleaner, privatized site that is available for reuse and serves as an asset to the community,” Deacon said.

- Contributors: Wayne McKinney, Ben Williams

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Moab Site Marks Milestone of Moving 9 Million Tons of Mill Tailings to Disposal Cell

Employees hold signs denoting the milestone of relocating 9 million tons of uranium mill tailings from the Moab Site.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – EM has reached a milestone of moving 9 million tons of uranium mill tailings from the Moab Site in Utah to the dedicated disposal cell near Crescent Junction, Utah.

   The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project’s Feb. 20 achievement means 56 percent of the estimated 16 million tons of mill tailings have been shipped for disposal. 

   “We are now on the downhill side of the tailings removal process, and we continue to make steady progress in relocating the tailings away from the Colorado River,” said Moab Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister. 

   Site employees have worked more than 500 days without a work-related, lost-time injury or illness. 

   In fiscal year 2017, remedial action contractor Portage, Inc. exceeded its annual goal of shipping 450,000 tons of mill tailings by relocating 466,600 tons. The project ships a trainload of tailings twice a week. Each shipment contains almost 4,700 tons of material.

   Mill tailings are a sand-like material that remain from processing uranium ore. The tailings are transported by rail in sealed metal containers to Crescent Junction, which is 30 miles north of the Moab Site. The tailings are placed in an EM-constructed, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cell and capped with a 9-foot-thick, multi-layered cover composed of native soils and rock.

- Contributor: Wendee Ryan

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Paducah Site Restores Rail Service to Support Cleanup, DUF6 Operations

Workers make progress in the culvert replacement project in December.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Railroad tracks to and from EM’s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in western Kentucky recently returned to service after a failed drainage culvert forced a temporary closure.

   Swift & Staley, Inc., the infrastructure support services contractor for the Paducah Site, completed the project last month for EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO). After construction, rail service supporting the site’s environmental cleanup and depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion operations resumed following certified inspections and DOE approval. 

   “The timely repairs to the rail line allowed for several work activities to resume at the Paducah Site,” PPPO Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard said. “The deactivation and remediation contractor was able to resume waste shipments by rail, which enabled them to meet contractual milestones.”

   The Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project is now able to resume shipping by rail, reducing potential risks and improving schedule compliance and cost control.

Crews replaced the culvert’s previous 48-inch pipe with two 72-inch pipes.

Railcars await shipments scheduled to depart the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant over a newly repaired drainage culvert.

   While conducting a monthly track inspection last year, the contractor discovered a depression in the track embankment had appeared since the previous inspection. A 48-inch reinforced concrete pipe culvert had deteriorated, causing its joints to begin to separate. The culvert dates back to the original construction of the Kentucky Ordnance Works in the 1940s to support TNT production during World War II and had been in service for approximately 70 years.

   During the design phase of the repair project, a hydraulic analysis revealed the culvert was undersized and two 72-inch corrugated metal pipe culverts were chosen to replace the single 48-inch pipe. Each replacement pipe is 140 feet in length and had to be placed approximately 25 feet below grade. After the project obtained environmental permits, local subcontractor Danny Cope & Sons Excavating cleared trees and brush, removed more than 130 feet of track, and excavated approximately 4,100 cubic yards of soil to place the new structures.

   No additional railroad culverts were identified as requiring replacement.

- Contributors: Jim Brown, Sharon Dingman, Stacy Marinelli  

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New Mexico Legislature Honors WIPP Communications Veteran

Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP) Intergovernmental/Public Affairs Coordinator Rose Scott was in Santa Fe, New Mexico recently with EM Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader, left, and NWP President & Project Manager Bruce Covert. Scott was honored by the New Mexico State Senate for her involvement in New Mexico politics for more than 35 years, including more than 19 years at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

CARLSBAD, N.M. – Rose Scott, a veteran communicator at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), was recently honored by the New Mexico State Legislature for her involvement in state government and community relations for more than 35 years, including more than 19 years at WIPP.

   Scott, who keeps southeastern New Mexico legislators informed about operations at WIPP, was recognized on the floor of the state’s Senate chamber and awarded a plaque commemorating her dedication and service. 

   “I was surprised by this gesture. It means a lot to have people recognize your accomplishments,” said Scott, who is part of WIPP contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership’s (NWP) Communications Group. “I’m always trying to make positive changes in my community, wherever and whenever I can.”

   Scott is a former Lea County Magistrate Court judge, former state president of the Democratic Women of N.M., and a founder of the Hobbs Hispano Chamber of Commerce. She has been involved in her community and state throughout her life, according to the state Senate proclamation. 

   “We are extremely fortunate that Rose is on our team. Her knowledge and dedication to public service are incredible assets at WIPP,” NWP President & Project Manager Bruce Covert said. 

New Mexico Lt. Gov. John Sanchez leads a round of applause for Nuclear Waste Partnership Intergovernmental/Public Affairs Coordinator Rose Scott, who was in the New Mexico State Senate Chamber with her family to be recognized for her involvement in New Mexico politics for more than 35 years, including more than 19 years at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. 

   Scott credits her mother with inspiring her love of public service. She remembers at an early age going door to door handing out campaign literature with her mother. It was the first of many campaigns that Scott has worked on. In high school, she learned about politics by working for legendary New Mexico politician Joe Montoya. 

   “My mother was really ahead of her time,” Scott said. “She taught me if you want things to happen, you have to do it yourself.”

   Scott’s daughter and granddaughter have joined her in public service as teachers.

   “My daughter says I taught her ‘Why not me?’” she said.

   Scott plans to retire later this year in her hometown of Hobbs, New Mexico.

- Contributor: Victoria Parker

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