Oak Ridge crews tear down TSCA Incinerator; Mike Budney reflects on first six months as Savannah River Site manager; buried waste retrieval resumes at Idaho Site; and much more!

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EM Update | Vol. 10, Issue 36 | Sept. 11, 2018

Oak Ridge Crews Tear Down TSCA Incinerator
Mike Budney Reflects on First Six Months as Savannah River Site Manager
Buried Waste Retrieval Resumes at Idaho Site
West Valley Marks Accomplishment in Legacy Waste Disposition
Los Alamos Leaders Reflect on Historic Legacy Cleanup Transition
EM to Host Livestream of 2018 National Cleanup Workshop
‘Secret Cities’ are Focus of House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus Event
Hanford Tank Farms Rover Demonstration Passes First Test
Two Added, Three Return to Paducah Citizens Advisory Board
Tools, Teamwork Lead to Fourth Successful Pump Removal from Hanford Tank
Oak Ridge Finds New Ways to Monitor, Prevent Heat Stress
EM Contractor Recognizes Hanford Site Workers With Lifesaving Award

Oak Ridge Crews Tear Down TSCA Incinerator

Crews take down a 100-foot stack at the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EM workers at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) completed demolition of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Incinerator, moving a step closer to transitioning the former gaseous diffusion complex into a private sector industrial park.

The incinerator was the only one in the U.S. capable of burning radioactive waste containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The facility was in high demand for nearly 20 years, accepting waste streams from DOE sites nationwide, including DOE’s Oak Ridge site.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor URS |CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) began demolition in June and safely completed the project this month under budget and three months ahead of schedule.

Watch a video about the project here.

“We are very pleased to complete the demolition of this one-of-a-kind facility under budget and ahead of schedule,” said Karen Deacon, OREM’s acting ETTP portfolio federal project director. “This adds to our growing list of accomplishments at ETTP, and it allows our employees to begin preparing for the next demolition scheduled at the site as we pursue Vision 2020.”

Oak Ridge is scheduled to begin tearing down Building K-1232, a Poplar Creek facility, in October.

Vision 2020 is OREM and UCOR’s goal to remove all remaining buildings at ETTP by summer 2020 to enhance safety in the region and enable the transfer of land to the community for reuse and economic development.

Before and after the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator demolition: The facility treated more than 35 million pounds of waste during its 18 years of operations. Crews began demolition in June and completed the project in September .

The incinerator is named after a law passed in 1976 that addressed the production, use, and disposal of specific chemicals. It operated from 1991 until 2009, treating more than 35 million pounds of liquid and solid waste.

“We are pleased to remove yet another major facility at ETTP in a safe and efficient manner,” said Ken Rueter, UCOR president and CEO. “As with every demolition project at the site, our team approached the work with safety as a precursor, and their dedication and thoroughness helped us bring in this project ahead of schedule and under budget as we take another major step to helping DOE reach its reindustrialization goal.”

ETTP is the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, built as part of the Manhattan Project. It produced enriched uranium for defense and national security purposes until it was shut down in the mid-1980s.

To date, OREM has torn down more than 400 facilities and transferred more than 1,000 acres as part of ETTP’s transformation.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

Mike Budney Reflects on First Six Months as Savannah River Site Manager

EM Assistant Secretary Anne White, Savannah River Site Manager Mike Budney, and EM Senior Advisor Taylor Playforth listen to an overview on H Canyon from Jimmy Winkler of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the site's management and operations contractor.

Mike Budney began the role of manager of the Savannah River Site (SRS) on March 1 this year. In this Q&A with EM Update, Budney looks back on successes and challenges during his first six months as site manager and talks about EM’s cleanup progress at SRS. He also discusses opportunities to accelerate cleanup and how Savannah River National Laboratory can best support EM.

You have been on the job now for six months. What has been your biggest takeaway from your first months here?

The complexity of the work we do here and the fact that none of our major programs are independent of one another — they all rely, to some degree, on one another for success — makes SRS a challenging, and exciting, place to work. So, as we look at any single program decision or budget in the near term, we have to be careful to ensure we understand the effects on other programs and budgets, in both the near and long term. It's like working those math word problems from school that we all loved, where you have to identify the multiple variables and then sort out a sufficient number of equations to determine the answer. Fortunately, we are blessed with superb personnel throughout the site who know how to do that math to enable us to get things done, and done safely.

What have been your priorities so far and what progress do you see at SRS in getting those met?

Safety is always the first priority, and we are doing well there. Through the first of August, our contractors have amassed millions of operational and construction hours without an injury resulting in a missed day of work. Right after safety comes mission execution and we are working hard on meeting our objectives. This year, for the first time in its history, our nuclear materials program is processing three different streams of spent nuclear material. The liquid waste program has completed a significant maintenance outage and is installing the tank closure cesium removal (TCCR) system, which will remove cesium, a highly radioactive chemical element, from the Cold War legacy salt waste at SRS, accelerating waste removal and tank closure. In parallel, we are in the commissioning phase of bringing the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) online. SWPF will increase our rate of processing tank waste fivefold or more.

Are there opportunities for accelerating cleanup at Savannah River? If so, how can those be realized?

Our main opportunity is in the liquid waste program, where last year the team identified a plan that could accelerate the program by up to five years, with potential savings of several billion dollars. But the effects then would not be limited to liquid waste because with that program complete we could turn our attention to deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) of facilities much earlier than originally planned.

What do you see as opportunities for near-term wins at the site?

The early completion of the liquid waste program satisfies the state of South Carolina's goal to remove waste from the state as early as possible, while freeing up funds for EM to D&D facilities. There are potential new opportunities to grow the Savannah River National Laboratory's (SRNL) portfolio to advance many national programs and priorities. Finally, with over one-third of the common SRS infrastructure over 45 years old and much of the programmatic infrastructure over 60 years old, numerous opportunities exist to modernize and improve site infrastructure to best meet future DOE needs.

Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, left, shakes hands with Savannah River Site Manager Mike Budney during a site tour.

With Savannah River home to EM's corporate lab, Savannah River National Laboratory, what's your vision for how the lab can best support EM?

We need to continue to look at how we are doing business to determine if there are ways to operate more efficiently, but without compromising safety. Folks will often say that while you may want to do things better, cheaper, faster, you are limited to only picking two of those three. SRNL, meanwhile, takes the approach that nothing is impossible, only improbable — unless you put the right folks to work on it. And in fact, they find ways to be more efficient and simultaneously more effective. We need to continue to do that in both the liquid waste and nuclear materials programs.

You had a long and fruitful career as a Navy submarine officer before joining the Department of Energy. How has that background and experience informed how you approach the job of Savannah River manager?

Both in the Navy and here at SRS, we take the same approach to operations. We believe our indications, so we take prompt, correct actions. We strive to understand our systems so that on the rare occasions when the indications are wrong, we can recognize it. We engineer our systems in a thoughtful manner that enables operators to be effective, and that to the maximum extent practicable makes them as safe as possible. We constantly review our infrastructure and correct its deficiencies on a priority basis. So, the translation from Navy operations to SRS isn't really much of transition, except at SRS we don't need Dramamine very often. But I've not ridden in the site's helicopter yet, so the jury is still out on that.

What do you see as the biggest challenge at SRS moving forward?

Budgets are always a challenge — that is true no matter what work you do. I think we've got an energized workforce that wants to accelerate the processes we have in place and develop new ones that advance the mission further and faster. I applaud that because it is exactly what we need, and the more young personnel that join us with fresh ideas, the better off we'll be. That eagerness to improve comes with some risk, however, so we need to be vigilant and clearly understand the potential unintended consequences of making changes to time-tested ways of executing the mission.

Buried Waste Retrieval Resumes at Idaho Site

Waste from the Accelerated Retrieval Project VIII is processed in these drum packaging stations.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM and cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho recently resumed exhuming buried Cold War waste at the Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP) VIII facility at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site.

Crews temporarily suspended buried waste exhumation at the ARP VIII facility as a precaution following a breach of four drums in April at the nearby ARP V facility following waste processing and repackaging. No external contamination was detected from that event and there were no personnel injuries.

EM and Fluor Idaho have since revised the waste exhumation and repackaging process with additional controls to mitigate the risk of a similar event. The controls include raking and thermal monitoring of exhumed sludge waste prior to repackaging.

Crews use an excavator with an extended boom to exhume buried waste at the Accelerated Retrieval Project facilities at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.

Since 2005, crews have been removing targeted buried waste from specific areas within a landfill at the INL Site. The waste originated at the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver during the development of atomic weapons and was sent to Idaho for buried disposal from 1954 until 1970.

A 2008 record of decision among DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and state of Idaho requires crews remediate a combined area of 5.69 acres of buried waste. To date, crews have removed buried waste from a combined area of 4.82 acres — a completion rate of 84.8 percent.

Once waste operations are complete in ARP VIII, work will begin in the nearby ARP IX facility to remove the last of the waste required by the 2008 agreement.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

West Valley Marks Accomplishment in Legacy Waste Disposition

A truck leaves the West Valley Demonstration Project Site carrying a portion of legacy waste for offsite disposal.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM and its contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site have safely completed the disposition of more than 180,000 cubic feet of legacy waste from past cleanup more than seven months ahead of schedule.

“The completion of this project is an important accomplishment in the progress to decommission the WVDP,” EM’s WVDP Site Director Bryan Bower said. “It speaks volumes on the importance of solid communication, teamwork, and best practices. The WVDP team did an excellent job.”

Crews used multiple facilities to process the industrial, hazardous, and low-level mixed waste before shipping it offsite for disposal. It included several large components used in waste vitrification, which took place at WVDP from 1996 to 2002.

“The WVDP team was deliberate in the planning and execution of this work, resulting in the safe and compliant disposition of legacy waste,” said Scott Anderson, president of CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley. “We met our objective ahead of schedule through extensive planning, engineering controls, and lessons learned. This is a proud moment for our team and the work they continue to do at the WVDP.”

Other legacy waste remains in storage at WVDP awaiting eventual disposition.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere

Los Alamos Leaders Reflect on Historic Legacy Cleanup Transition

EM Los Alamos Field Office Manager Doug Hintze, right, and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, LLC President and Program Manager Nick Lombardo.

It’s been more than 120 days since Newport News Nuclear BWXT- Los Alamos, LLC (N3B) took over as the new contractor for legacy cleanup at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). EM Update recently spoke with EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) Field Manager Doug Hintze and N3B President and Program Manager Nick Lombardo on the successful transition and plans for the year ahead.

Transition of the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup Contract was completed on April 30, 2018. How would you assess the transition? Are there lessons that DOE and contractors can learn and apply at other EM sites?

Hintze: The transition was unique for LANL because it has never been done before. The National Nuclear Security Administration is the landlord for LANL. The local NNSA site office (NA-LA) and its management and operations (M&O) contractor worked closely with EM-LA and N3B. We had transition leads at a senior level for each of the four organizations and the team worked through issues in real time. The big challenges were hiring people and establishing business systems. At the end of the transition period, it was clear that standing up N3B was standing up a new company and we would be working through some growing pains in the months to come. Every organization and individual involved in the transition was fully committed to its success.

While there are always lessons to be learned, I would highlight that getting a jump on information technology is fundamental to communications and should have high priority. The other obvious one is people, people, and people.

Lombardo: This work was split off from the LANL M&O contract. As Doug noted, it is the first time in the lab’s 75-year history that more than one prime contractor has been doing work at LANL. And, I agree with Doug, in most transitions, all of the work and business processes are transferred from one contractor to another. The legacy cleanup work transferred to N3B was only about 10 percent of the total lab scope of work, but it is our single focus.

The cleanup work we’ve assumed from LANL is performed in a secure environment. While not unique to DOE, it does present some challenges that we’re working through. As a result, we have taken a very careful and deliberate approach to ramping up work. We want to ensure policies, procedures, and work processes are in place, and ensure employees can do quality work safely and in a disciplined way. We want them to take time to ask questions if something doesn’t seem right or seems unclear. Doing it right the first time is worth the wait.

How is the integration of two prime contractors (legacy cleanup and M&O) and two DOE offices going?

Hintze: During transition, N3B and the M&O contractor came to the conclusion that they would need services from each other. As a result, a number of agreements were developed and signed that covered a suite of activities. On the federal side and prior to transition, NA-LA and EM-LA developed a memorandum of understanding for the purpose of transferring work and defining roles and responsibilities. Additionally, a management steering committee was formed prior to transition to adjudicate issues and conflicts and set in place solutions for smoother operations. These pre-transition activities supported and encouraged contractor integration.

Lombardo: It’s going well. We implemented 10 service agreements/work authorizations that define work processes and function like contracts between N3B and the M&O. We coordinate those activities at the lowest level possible in each organization. The process has been working well with only a handful of issues that staff have had to elevate to senior management.

What has been accomplished so far?

Hintze: The contractor started work on April 30, 2018, and has implemented major business systems and met regulatory compliance. I said earlier that this was a unique transition because N3B had to establish an information technology system, email, payroll, emergency management, etc. These types of business systems are normally transferred to an incoming contractor from the exiting contractor, but this was not the case at LANL. N3B has hired, trained, and certified employees to operate various systems and facilities, to include a nuclear hazard category 2 facility. A major and highly visible program at LANL is the interim measure to contain and control the chromium contamination in the regional aquifer. N3B has been running the extraction, treatment, and injection system, and in partnership with my staff, has updated the public, stakeholders, and regulators regularly.

I expect N3B to raise their game and execute at a higher level in fiscal year 2019. We now have two years of experience under the new Consent Order (signed in June 2016) and the upcoming year should set us on a pace to get more aggressive with cleanup. Regarding the radioactive waste program, I am expecting our operations to be fully functional and for shipments to resume to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Lombardo: Since April 30, we have restarted treatment of the chromium plume that is edging near the LANL boundary, began a significant cleanup of a parcel of land in the light industrial area of Los Alamos, fully mobilized groundwater characterization efforts, including drilling additional groundwater sampling wells, and activated stormwater monitoring ahead of the monsoon season.

We’re also gearing up to resume shipments of LANL legacy transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico. All of our contact-handled transuranic waste team’s startup activities met inspection and surveillance requirements, and we are reaching readiness for mobile loading.

What are the subcontracting plans and outlook for the next year?

Hintze: The contract with N3B has requirements for up to 35 percent small business and to date N3B has met that challenge. On July 10, 2018, N3B held an industry day workshop to brief small business on opportunities to support cleanup activities. The workshop drew great interest and I am encouraged by the outreach to the small business community.

Lombardo: Said another way, we have a company goal to subcontract 45 percent of our work with 65 percent of that going to small businesses. We are currently surpassing that goal with 85 percent currently going to small businesses. Our focus is on local and regional communities, including substantive preferences to northern New Mexico businesses and local Native American pueblos. Going forward, we’ll be looking for subcontractors to help with some of our major work scope areas, including excavating, treating, packaging, and shipping waste; excavating soil and buried components; closing landfills; complying with ground and surface water permits; treating groundwater; and decontaminating and decommissioning facilities.

As Doug mentioned, we conducted an industry day workshop for potential subcontractors. It attracted 130 companies from more than 60 businesses, so there is significant interest.

Describe your approach to outreach to Los Alamos County and neighboring communities and tribal governments?

Hintze: EM-LA has three principles that drive our actions: safety, efficiency, and transparency. Specific to the question, outreach is conducted on a daily basis, whether we are responding to inquiries from reporters, conducting tours, or attending meetings with the public. It is a centerpiece to legacy cleanup. LANL has four neighboring pueblos that are linked to our cleanup program through an agreement-in-principle. Our government-to-government interactions are very important to getting our cleanup mission accomplished and meeting our obligations as the federal government.

Lombardo: Los Alamos National Laboratory is the major employer in northern New Mexico, and the cleanup work is a significant and important part of the lab. We have met with elected officials, community leaders, and groups in the region, and will continue those activities. Our outreach to the pueblo governments, of course, is through EM-LA as a government-to-government relationship, and we appreciate the opportunities we’ve had to meet with pueblo leaders.

A focal point of our community commitment is establishing an apprentice school modeled on our parent company’s apprentice school at the Newport News Shipyard. We’re supporting other community programs in education and economic development, including K-12 STEM outreach and other community events and activities in northern New Mexico, and will be expanding those efforts in 2019.

EM to Host Livestream of 2018 National Cleanup Workshop

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A livestream of the 2018 National Cleanup Workshop will be available here starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12.

DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar, EM Assistant Secretary Anne White, other senior DOE executives and site officials, industry executives, and other stakeholders will discuss EM’s cleanup progress at the workshop on Sept. 12-13.

The event at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. is hosted by the Energy Communities Alliance, and cooperating organizations include EM and the Energy Facility Contractors Group.

For more information on the workshop, click here.

‘Secret Cities’ are Focus of House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus Event

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The managers of EM sites home to Manhattan Project “secret cities” will participate in a panel discussion for the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus this Wednesday, Sept. 12.

The event featuring Doug Shoop of the Richland Operations Office, Doug Hintze of the Los Alamos Field Office, and Jay Mullis of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management will focus on the former nuclear weapons production sites at Hanford, Washington, Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee from creation to cleanup and the path to closure.

The event also features a presentation by Martin Moeller, curator of the National Building Museum special exhibit on the planning of those three secret cities of the Manhattan Project.

Organized by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the event will be held at 5:30 p.m. in rooms 2044 and 2045 of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Anyone interested in attending should RSVP to cleanup@nei.org.

“Linking the historical role these sites have played in our national defense to ongoing legacy cleanup and opportunities for future missions helps provide a full picture of the complex EM program mission,” said Carol Berrigan, senior director for supplier policy and programs at NEI.

The bipartisan House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus is led by Reps. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico. Caucus members serve as educators about EM and advocates for cleanup in Congress.

Hanford Tank Farms Rover Demonstration Passes First Test

A rover crosses the terrain near Hanford’s SX Tank Farm during a recent field demonstration.

RICHLAND, Wash. – An autonomous instrumented vehicle — better known as a rover — easily traversed the terrain in a recent test drive near SX Tank Farm at the EM Office of River Protection’s (ORP) Hanford Site.

The field demonstration concluded the first phase of development, in collaboration with Washington State University Tri-Cities, which procured the vehicle and is helping program it.

The second development phase, in fiscal year 2019, will include improving the hardware, such as the camera and scanning equipment, activating collision avoidance, and perfecting the software, such as wireless transmission of data rather than waiting to download it after the mission.

The goal is to send the rover into a tank farm to monitor for chemical vapors, conduct visual inspections, investigate an incident, take a radiological survey, and even use ground-penetrating radar.

Washington River Protection Solutions staffers prepare the rover for its next demonstration.

“It’s getting around easily,” Alex Pappas, a scientist with ORP tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), said of the rover. “It has a lot of functionality, and it’s easy to use. In the next two or three years, we could have a completely deployable unit.”

That means in the near future workers could conduct a tank farm inspection remotely, improving worker safety. The rover could support construction and operations.

“The success of the rover demonstration highlights the exciting potential of this tool,” said Jim Lynch, ORP program manager for tank farm projects. “DOE is encouraged by WRPS’s partnership with our local university to develop new technologies like this, which support safe, efficient, and cost-effective solutions for work in the tank farms.”

-Contributor: Hal McCune

Two Added, Three Return to Paducah Citizens Advisory Board

PADUCAH, Ky. – EM recently appointed two new members and reappointed three others to its Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Citizens Advisory Board (CAB).

David K. Homra III, a risk management specialist with Kim Homra Insurance Agency, and Frances L. Johnson, vice president of governmental affairs for the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, are the new members.

The reappointed members are Celestine F. Emerson, retired district health services coordinator for Paducah Independent Schools; Dr. Michael C. Kemp, professor of civil/environmental engineering technology and program coordinator at Murray State University; and Patrick F. White, a self-employed financial advisor. Each will serve an additional two-year term.

David K. Homra III was appointed to serve a two-year term on the Paducah Citizens Advisory Board.

Fran Johnson was appointed to serve a two-year term on the Paducah Citizens Advisory Board.

Made up of 18 volunteer members from western Kentucky and southern Illinois, the CAB is a Federal Advisory Committee Act board that provides input to EM. It represents a diverse range of people including business professionals, educators, laborers, and environmentalists from communities near the Paducah Site. Members may serve up to three consecutive two-year terms.

In addition to community members, representatives from Region 4 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, Kentucky Department of Waste Management, Kentucky Cabinet for Health Services, and West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area serve as liaisons to the board.

Among their duties, board members make recommendations to EM. The next board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15. Learn more about the CAB here.

Tools, Teamwork Lead to Fourth Successful Pump Removal from Hanford Tank

A vertical turbine pump and jumper was recently installed in double-shell tank AW-103 at the EM Office of River Protection's Hanford Site. The new pump will support future waste retrievals and evaporator campaigns.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A team from EM’s Office of River Protection (ORP) and tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently finished removing another highly contaminated pump from a Hanford double-shell tank.

Taking out the pump from tank AW-103 paved the way for installing a new 39-foot vertical turbine pump and jumper. The new pump will support future waste retrievals and evaporator campaigns. The old pump will be shipped to Hanford’s onsite Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility for permanent disposal.

The successful removal of the failed pump from AW-103 was the fourth such project since June 2017, following the deployment of innovative tools designed to reduce radiological and industrial hazards for workers. The AW-103 work benefited from lessons learned from the other three projects.

“I think this pull was the smoothest of them all,” said Art Chacon, a WRPS nuclear chemical operator. “Most of the crew worked together on the previous pump replacement projects, and the experience showed.”

Workers last month removed a failed, 60-foot-long pump from Hanford double-shell tank AW-103. The pump will be sent to Hanford’s onsite Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility for permanent disposal.

Some tools used for the AW-103 project were a remotely installed spray ring system to clean the external surface of the pumps during removal; an encapsulation device that spools foam insulation around the pump column as it is raised from the pit, eliminating the need for workers to make contact with the pump; and aluminum top hat covers to provide additional shielding.

“Removing contaminated, long-length equipment from a tank is challenging work,” said Jeremy Johnson, ORP deputy federal project director. “The development of these innovative tools continues to be key to the safe and efficient completion of these pump replacement projects.”

-Contributor: Mark McKenna

Oak Ridge Finds New Ways to Monitor, Prevent Heat Stress

A worker shows the safety app on his tablet screen, which displays real-time heat indexes, heart rates, and hourly forecasts specific to the user’s location. Supervisors can track their team members’ health simultaneously using the tool.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Temperatures often surge above 90 degrees during summer months here, prompting EM’s Oak Ridge cleanup contractor to search for ways to keep workers safe in the heat and humidity.

Employees at URS|CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) discovered an app that does just that — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Heat Safety Tool.

UCOR piloted a telemetric heart rate monitoring system to complement its heat stress controls. While full coverage personal protective equipment and suits safeguard workers from contamination, they also add to heat stress on workers and make it more difficult to conduct physiological monitoring.

With a strong record of performance with military, police, fire departments, and major sports teams, the heat safety app appeared to be a good fit for UCOR’s “industrial athletes” who work in challenging cleanup environments. The monitoring system includes a chest strap heart rate sensor that works with a tablet computer.

“The health and safety of our employees and contractors is our top priority,” said Larry Perkins, director of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s operations management division. “This type of technology provides an economical and effective way to protect workers and detect heat stress before it becomes a serious concern.”

The app, which features a real-time heat index, hourly forecasts specific to the user’s location, and guidance for first aid, proved useful to planning work activities.

The system was tested on two projects, and the results showed that early indicators, such as a pulse rate, could be easily recognized. This enabled earlier response times and the ability to avoid heat stress.

“UCOR actively seeks new safety and health-related initiatives,” said Walt Czekaj, UCOR industrial hygiene programs manager. “Innovative solutions, such as this safety tool, are key to reaching the ultimate goal of zero accidents.”

These tools and the quest to improve workplace safety are adding new levels of protection for crews in the field that are advancing cleanup and accomplishing meaningful risk reduction projects.

-Contributor: Sonya Johnson

EM Contractor Recognizes Hanford Site Workers With Lifesaving Award

RICHLAND, Wash. – Three quick-thinking Hanford Site workers were honored recently for saving the life of a coworker. EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) recognized subcontractors on the 324 Building Disposition Project for seeking help when a coworker became ill and wanted to go home. Attuned to the worker’s symptoms and high temperature, a supervisor called 911. Doctors performed emergency surgery on the worker, who is recovering. “We spend a lot of time at work, so much that our coworkers become our second families,” CHPRC President and Chief Executive Officer Ty Blackford said. “Their actions at work exemplify the true meaning of family.” Blackford presented the three workers — safety representative Mike Abkena and laborers Cheria Corless and Jose Hernandez of Ojeda Business Ventures — with the CHPRC President’s Lifesaving Award. Pictured left to right are CHPRC Manager Dan Wieczorkowski, Abken, Corless, Hernandez, and Blackford.

-Contributor: Lynn Tegeler

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