EM Update | Vol. 10, Issue 47 | Dec. 4, 2018

• Assistant Secretary White Delivers Remarks at Intergovernmental Meeting
• Oak Ridge Crews Demolish Facility, Moving EM Closer to ETTP Cleanup Goal
• Pilot Test Shows Chlorine Effectively Disinfects Hanford Wells
• WIPP’s Protective Salt Layer Draws Attention of International Researchers
• Portable Monitors Provide Extra Protection for Hanford Tank Farm Workers
• EM Selects Mark Gilbertson as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
• Program Serving as Pipeline for EM Workforce Welcomes New DOE Fellows
• Savannah River Site Effluent Treatment Facility Marks 30 Years of Operation
• Scientist Honored for Leadership in Developing Robots to Support EM’s Cleanup
• SRS Officials Share Small Business Opportunities at Public Forum

Assistant Secretary White Delivers Remarks at Intergovernmental Meeting

EM Assistant Secretary Anne White speaks at the 17th Annual Intergovernmental Meeting.

NEW ORLEANS – On Nov. 15th Assistant Secretary Anne White addressed participants at EM’s 17th Annual Intergovernmental Meeting. The meeting provided opportunities for increased communication among DOE, states, tribes, and local communities affected by the ongoing cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex. Following are White’s remarks:

   Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here and I see it as a tremendous opportunity to participate at the 17th Annual Intergovernmental Groups Meeting. I did want to take a quick moment to thank Rex Buck from the Wanapum for the beautiful words in your invocation. I also want to acknowledge the presence of other Tribal leadership here this morning. Specifically I want to acknowledge:

• Council Member Edwin Lewis of the Yakama Nation
• Secretary Casey Mitchell of the Nez Perce Tribe
• Chairman Nathan Small of Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
• Governor Perry Martinez of the San Ildefonso Pueblo
• Lieutenant Governor James Naranjo of the Santa Clara Pueblo, and
• First Lieutenant Governor Bryon Yeppa of the Jemez Pueblo

   I’d also like to thank the other Tribal leadership and staff from the Tribal Nations. Finally, I’d like to acknowledge all of our elected state and local leaders and administrators, and our regulators. Thank you for traveling great distances to attend this meeting.

   I’m glad I was able to meet with you yesterday to learn more about your issues. I recognize that each of your organizations plays a role on a wide range of priorities. With nuclear waste cleanup being only part of your portfolio, I appreciate the time you put into ensuring the success of EM’s mission. My goal here is to focus in on ways we can work together to improve the trajectory of cleanup as we wrap our arms around some uncomfortable facts and face some important decisions. Decisions that will have long-lasting impacts. Decisions that will require your input.

   Over the next two days the EM team and I will provide updates on the great work being accomplished by the men and women in the field and lay out our initiatives to achieve meaningful reductions in risks and environmental liabilities. It is my hope that we all come away from this meeting with an awareness of the impacts of EM’s mounting backlog of work, and a renewed sense of urgency to begin to work off the third biggest liability to the U.S. taxpayer — environmental liabilities.

   While it doesn’t always make headline news, progress through action is being made at each of our EM sites. From my time in industry, I understand where work gets done. It is not east of the Potomac, it is out in the field. Our Field Managers, staff and contractors are doing a great job progressing the baseline work scope — but we must do more.

   I’ve been fortunate to visit most of our sites, some more than once, during my time as EM-1. When I go to the sites, I see that people want to get the work done. That’s a natural tendency. I see it in the field all the time. It’s enthusiasm. That enthusiasm translates into progress across the board.

   Even with all this great work being done, and progress being made, EM still faces significant challenges. Cleanup progress is being significantly outpaced by ever-extending site closure dates, leading to increased environmental liabilities. Time equals money! As most of you heard me say yesterday, environmental liabilities represent the third largest liability for the U.S. taxpayer. EM makes up 84 percent of that total. Even with significant budgets, EM is swimming upstream. Rather than fight the current of environmental liabilities, risks, M&O hotel costs, lifecycle schedules, and to-go costs that we have all seen grow each year despite progress on the ground, it’s time to change the course of the river. The fact is, cleanup progress cannot outpace this current if EM stays on the same course it has been on for nearly 30 years.

   During the early years, EM was rightfully focused on figuring out what kinds of waste it had, how much it had and where it was. That evolved into cleanup plans and agreements with states and regulators based on the best available information and science at the time. At one point in our history, we were stemming the tide as we completed work at Fernald, Rocky Flats and Mound.

   This program, that we used to call a project, started in 1989. But we’re not here to discuss the EM of the past. At this point, we’ve all been at this a long time — this is the 17th (!) annual Intergovernmental Meeting. It’s time to modernize EM. Our knowledge and technology have matured significantly over the years. It’s time for EM, our regulators and our stakeholders to reexamine the assumptions and approaches made over the past two decades to determine the adequacy and appropriateness in today’s environment. We need to employ cleanup that is reflective of the latest knowledge in the areas of waste composition and risks, lessons learned over decades of cleanup and attainable end-states. It’s time to work together toward a future that will not simply enable EM to keep treading water – but will propel the mission forward and drive cleanup toward completion and closure.

   So, how do we get there? That’s a big part of what my team and I are looking at.

   It starts with abandoning vague notions of our challenges and truly getting to the bottom of what we are dealing with using accurate up-to-date information. As part of this effort, EM is looking 10 years out at what the barriers to success are and how they could be mitigated to drive to completion faster. I want us to consider the range of possibilities in terms of what could be achieved at sites across the complex if we are willing to reassess our assumptions, consider new approaches and disposal options and just think outside the box. EM is developing an options analysis to identify opportunities to complete cleanup work through more efficient, innovative or novel approaches over the next decade.

   EM does not intend this effort to slow down progress or abandon our obligations. The EM complex has several projects on track to meet our legal agreements and we will continue to progress those projects as agreed. Rather than being hamstrung, unilaterally, by doing things a certain way simply because that’s how it’s always been done, our EM site managers are rolling up their sleeves and looking beyond the present to reach the possible. They are doing it with a completion mindset focused on understanding how to best apply our resources to risks, clarify our regulations, and defining the best options to safely treat, dispose and contain waste today, in order to protect the next generation.

   To that end, I’ve asked our site managers to identify potential options within three scenarios, within a 10 year window:

• the baseline case – uses current baseline and assumes no change in strategy from current operations
• the optimized baseline case – incorporates realistic constraints, best effort towards site closure, well defined interim end-states
• the unconstrained case – what it would take to get the site to closure in 10 years? This is possible at many of our sites. This case is designed to identify barriers and pinch points whether they be funding, regulatory, human capital or policy

   The analyses will be used as a basis for discussion with you and other stakeholders. During the site breakout sessions this afternoon, I have asked each field manager, as well as EM-3, to discuss this process and their plans to create a productive environment of partnership to achieve meaningful progress. I hope you will talk openly with them about your views on the remaining risks on site. We want to hear from you on how you would like to communicate and participate as we fight the EM liability current together. Know that this is a starting point in what will be a collaborative approach as the options analysis evolves. This process will include several opportunities for meaningful input and public comment next year.

   Now, I’d like to discuss an issue that I have been personally involved with for a long time — the interpretation of High-Level Waste. I am glad to see the Department moving the discussion on this forward after so many reports and recommendations from outside groups, including ECA. I hope that many of you will provide your unique insight into efforts underway to examine possible options to better manage and dispose of waste that has been stored at sites for decades with no near-term path forward.

   Last month the Department issued for public comment its interpretation of the statutory term high-level radioactive waste. An interpretation that would bring the U.S. more in line with definitions used by the rest of the world — having the option to classify waste based on its actual contents and associated risks vs. solely on the source of the waste. Yesterday, I heard a lot of concern from you about the public comment process. Some said, all we’ll get is more questions. Let’s turn that around — please turn your questions into comments and statements. This is but the first step in a process that must comply with existing regulatory requirements and law. In no case will the interpretation abrogate the Department’s responsibilities under existing regulatory agreements.

   I’m encouraged that you have a session on this topic tomorrow with Mark Senderling. I look forward to hearing more from all of you on this both here, and as part of your participation in the public comment period.

   EM is also taking steps to get the best value out of every cleanup dollar with which we are entrusted. Consistent with the Deputy Secretary’s initiative on Regulatory Reform, I have directed staff and the field to look at opportunities for change. Based on my experience in the field, this will lead to an enhanced safety culture because many of the reforms are common sense approaches that can streamline our work. I want to see EM drive down the operating and maintenance costs for our facilities, which takes up a significant portion of our annual cleanup budget, and instead plow those resources into actual cleanup work. As project lifecycle schedules drag out, aging facilities, components and equipment are stretching resources. It’s simple math — we can either put money towards cleanup or we can maintain aging facilities and build new, but we can’t do it all.

   Of course no cleanup work would happen if not for EM’s contract partners. One of our most transformative initiatives that I’ve undertaken is in the area of contracting. EM has billions of dollars in procurements coming up at some of our largest sites over the next few years, representing a significant opportunity to improve our procurement processes, contract management and oversight performance.

   Angela Watmore will talk more about contracting later today, but I’d like to briefly address the topic. End state contracting is not a contract type, but an approach to creating meaningful and visible progress through defined end states, even at sites with completion dates far into the future. This is intended to drive a culture of completion. With this new approach, EM will adhere to a “manage the contract, not the contractor” model. However, this means we must ensure we have the right contracts in place to allow Field Managers to drive contractor performance with a right-sized federal oversight model. I am hopeful that contract approach combined with the discussions we are having on the regulatory front will yield impactful results.

   Based on the experience and lessons learned in the last three decades of cleanup and advances in technology and approaches, there are opportunities to streamline and accelerate cleanup by pursuing strategies that are faster, more cost effective, and more technically sound, and would reduce risk to human health and the environment. We have opportunities to utilize tools available to work together on removing barriers to efficient cleanup. These could include CERCLA and RCRA integration at the end, aligning end-use to cleanup standards and recognizing that some areas will need to remain under government control in perpetuity, and streamlining our internal decision processes.

   In closing, I’m looking forward to a productive day of discussions. I’m going to be dropping in on all of the site breakout sessions. In addition to the field managers we will have senior DOE people sitting in on all of the sessions. I’m looking forward to a wrap-up on the breakout sessions and on how we continue this dialogue in a way that institutionalizes a completion mentality and moves us towards our many shared goals.

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Oak Ridge Crews Demolish Facility, Moving EM Closer to ETTP Cleanup Goal

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and cleanup contractor UCOR have safely completed the demolition of the K-1232 Chemical Recovery Facility at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).

   Crews began the teardown in early October by bringing down a 74-foot-tall silo that was part of the facility. The silo, made of stainless steel, was shipped for recycling. Demolition of the main structure then commenced and was completed Nov. 20. Workers are now removing the structure’s slab.

   The 8,400-square-foot, two-story facility was built in the early 1970s to recover chemicals resulting from site activities. The building’s original recovery operations were shut down in 1982, and the facility was then used to treat wastewater from the Y-12 National Security Complex during the 1980s and early 1990s.

   The building was located in the Poplar Creek area of ETTP, which once housed several facilities that supported the site’s gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment operations.

Workers finished demolishing the K-1232 Chemical Recovery Facility late last month. It was one of the final remaining Poplar Creek facilities.

   One by one, the Poplar Creek area facilities have been coming down as OREM moves closer to its goal of cleaning up ETTP and converting it into a private-sector industrial park, national park, and conservation area. Removal of K-1232, along with several other structures in the Poplar Creek area and across the site, opens more land for economic development.

   “We are closing in on completing all demolition in the Poplar Creek area of ETTP,” OREM ETTP Portfolio Federal Project Director Karen Deacon said. “This area once housed some of the most contaminated facilities at ETTP, and their removal makes the area safer and promotes industrial development as ETTP transforms to a private-sector industrial park.”

   Other major recently demolished Poplar Creek facilities include the K-832-H Cooling Tower, K-832 Cooling Water Pumphouse, K-1203 Sanitary Sewage Treatment Facility, Building K-633 Test Loop Facility, K-1314 Complex, and several tie lines that connected the buildings.

   OREM and UCOR are working to complete major cleanup at ETTP in 2020. That vision is being realized, as OREM has already demolished more than 400 buildings and transferred almost 1,300 acres from government ownership.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

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Pilot Test Shows Chlorine Effectively Disinfects Hanford Wells

RICHLAND, Wash. – Whether it’s minerals in your sprinkler pipes or a buildup of grease in your kitchen drain, the concept and concern are the same: the need to improve flow by removing that material.

   Multiply that notion by hundreds of wells across the Hanford Site used to return treated groundwater to the aquifer, and you begin to see a dilemma for operators. When you take injection wells out of service for cleaning, you decrease the amount of groundwater the system can treat during downtime.

   Another option that shows promise is adding safe amounts of a material to outgoing water at treatment facilities to reduce buildup.

   “This buildup reduces the efficiency of our groundwater treatment operation,” said Mike Cline, director of EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) soil and groundwater division. “The contractor and its workforce constantly seek to maximize the amount of contaminated groundwater we treat, and reducing buildup in pipes without taking wells out of service is a concept with great potential.”

   RL contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) began researching causes of buildup and possible solutions. Early tests have shown injecting small amounts of chlorine reduces the biological material obstructing the flow.

   “Our focus this year is on increasing efficiencies and the safe optimization of our extensive groundwater treatment network,” said Bill Barrett, CHPRC’s deputy vice president for the soil and groundwater remediation project. “This is an important way we can safely and efficiently treat more groundwater.”

   Injecting trace amounts of chlorine, similar to the amount you might find treating your home tap water, means workers may need to clean the wells out less frequently. Crews began the chlorine injections in October and will continue to monitor their effectiveness for the next several months.

-Contributor: Lynn Tegeler

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WIPP’s Protective Salt Layer Draws Attention of International Researchers

CARLSBAD, N.M. – EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is known worldwide as a nuclear waste repository.

   But it’s also recognized throughout the world for scientific research requiring low levels of background radiation.

   That’s how scientist Maurizio Tomasi of Rome found himself 2,150 feet underground at WIPP this summer with New Mexico State University (NMSU) biology professor Geoff Smith.

   Smith directs research at the multi-year Low Background Radiation Experiment (LBRE), funded by EM’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO). The project is overseen by the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center with assistance from Los Alamos National Laboratory-Carlsbad Operations.

   WIPP’s protective salt layer offers a 79-fold reduction in ionizing radiation for experiments. These investigations are further shielded from cosmic rays by a pre-World War II-era, 23-ton vault with a 1,000-pound door, a surplus from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.

New Mexico State University biology professor Geoff Smith removes samples from an incubator underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, as part of the Low Background Radiation Experiment.

   Isolated from terrestrial and cosmic radiation, the LBRE tests the effects of less-than-background levels of radiation exposure to basic lifeforms. Is the absence of radiation exposure better for an organism? Worse? Somewhere in between?

   Along with other research projects, the LBRE is located in WIPP’s North Experimental Area at the opposite end of the mine from the waste panels.

   “It is very satisfying to see WIPP be recognized as a national resource by the quality and variety of research and experiments that are conducted in the WIPP underground by world-class scientists and engineers from several universities and national laboratories,” CBFO Chief Scientist George Basabilvazo said. “The underground science and experimental testing activities at WIPP support state-of-the-art particle physics, biological, and repository science research, and also provide opportunities for researchers to test new or different equipment, systems, and concepts to further the knowledge of the techniques to improve research in these scientific areas.”

   Tomasi had completed work at Italy’s underground Gran Sasso National Laboratory. He met Smith at a conference in Italy and jumped at the opportunity to come to WIPP because he knew of Smith’s contributions to below-background radiation research.

The germination rate of peas is measured underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, as part of the Low Background Radiation Experiment.

   Each summer, Smith works underground at WIPP with research assistants from an NMSU branch campus.

   “One of the things I’m proudest of is getting students involved,” Smith said.

   This year, Smith and Tomasi’s research has focused on areas including E. coli and soybean, pea, and wheat germination.

   Working six days a week, the researchers use unbleached damp paper towels to germinate seeds. High-grade potash from a nearby mine lines a separate incubator containing seeds, creating a minimal amount of background radiation.

   “It’s not sophisticated. The sophistication is in the knowledge,” Tomasi said.

   There are visible differences in the germination rates of the seeds pulled from the vault, both between the varieties and the conditions under which they grow.

   Tomasi takes measurements with a ruler, photographs the plants, and writes the numbers in a notebook.

   Research is incremental. Another set of fresh seeds are wrapped, moistened, and placed in the incubator. The two scientists turn off the lights, lock up, and begin the trudge back toward the waste hoist that will return them to the ground surface.

   They’ll be back tomorrow, looking for more answers.

   “A lot of effort, but a good reward,” Tomasi said.

-Contributor: Roy Neese

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Portable Monitors Provide Extra Protection for Hanford Tank Farm Workers

RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers in Hanford’s tank farms have begun using new personal monitors to provide further protection from potential exposure to chemical vapors.

   Over the past year, EM’s Office of River Protection (ORP) and tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) tested several personal chemical monitors for ammonia. The study determined that ammonia is the best chemical to use as an indicator of a change in chemical conditions in the field for tank farm workers.

   The ToxiRAE Pro was selected based on the testing and needs in the field, a decision made with input from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and independent third-party reviewers.

   “ORP and WRPS continue to partner with workers to mitigate the possibility of exposure to chemical vapors,” said Jim Lynch, ORP program manager for tank farms operations. “This hand-held monitor adds another level of protection for workers in the field.”

The ToxiRAE Pro portable monitor helps protect Hanford tank farm workers against potential exposure to chemical vapors.

   Used in conjunction with administrative, access, and engineering controls, the compact and reliable device helps protect workers with a personal alarm typically set at 6 parts per million (ppm), about one-quarter of the occupational exposure limit for ammonia. The alarm sounds if ammonia concentrations reach 6 ppm, at which time the workers follow prescribed response actions. About two dozen workers currently use the device, and ORP and WRPS plan to equip many more workers with it in the future.

   The 6-ppm set point was determined based on data collected over several years and various conditions to ensure a conservative and protective response. The devices will initially be used for low-hazard, non-waste-intrusive work in actively ventilated tank farms.

-Contributor: John Britton

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EM Selects Mark Gilbertson as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary

WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM recently named Mark Gilbertson as its Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.

   Gilbertson, who has been acting in the role since August, also served as the Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (APDAS) for the Office of Regulatory and Policy Affairs. Betsy Connell will serve as acting APDAS for that office.

   “Mark has excellent skills, temperament, and knowledge that complement mine,” EM Assistant Secretary Anne White said, adding that she is honored to work alongside him.

   Gilbertson has over 35 years of public- and private-sector experience in environmental engineering and remediation. Since joining EM in 1994, he has led advancements in risk reduction and innovative technological enhancements, and increased headquarters and field site integration in his many leadership roles.

EM recently announced the selection of Mark Gilbertson as its Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.

   Gilbertson has been a member of the Senior Executive Service for over 25 years and has served in multiple positions in EM, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for various EM organizations, such as Site Restoration; Program and Site Support; Engineering and Technology; and Environmental Cleanup and Acceleration. He also was the National Laboratory Policy Advisor for EM, overseeing the development of policies related to the management and operations of the Savannah River National Laboratory.

   Prior to joining EM, Gilbertson spent four years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working on Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations.

   He has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and an executive certificate in management and leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Program Serving as Pipeline for EM Workforce Welcomes New DOE Fellows

Members of the DOE Fellows Class of 2018 gather with DOE and Florida International University (FIU) officials. Front row, from left, DOE Fellows Director Dr. Leo Lagos; fellows Jose Rendon, Alexis Suarez, Amanda Yancoskie, and Alex Rivera; and DOE Office of Minority Education and Community Development Deputy Director Annie Whatley. Back row, from left, DOE Office of Economic Impact and Diversity Director James Campos; DOE Fellows Program Manager Ravi Gudavalli; fellows Alexis Vento, Patrick Uriarte, and Jason Soto; EM Office of Subsurface Closure Director Kurt Gerdes; fellows David Mareno, Jorge Montesino, and Roger Boza; EM Office of Technology Development Engineer Genia McKinley; and FIU Applied Research Center Director Dr. Inés Triay.

MIAMI – A program that helps shape future candidates for EM’s workforce recently inducted 10 Florida International University (FIU) students as the DOE Fellows Class of 2018.

   Officials from DOE gathered with FIU leaders at the 12th-annual induction ceremony for the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students who join 20 current fellows in FIU’s Science & Technology Workforce Development Program.

   EM works to attract, train, and retain the next-generation cleanup workforce in fields such as nuclear, engineering, science, and construction. The ability to address EM's many long-term scientific and basic research needs, and ultimately tackle complex cleanup challenges, is rooted in partnerships EM has forged with FIU and other colleges and universities.

   "It's very rewarding to see the research being conducted by a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and students under a cooperative agreement between EM and FIU,” said Kurt Gerdes, director of EM’s Office of Subsurface Closure. “They are collaborating to develop state-of-the-art technologies to support EM's most critical technical challenges. The next logical step is for the Department to have these students be part of the next generation of scientists to advance EM's mission.”

   Gerdes, a keynote speaker at the ceremony, cited Hansell Gonzales as a success story of the EM-FIU partnership. Gonzales, who was selected as a fellow in 2014, begins work as a senior scientist at EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) next month.

DOE Fellow Anibal Morales explains his research to EM Office of Technology Development Engineer Genia McKinley at the recent DOE Fellows Poster Exhibition and Competition.

   The fellows program results in a 95-percent hiring rate for students who complete the program, including three fellows hired by DOE, eight hired by DOE contractors or national laboratories such as SRNL; 13 hired by other government agencies; and 63 hired by the STEM industry.

   Since its inception in 2007, the fellows program has inducted 152 students who are mentored in research, development, and deployment of new cleanup technologies. They also participate in 10-week summer internships at facilities across the DOE complex and present their research at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix and other conferences around the world.

   “The support that EM provides FIU is crucial for the development and training of the future workforce of scientists and engineers that will continue the EM mission into the future,” said DOE Fellows Director Dr. Leo Lagos, the DOE-FIU Cooperative Agreement’s principal investigator.

From left, DOE Fellow Jose Rendon, Florida International University Applied Research Center (ARC) Research Scientist Joseph Sinicrope, and DOE Fellow Tristan Simon-Ponce demonstrate the fellows’ research on adapting intumescent technologies as incombustible fixatives to visitors of the ARC laboratories. Sinicrope is a mentor to the fellows.

   Ceremony participants and guests also heard research presentations by Lagos and fellows Michael DiBono, Ximena Lugo, and Juan Morales, and toured FIU’s Applied Research Center (ARC) laboratories focused on soil and groundwater, robotics and sensors, and other areas.

   Also at the induction ceremony, fellows Anibal Morales, Tristan Simoes-Ponce, Ripley Raubenolt, and Silvina Di Pietro received awards for their research after participating in the DOE Fellows Poster Exhibition and Competition.

   William Tan, an ARC research scientist, also was honored as the 2018 Mentor of the Year. Katherine Delarosa of the 2017 class won the DOE Fellow of the Year Award.

   ARC supports EM’s mission of accelerated risk reduction and cleanup. The center’s work includes developing robotic platforms and tools to better detect potential leaks in waste tanks underground at the Hanford Site in Washington state.

-Contributors: Ravi Gudavalli, Peggy Shoffner

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Savannah River Site Effluent Treatment Facility Marks 30 Years of Operation

The Effluent Treatment Facility at the Savannah River Site recently celebrated 30 years of operations.

AIKEN, S.C. – For three decades, the Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) has treated more than 450 million gallons of wastewater at the Savannah River Site (SRS), ensuring environmentally safe water leaves the site.

   ETF treats low-level radioactive wastewater from SRS waste management facilities, EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory, and other sources. ETF removes contaminants to ensure compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act before releasing the water into the nearby Upper Three Runs Creek, which flows to the Savannah River.

   The facility, which is managed by Savannah River Remediation (SRR) under EM’s SRS liquid waste contract, began operating in October 1988, receiving wastewater from H Canyon and H Tank Farm, with transfers from the site’s F Area beginning a few days later.

   As one of the final stops in SRS’s liquid waste treatment program, ETF is vital to the site’s liquid waste system, said Jim Folk, DOE-SR Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition.

   “The Effluent Treatment Facility is one of those important facilities that defines DOE’s commitment to protecting people, communities, and the environment,” Folk said. “It has a phenomenal track record of treating wastewater and allowing SRS missions to safely continue.”

A Savannah River Remediation employee works at the Effluent Treatment Facility.

   As part of the SRS waste management process, potentially contaminated water is collected and sampled to determine if it’s safe to discharge to the environment. If the water does not meet the drinking water standard — 4 millirem per year, per person as established by the Safe Drinking Water Act — it is sent to ETF for treatment prior to release.

   SRR employee Skip Wiggins was one of eight engineers who helped with ETF’s startup testing and early operations in the 1980s.

   “ETF is a relatively small operation compared to other site facilities, but its size makes it no less significant in the liquid waste mission,” Wiggins said.

   ETF treated 25.2 million gallons of wastewater in fiscal 1998, a record year for the facility due to higher rates of processing wastewater from the H and F canyons.

   Under SRR’s contract, which began in 2009, ETF’s highest annual treatment total is 10.46 million gallons in fiscal 2010, due to higher rates of processing wastewater from H Canyon and the H Tank Farm evaporator, which manages overall tank space. In August 2018, ETF treated more than 1.2 million gallons, one of the contractor’s highest monthly totals.

   ETF removes constituents like heavy metals, organic and corrosive chemicals, cesium, and other contaminants. Operation of ETF is approved and permitted by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

-Contributor: Colleen Hart

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Scientist Honored for Leadership in Developing Robots to Support EM’s Cleanup

Heather Jones, a senior project scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, stands with one of the Radpiper robots.

PHOENIX – An EM-sponsored scientist who helped develop robots to analyze residual uranium material in piping at two EM sites has been selected for the 2019 Waste Management Symposia (WMS) Young Professional Award.

   Heather Jones, a senior project scientist at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, was recognized for her scientific and engineering expertise, innovative spirit, and problem-solving prowess in the EM/CMU team’s design, development, and deployment of the Pipe Crawling Activity Measurements System. Central to the system are the autonomous and automated Radpiper robots set to take measurements of residual uranium holdup inside process pipes at EM’s two former uranium enrichment plants in Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky.

   “Dr. Jones’ essential contributions to the Radpiper project have developed a new in-pipe robotic measuring capability that has advanced the field of decommissioning,” said Jud Lilly, federal project director for decontamination and decommissioning of Portsmouth process buildings for EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. “This first-of-a-kind system will facilitate decommissioning of the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plants, and the system also holds promise of additional related applications and breakthroughs elsewhere in our industry.”

   Jones helped lead CMU’s Robotics Institute to develop a pair of robotic pipe crawlers with the ability to move autonomously inside miles of pipes at the plants to detect residual uranium material. She worked closely with EM and cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth.

Heather Jones is shown second from left with other Carnegie Mellon University roboticists at work on the Radpiper. Also pictured, from left, are Siri Maley, Kenji Yonekawa, and David Kohanbash.

   The Radpiper combines robotics, radiation and radioactivity measurement, high-resolution photo and video, data management technologies, and other abilities to evaluate radiation levels from inside the pipe surfaces.

   The multitasking robots will lower risks for workers who would otherwise need to conduct the evaluations with handheld instruments, wearing protective gear and using lifts to reach overhead pipes.

   EM estimates the system could save more than $50 million at the former Paducah plant and several million dollars at the former Portsmouth plant by accelerating characterization of uranium deposits.

   Jones has written several technical papers related to the Radpiper. She presented on robotics at the 44th-annual WMS in March 2018. Radpiper was among the many technologies highlighted and displayed at that event.

   WMS debuted the Young Professional Award at its 2017 conference to recognize young professionals who contribute to advancements in fields such as radioactive material management and decommissioning. WMS will present the award to Jones during the 2019 WMS in Phoenix in March 2019.

-Contributor: Genia McKinley

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SRS Officials Share Small Business Opportunities at Public Forum

AIKEN, S.C. – EM federal and contractor officials from the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently shared business opportunities in the cleanup program and renewed their commitment to supporting service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses at a local forum. The event, which aimed to inform subcontractors and suppliers of federal procurement opportunities at SRS and elsewhere in the region, featured a panel with DOE-Savannah River Deputy Manager Thomas Johnson, Jr.; Sandra Fairchild, director of project services and support at SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR); and Stuart MacVean, president and CEO of SRS management-and-operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. “At SRS, we do more than $200 million in work with small businesses,” Johnson told attendees. Here, Fairchild speaks at the forum as SRR Small Business Program Manager Elizabeth Wooten and Johnson listen.

-Contributors: Colleen Hart

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