Debris and soil removed from a remediated waste site is packaged in large containers and transported to Hanford’s onsite landfill for safe disposal.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers with EMRichland Operations Office (RL) contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) recently removed a radioactive wastewater structure at Hanford.
Workers dug more than 40 feet to remove a 10-by-10-foot wooden structure, known as a crib, and the contaminated soil below. The crib once received liquid from a former test facility that supported the 100 K East Reactor.
“Removing this crib is a small but necessary part of our effort to finish remediation work in the area,” said Tom Teynor, RL deputy assistant manager for river and plateau.
Workers used excavators to remove a 10-by-10-foot wooden structure, known as a crib, as well as some underground pipelines, debris, and potentially contaminated soil, reaching more than 45 feet below grade.
A worker with CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company checks for radioactive contamination during remediation of a small radioactive waste site near the former K East Reactor.
Safely removing the contaminated structure required extensive planning, monitoring, and use of soil fixative to ensure worker and environmental safety. After removing the crib structure, the team removed an additional five feet of underlying soil. Sampling will confirm that all of the contaminated soil has been removed. Waste from the remediated site was packaged and transported to Hanford’s onsite landfill, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.
“The team did an excellent job and completed the work safely,” said Ray Geimer, CHPRC vice president for K Basin operations.
Floor refinishing and painting in the contact-handled waste bay of the waste handling building were among the maintenance activities completed during a planned outage.
CARLSBAD, N.M. – Crews completed important maintenance projects, some ahead of schedule, during a recent planned outage at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
Shipments of defense-generated transuranic waste for disposal at WIPP were put on hold during the nearly month-long maintenance effort, which included a planned four days without electrical power.
Above-ground outage work involved floor refinishing and painting in the contact-handled waste bay of the waste handling building, recoating supports in the building’s remote-handled waste bay, and an electrical switch gear overhaul involving the plant substation and breakers.
One of three ropes was replaced on a waste hoist during a planned maintenance outage.
In the underground salt repository, where waste containers are emplaced, workers replaced one of three ropes on the site’s 45-ton-capacity waste hoist, which makes trips 2,150 feet underground. The 2,200-foot metal rope, made up of 151 wires, connects the bottom of the hoist with its 102,000-pound counterweight.
Crews installed a new air line from the bottom of the air intake shaft. The line is the length of an entire drift, or tunnel, and includes a new valve and new chain supports. They drilled out the supports from their previous locations in the salt to move the line away from the wall, and repaired another air line affecting airlock doors on the facility’s primary route for waste emplacement.
Crews completed repairs to an air line for underground airlock doors on the primary route for waste emplacement during a planned maintenance outage.
“Fortunately, the crew was quick to adapt and knew how to address it quickly,” said Heath Fowler, mine operations supervisor with Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), WIPP’s management and operations contractor.
Workers performed maintenance on Panel 7 in the WIPP underground to ensure additional rooms were ready for waste emplacement. The panel was mined more than five years ago.
In November, teams began removing 95 loads of salt, three large pieces of equipment, and other material from some panel rooms. That work allowed them to remill heaved floors and walls, pull 39 broken bolts, and install new bolts in Room 3. Workers removed a metal bulkhead closing the end of the 300-foot-long room to facilitate milling. Once crews finished the work in Room 3, they started the floor milling and bolting process in Room 2.
Work during a planned maintenance outage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant included preparing Panel 7, Room 3 in the underground for waste emplacement.
Steel bolts are installed in the roof and walls to slow the natural movement that occurs in the salt formation. Once rooms are filled, it is this same movement that will eventually permanently encapsulate the waste containers.
Workers also removed 72 used six- to 24-volt batteries from old equipment over two days, packed them according to New Mexico Department of Transportation specifications, and hoisted them to the surface for disposition.
“The planning and teamwork demonstrated by all the organizations involved in the outage was amazing,” said Gene Balsmeier, NWP chief operating officer and deputy project manager. “We turned them loose, and they went and did it.”
A Buffalo Fuel Corporation truck leaves the West Valley Demonstration Project Site with a waste shipment for disposal. The subcontract with the company was obtained using the Supply Chain Management Center’s eSourcing tool.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site saved more than $600,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 by using procurement tools provided by the Supply Chain Management Center (SCMC), a DOE program that helps EM contractors find better prices for goods and services and makes the buying process more efficient and effective.
By achieving those savings in the first three months of the fiscal year, CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV), EM’s WVDP Site cleanup contractor, exceeded its fiscal 2019 SCMC strategic sourcing cost savings goal by 10 percent. CHBWV surpassed that goal by applying sourcing tools such as real-time online reverse auction software to obtain a mobile generator and transportation services for offsite waste disposal.
“Our procurement team does an excellent job in preparing requests for proposals that obtain the best results for our cleanup efforts and taxpayers,” said David Pritchard, CHBWV manager of prime contract, procurement, and records. “They are always finding creative ways to utilize the SCMC eSourcing tool to ensure the best price from qualified subcontractors and suppliers. It is truly a team effort.”
CHBWV and other prime contractors supporting EM across the DOE complex use SCMC tools to lower costs and create efficiencies. CHBWV achieved 93 percent of its latest savings through the eSourcing tool, which is used for the auctions. In the past six years, CHBWV has conducted 52 auctions for equipment rentals, waste containers, laboratory services, and other items and services, and used other SCMC tools, for a total savings of nearly $5.6 million.
Using the eSourcing tool, CHBWV’s procurement team sends a request for proposals to prospective bidders. Auction details are provided and on the date of the event, the bidders compete for the requested products and services. The purchase order or subcontract is then awarded to the supplier with the lowest price that meets technical requirements.
“One of the biggest things that stands out is how much communication is emphasized, and how each person knows their piece of the pie and what they are responsible for,” said Hernandez, who joined OREM as a contracting officer in November 2018.
OREM Manager Jay Mullis said hires such as Hernandez preserve and advance a strong work ethic and concern for co-workers central to OREM's culture.
“Oak Ridge has a great organizational culture because of our people,” Mullis said. “We have a rare combination of talented employees who work extremely hard and who care for the men and women beside them. Katherine fits that description.”
After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Hernandez served in the Marine Corps as a supply officer with Combat Logistics Battalion 24 in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She later deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit onboard the USS Iwo Jima.
“In the military, you are taught the value of teamwork, while also being trained to be an expert in your individual field and encouraged to help others where you can. Adapting to the environment and preparing for the unknown is also highly emphasized in the military,” Hernandez said.
“I definitely see and appreciate that same culture of adapting as needed and team mentality here in EM," she said. "People are willing to help their co-workers accomplish the job at hand.”
Military service runs in Hernandez’s family. One sister is an active duty Marine, another is a Marine Reservist, and a third is a member of the National Guard.
Hernandez moved to Oak Ridge in 2015 and began working with DOE’s Office of Science as a contract specialist overseeing a range of services, including telecommunications, facility maintenance, and construction. She also played a key role in developing an interagency agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and opening the new American Museum of Science and Energy facility.
At OREM, Hernandez assists with contract management for a program with a nearly $650 million fiscal 2019 budget that contracts for environmental cleanup and remediation, engineering, project planning and management, schedule and cost analysis, and administrative support services.
“Katherine is an excellent addition to our team,” said Karen Shears, director of OREM’s procurement and contracts division. “Through her diverse set of experiences and traits, she gives us a new and different perspective, which is extremely valuable in our field.”
Outside work, Hernandez is working to finish her MBA in May and training for her next marathon.
-Contributor: Ben Williams
This story is part of a series focusing on early career professionals in the EM complex.
“HPMC continued to provide superior worker health and well-being support for the Hanford Site,” according to the fee determination summary released by RL. HPMC earned $315,350 of a possible $350,000 for the year, the summary says.
The contractor earned fee for individual performance incentives focused on effective and efficient site cleanup support, as well as comprehensive performance.
“I am extremely impressed with the superior occupational medicine and health services provided by our team, each and every day,” said HPMC President and CEO Scott Brodeur. “Our recent fee award reflects how well our entire team performs their role, aiding in the success of the crucial Hanford cleanup mission.”
HPMC continued to schedule patient visits efficiently, which reduced lost-work time, according to the summary.
In addition, the summary recognized HPMC for collaboration while supporting the integration of health, safety, and proactive injury prevention techniques.
Still, RL noted room for improvement in its evaluation.
The contractor should “continue to work towards superior quality documents, full implementation of corrective actions, and a contractor business system,” according to the summary.
Operator Larry Bias works at the Distributed Control System in H Canyon. Bias is one of the approximately 260 employees participating in continuing training at the Savannah River Site.
AIKEN, S.C. – An organization managed by the management and operations contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently expanded its continuing training to strengthen its nuclear materials operations and employees’ knowledge of work procedures.
“Conduct of operations and facility knowledge are essential to strong mission performance,” DOE-Savannah River Nuclear Materials Manager Maxcine Maxted said. “DOE recognized the need for continuing training, while also realizing that pulling people from their shifts to train would impact work being done in the facilities. We partnered with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) to identify ways to address training needs on normal days off, which is a deviation from standard operations procedure. This ensures that employees are allowed a chance to refresh themselves on procedures, facility processes, and conduct of operations on a continuous basis.”
The Environmental Management Operations (EMO) organization worked with the SRNS Training Department to prepare the training materials, which include:
lessons learned and case studies of relevant issues in EMO facilities;
tabletop drills and scenario discussions in response to unexpected conditions;
conduct of operations topics.
“This training will be taken by all operators, first-line managers, shift technical engineers, and shift operations managers working in the EMO facilities, which is approximately 260 people,” said EMO Deputy Vice President Janice Lawson. “We appreciate DOE helping us address and resolve our challenges in these areas. SRNS is strong in nuclear operations experience and capability, and continuing training will help us continue to demonstrate excellence in the important work we do for our nation.”
Robin Maples, Zack Larson, Joe Jensen, and Quinn Bragg with Mission Support Alliance were among the technicians who replaced access layer switches throughout the Hanford Site.
RICHLAND, Wash. - Part of a successful cleanup mission means ensuring workers have the proper tools and resources to complete tasks.
Thanks to EMRichland Operations Office (RL) contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA), Hanford workers now have a more reliable connection to the site’s computer network. MSA recently completed a year-long project that included replacing nearly 900 “access layer switches” in the IT equipment rooms of more than 400 buildings. The switches connect a series of workers’ computers to the intranet.
“Our cleanup work relies on providing dependable information services,” said Ben Ellison, the Hanford Site’s federal chief information officer. “This project is an important part of managing our legacy risk and ensuring resilient and efficient operations.”
Dennis Rains, MSA project manager, said the switches are important to Hanford’s day-to-day operations.
“Without a reliable connection to the site’s computer network, workers would be unable to complete certain tasks,” Rains said.
Rains said the old equipment was not reliable and was costly to maintain. The new equipment will save RL approximately $100,000 per year in labor and replacement costs.
As a part of the project, MSA coordinated with building administrators across the site to schedule and plan network outages to reduce the impact to workers.
The new equipment is easier to manage, offers higher bandwidth, and provides redundancy in locations where multiple systems are stacked together.