Demolition Underway on Oak Ridge’s Final Gaseous Diffusion Facilities; Idaho Waste Treatment Plant Enters Its Longest Test Run to Date; and much more!

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EM Update | Vol. 11, Issue 19 | May 21, 2019

Demolition Underway on Oak Ridge’s Final Gaseous Diffusion Facilities
Idaho Waste Treatment Plant Enters Its Longest Test Run to Date
West Valley Workers Finish Demolition of Former Treatment Plant
Key Equipment Reaches Hanford Effluent Management Facility
EM, States, and Tribes Celebrate 30 Years, Pay Tribute to Yakama Leader
Video Series Highlights Oak Ridge’s Environmental Research, Discovery
Hanford Reaches Major IT Milestone with Closure of Aging Data Center
Paducah Site Installs More-Efficient Alarms

Demolition Underway on Oak Ridge’s Final Gaseous Diffusion Facilities

Demolition is underway on K-131, and crews will progress to K-631 next. DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and cleanup contractor UCOR expect to complete the project this summer.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Workers started demolishing the final two buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) that once supported Oak Ridge’s gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment process. They are the last of the Poplar Creek facilities, the most contaminated structures remaining at the site.

Watch video coverage of the demolition here.

Constructed in 1945, the five-story K-131 and two-story K-631 are connected to one another and have a combined floor space of more than 83,000 square feet. Demolition is underway on K-131, and K-631 is next.

“Removing the final structures from the Poplar Creek area will be a major achievement for us,” said James Daffron, acting ETTP portfolio federal project director for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM). “Just a couple of years ago, this area was populated with numerous dilapidated and contaminated facilities. Now, we’ve safely removed those structures, and we will be able to open new areas for industrial development and reuse.”

A view of the final two Poplar Creek structures before demolition.

Before demolitions began in 2017, the Poplar Creek area housed 11 large buildings and numerous smaller structures dating back to the 1940s and ‘50s — many of them radioactively contaminated — that supported the site’s former nuclear program and operations in the five massive uranium enrichment facilities.

Building K-131 was built to provide purified uranium hexafluoride to the uranium enrichment cascade. Through the years, it was used for a variety of other purposes until Oak Ridge’s uranium enrichment operations ceased in 1985. Building K-631 was used to withdraw gaseous depleted uranium hexafluoride from the cascade, convert it to liquid, and transfer it into transport cylinders.

OREM and cleanup contractor UCOR expect to complete the project this summer. Together, they are working to complete all demolitions at ETTP in 2020 and to covert the site into a multi-use industrial park.

Since cleanup began, OREM has torn down nearly 500 facilities, transferred nearly 1,300 acres for economic redevelopment, and created a 3,000-acre conservation area for public use.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

Idaho Waste Treatment Plant Enters Its Longest Test Run to Date

EM’s Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory Site.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM and cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho recently launched a 50-day demonstration of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) as it treats a non-radioactive simulant that mimics waste from an underground tank farm at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory Site.

The demonstration is designed to achieve long-term, stable operations of the plant designed to treat the tank farm’s 900,000 gallons of nuclear waste. This run also challenges the facility by testing its ability to recover from off-normal events, such as temperature and pressure variations. Additionally, the run will provide data to help finalize remaining environmental permits and confirm the plant’s operating conditions.

“Like prior demonstration runs, we expect to challenge the plant to shake out any remaining issues,” said Archie Benner, Fluor Idaho nuclear facility manager for the IWTU. “Our goal, however, is to resolve those problems while keeping the plant at normal operating pressure and temperature and demonstrate the plant’s robustness.”

Workers conducted a previous IWTU demonstration over 30 days last summer. In that run, the facility successfully converted more than 53,000 gallons of liquid simulant into a dry, granular solid using steam reforming technology.

That test proved that modifications to the primary reaction vessel – called the Denitration Mineralization Reformer (DMR) – were successful. The bottom of the DMR had been modified from a spherical to a conical shape to better promote the fluidization of billions of tiny beads necessary to convert liquid waste to a granular solid.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

West Valley Workers Finish Demolition of Former Treatment Plant

Two excavators create efficiencies, with one demolishing the concrete pad for a former facility that treated low-level waste while the other size-reduces and loads debris.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – Workers finished the last step in a demolition project by digging out and removing a concrete pad used to hold equipment for a facility that treated low-level waste at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site.

“The WVDP team continues their demolition work in a safe and deliberate manner,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “It is this methodical approach that results in legacy risk reduction in an environmentally sound manner.”

A large excavator digs near a sump that collected water from the drains of a facility formerly used to treat low-level waste.

Workers recently completed the building pad demolition and restored the area.

Crews shipped containers with an estimated 950 cubic yards of demolition debris from the pad removal project offsite for disposal before restoring the site.

The pad held major process tanks for the facility, which treated water used in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing operations at the site from 1966 to 1972. Crews decommissioned and demolished that two-story, steel-framed concrete building in 2006 after it was replaced by a new low-level waste treatment building. All that remained until recently was the steel-reinforced concrete pad with depths of up to 17 feet.

EM cleanup workers have torn down 61 legacy facilities at the WVDP Site to date.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere

Key Equipment Reaches Hanford Effluent Management Facility

Two massive processing vessels, standing 40 feet tall and weighing 160 tons each, arrive by barge at the Columbia River Port of Benton to be offloaded by Lampson International, then delivered to the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant jobsite for installation in the Effluent Management Facility.

RICHLAND, Wash. – What weighs 160 tons, stands 40 feet tall, needs a barge and massive crane to transport, and will play a role in treating nuclear waste? A pair of vessels delivered recently to EM’s Hanford Office of River Protection Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).

These vessels were transported up the Columbia River, offloaded at the Port of Benton in Richland, and delivered on a specialized trailer to the WTP at the Hanford Site. There, the vessels — called process condensate lag storage vessels — will be installed in the Effluent Management Facility (EMF), a key part of the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) process for treating tank waste as early as 2022.

“These vessels are impressive in size. The planning and logistics to barge and deliver it was just as impressive,” said Scott Monson, area manager for DFLAW at Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), the WTP Project contractor. “Now, the construction crew will take over and work to install them this summer.”

The EMF is part of the infrastructure complex that will support DFLAW, the plan for feeding waste directly from the Hanford tank farms to the Low-Activity Waste Facility. There, the waste will be blended with glass-forming materials and heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit.

During that process, called vitrification, secondary liquids are generated and then sent to EMF, where excess water is evaporated and transferred to Hanford’s nearby Liquid Effluent Retention Facility (LERF), while the remaining concentrate is sent back into the vitrification process. The two vessels will receive batches of concentrated liquid for storage while it’s being tested to ensure it meets regulatory requirements before being sent to the LERF for storage.

“The Effluent Management Facility is the last major construction project at the Waste Treatment Plant,” said Erik Olds, DFLAW deputy. “We have been working hard over the years and we can see those efforts are coming to fruition. You can feel the sense of urgency.”

The BNI logistics team worked closely with local company Lampson International, which managed the loading, unloading, and land hauling of the vessels.

“We’ve worked with Lampson throughout WTP construction, and on many DFLAW equipment deliveries,” said Valerie McCain, WTP project director for BNI. “We value working with local and regional companies in our mission to protect our community and the river.”

The BNI logistics team will stage the vessels outside the EMF before installing them by crane into the structure.

-Contributor: Bechtel National Inc.

EM, States, and Tribes Celebrate 30 Years, Pay Tribute to Yakama Leader

Members of the State and Tribal Government Working Group; tribal leaders; officials from EM, DOE's Office of Legacy Management, and the National Nuclear Security Administration; and DOE field site managers gather during a tour of the X-10 Graphite Reactor at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – EM and the State and Tribal Government Working Group (STGWG) each mark 30th anniversaries this year, and they came together last week to reflect on an enduring partnership that has helped the cleanup program make informed decisions protective of people and the environment.

"I appreciate the contributions and leadership of STGWG over the past 30 years in promoting the importance of long-term stewardship and institutional controls," EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Gilbertson told participants in STGWG’s spring meeting. He also noted that EM is counting on the group’s partnership and counsel in the next chapter toward cleanup completion and thoughtful stewardship.

Representatives from tribes and states that host DOE facilities or are impacted by activities at them comprise STGWG. The working group is focused on key topics such as long-term stewardship, natural resource damages, and tribal issues with additional interest in transportation planning, nuclear waste and materials disposition, and deactivation and decommissioning activities.

From left, EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Gilbertson; Yakama Nation Environmental Restoration Waste Management (ERWM) Program Director Laurene Contreras; Yakama Nation Council Member and Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Policy Committee Chairman George Selam; Yakama Nation ERWM Program Botanist Natalie Swan, niece of Dr. Russell Jim; and EM Tribal Affairs Director Albert Brandt Petrasek, at the State and Tribal Government Working Group’s spring meeting last week.

From left, Office of Environmental Affairs Director Dino Chavarria and Lt. Gov. Charles Suazo of the Santa Clara Pueblo; First Lt. Gov. John Galvan, Natural Resources Department Program Manager Clarice Madalena, and Natural Resources Department Natural Resources Technician Daryl Lucero of Jemez Pueblo; and Tribal Department of Energy Cultural Resources Specialist Larae Bill of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes participate in a science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) workforce session at the State and Tribal Government Working Group spring meeting.

EM is committed to cleanup completion so states, tribes, and communities around EM can envision a vibrant future with enduring opportunities, including access to cultural lands, appropriate protection of cultural and natural resources, economic growth, and educational development, Gilbertson said.

"I hope you will continue to bring your ideas for solutions to the table as this process continues," he said. "That includes helping us understand tribal visons for future land use and exploring, together, the potential for expanded access where tribal interests seek reconnection with areas of great cultural significance.”

Gilbertson also emphasized the importance of science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) and workforce development initiatives to shape a 21st-century workforce in tribal communities and beyond. EM contractors will address STEM and workforce needs across EM sites, he added.

Gilbertson highlighted the Santa Fe Indian School as an example of a DOE-Tribal STEM partnership with impactful results. Many of the school’s graduates have gone on to work in STEM fields, including work for EM contractors and tribal environmental monitoring programs related to EM’s cleanup mission.

Dr. Russell Jim, a Yakama Nation elder and State and Tribal Government Working Group founder, died last year. Participants in last week's State and Tribal Government Working Group spring meeting reflected on his legacy.

Gilbertson also paid tribute to Dr. Russell Jim, a Yakama Nation elder and STGWG founder who died last year. He described Jim as a strong leader for the Yakama Nation and a leading voice in EM’s cleanup and the national conversation to address the Manhattan Project legacy.

Meeting participants watched the film, “A Quiet Warrior,” commemorating Jim’s legacy. EM Tribal Affairs Director Albert Brandt Petrasek, Peter Chestnut with the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, and Yakama Nation members Councilman George Selam, Laurene Contreras, and Natalie Swan all shared messages honoring Jim. The film spotlights Jim’s critical role in ensuring the involvement of tribes in DOE decisions regarding cleanup, and that they received “affected status” under the U.S. Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1987.

-Contributor: Giancarlo Casalino

Video Series Highlights Oak Ridge’s Environmental Research, Discovery

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) is kicking off a four-part video series spotlighting the site’s environmental research. In part one, OREM explores the history and accomplishments of the DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Aquatic Ecology Lab.

For nearly 75 years, scientists there have been at the forefront of environmental research and discovery, including leading some of the longest-running studies of small streams in the world. Learn about the evolution of their research, and how they are helping advance EM’s environmental cleanup mission in Oak Ridge.

Watch the video here.

-Contributor: Ben Williams

Hanford Reaches Major IT Milestone with Closure of Aging Data Center

Workstation maintenance technician Joe Jensen with EM contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) installs equipment in a new Hanford Site data center. MSA recently closed an aging data center and moved into a more efficient facility owned by the Franklin County Public Utility District. The move is expected to save approximately $100,000 per year in maintenance costs.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) recently closed the doors on an aging data center at the Hanford Site, saving EM more than $100,000 a year.

Working with area public utility districts (PUD) and a telecommunications company, MSA moved out of the 4,800-square-foot data center and into a 480-square-foot room in a Franklin County PUD facility with space allocated specifically for Hanford.

Data centers are designed to store computer networks providing the necessary support for systems to operate reliably. Franklin County PUD is an ideal partner because its facility has the necessary power and cooling systems with backup capabilities to ensure the ongoing delivery of power in case of an outage, as well as an onsite generator. Additionally, it has been retrofitted to protect the equipment during an earthquake. Northwest Open Access Network provides the telecommunication services.

“With changing technology, we were able to downsize the amount of equipment we need and move out of a building that was too big,” said Dennis Rains, MSA project manager. “We purchased more efficient equipment that allows us to increase the network bandwidth, improve cybersecurity, and increase the amount of electronic storage space.”

As the site’s service provider, MSA manages Hanford’s computer network, which includes a primary and backup data center. Before the move, the primary and backup data centers were both located in federal facilities. With this change, MSA moved its backup data center into the facility owned and operated by the Franklin County PUD.

“Not only did we avoid an upgrade of $750,000, but we’re reducing our data center operating costs by up to a million dollars over the next ten years. Each organization made a unique contribution to this project to make it successful,” said Mike Eddy, the information technology infrastructure manager at Hanford.

“This was a big project that had a lot of moving parts,” said Ben Ellison, Hanford’s chief information officer. “As a part of the move, we closed down an aging data center, facilitated a planned site-wide network outage, rebuilt and reconfigured the entire Hanford network, and moved the data center into a brand new facility.”

-Contributor: Patrick Conrad

Paducah Site Installs More-Efficient Alarms

EM Paducah Site Electrician Steve Atherton installs electronic horns for the criticality accident alarm system to replace the air-powered horns that have been used since the 1990s.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Workers are making changes to reduce utility and maintenance costs for EM’s Paducah Site cleanup.

Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership (FRNP), EM’s deactivation and remediation contractor at the site, is switching from air horns to electronic horns for the criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) in the large C-333 and C-337 Process Buildings.

“Electronic horns operate more efficiently than the air horns,” said Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard of EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. “They are less expensive to test and maintain, while still functioning as an important safety feature at the Paducah Site.”

During a power outage, the power supply to the electronic horns is automatically switched to one of several large battery banks to maintain alarm capability. Electronic horns do not rely on the plant’s air compressors, which helps to reduce the amount of power needed to operate the CAAS.

The CAAS was installed in the early 1960s during the height of operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. It was upgraded in the early 1980s and again in 1999. Enrichment operations were very loud and the air horns were needed to be heard over the sound of the process equipment. With enrichment operations ceased, the noise levels were reduced and electronic horns became the preferred option. All air horns will be transitioned across the site by the end of the year.

“Providing adequate safeguards for our workers, the community, and the environment is a top priority as we improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the site’s alarm systems,” said FRNP Program Manager Jeff Bradford. “We will continue to seek ways to safely reduce costs at the Paducah Site.”

-Contributors: Dylan Nichols, Jessica Vasseur

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