EM Update | Vol. 11, Issue 30 | Aug. 6, 2019

• SPRU Marks Major Milestone With Completion of Field Work, Site Restoration
• SRS Completes Interim Projects, Prepares for Salt Waste Processing Plant Startup
• Oak Ridge Completes Soil Disposal Project $75 Million Under Original Estimates
• Crews Safely Finish Lighting Renovations at Savannah River Site Facility
• Steam Plant Startup Testing Begins at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant
• Hanford Manager Joins Students for STEM Exercises at Nez Perce Reservation
• New Advisory Board Members Get Up-close View of Oak Ridge Cleanup
• University’s Environmental Outreach at SRS Continues to Grow

SPRU Marks Major Milestone With Completion of Field Work, Site Restoration

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. – EM recently completed deactivation, decontamination, demolition, and site restoration at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) nuclear facilities at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

“The culmination of SPRU fieldwork is a significant achievement to be celebrated by DOE Environmental Management, our prime contractor AECOM, and the SPRU field office technical support staff,” said Steven Feinberg, EM’s SPRU federal project director.

“Congratulations to the DOE Office of Environmental Management and the AECOM team on this accomplishment,” said Mark Whitney, general manager of AECOM’s nuclear and environment strategic business unit.

Before-and-after photos of the Separations Process Research Unit building demolition and site restoration fieldwork.

Workers finished building a tent enclosure over Building H2 in 2012.

Crews gather in front of the last shipment of solidified tank heels from Building H2's tank vaults in 2014. The tank heels contained approximately 85 percent of the radiological inventory in Buildings G2 and H2.

Removal of one of nine 10,000-gallon tanks from Building H2.

Decontamination of Building H2 in preparation of removal of the tent enclosure, and demolition of the remaining structure in 2017.

The SPRU nuclear facilities consisted of a main processing facility known as Building G2, a waste processing facility called Building H2, underground tank vaults, and an underground pipe tunnel connecting the two buildings. Buildings G2 and H2 included process cells with thick concrete shield walls, contained more than 8 miles of process piping, and 85 process vessels ranging from 5- to 10,000-gallon capacities. Building H2 was one story above grade and two levels below grade, while Building G2 was two stories above grade and one level below grade.

A former pilot plant for researching and proving the chemical separation of plutonium from irradiated fuel materials, SPRU operated from 1949 to 1951 and completed its mission to prove the chemical separation of plutonium from irradiated fuel materials.

The SPRU facilities were decommissioned in 1953. That work included flushing the process equipment and placing the facilities in safe caretaking status.

The deactivation, decontamination, and demolition work began in December 2007.

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SRS Completes Interim Projects, Prepares for Salt Waste Processing Plant Startup

AIKEN, S.C. – EM has ended a successful 11-year demonstration of two interim salt waste processing facilities as crews prepare for startup of a new facility to replace them at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

The pioneering work of the Actinide Removal Process (ARP) and Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit (MCU) demonstration advanced radioactive salt waste processing across the EM complex by improving the technology to be used in the larger-scale Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF).

ARP/MCU helped EM avoid an interruption in liquid waste operations — including closure of high-level waste (HLW) tanks and vitrification of HLW at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) — due to a lack of tank space by providing salt waste treatment capabilities while SWPF was being constructed.

“For more than a decade, this demonstration project has proved invaluable for the operation of SWPF and allowed for the uninterrupted operation of the liquid waste mission,” DOE-Savannah River Manager Michael Budney said.

ARP/MCU enabled EM to process 7.4 million gallons of radioactive salt waste, resulting in 1,827 canisters of vitrified waste and 15 million gallons of grout safe for permanent disposal. The ARP/MCU process facilitated the closure of six HLW tanks.

“It has been a tremendous and rare privilege to be part of a first-of-its-kind project over its entire lifecycle, working with great people, including the DOE and regulators,” said Brent Gifford, project manager at Savannah River Remediation (SRR), EM's liquid waste contractor at SRS. “The success of the ARP/MCU processes validated the technology that will be used by SWPF and enabled SRS to continue to empty waste tanks, and treat and safely dispose of radioactive waste in support of DOE’s plans for cleanup and tank closure.”

The waste transfer lines that fed the MCU facility are being rerouted to the estimated 140,000-square-foot SWPF, which has a significantly greater processing capacity than ARP/MCU. SWPF also will produce a much larger stream of decontaminated salt waste than those facilities.

ARP/MCU was designed to reduce waste contamination by a factor of 12, meaning the waste leaving MCU would contain only 1/12th of the contamination as when it entered the system. A next generation solvent specially engineered to remove more cesium was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and implemented in 2013 by SRR and EM's Savannah River National Laboratory. This improvement reduced contamination by a factor of approximately 60,000 in MCU, meaning the waste leaving MCU would contain only 1/60,000th of the contamination as when it entered the system.

“ARP/MCU has far exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said Tom Foster, SRR president and project manager. “It not only allowed us to set the stage for SWPF operations but also to continue to reduce and mitigate one of the greatest environmental risks in the state of South Carolina — a true win-win.”

-Contributor: Jim Beasley

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Oak Ridge Completes Soil Disposal Project $75 Million Under Original Estimates

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) coordinated with regulators and partnered with small businesses to complete a soil disposal project for $1.2 million — nearly $75 million under its original estimated budget.

EM crews disposed 4,071 cubic yards of soil that had been in storage since 1989, resulting from the closure of oil retention ponds. The ponds were constructed decades earlier to collect oils, preventing them from seeping from belowground waste sites to nearby surface streams.

“This project highlights the value of critical thinking, coordination, and oversight,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said. “Our employees did a tremendous job identifying a solution that advanced our cleanup progress and used tax dollars responsibly.”

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management awarded a contract to Cherokee National Environmental Solutions to complete the soil disposal project.

During the closure project in 1989, the soil from the oil retention ponds was labeled as containing solvents based on the contents of the belowground waste sites near the soil retrieval location. The presence of solvents would require treatment and disposal offsite, a significant cost reflected in the original budget.

Years later, reviews of the original sampling data revealed the need for new samples and analysis to determine the appropriate path to address the soil. OREM contracted with small business Alliant Corporation to conduct that work. Results of the sampling revealed that the soil, spanning a facility the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, did not contain solvents.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation agreed with OREM’s technical basis for eliminating the previous requirements to treat the soil, and allowed OREM to safely dispose most of it onsite.

With the change, OREM awarded a contract to small business Cherokee National Environmental Solutions to complete the soil disposal project.

This photo shows workers nearing completion of the project to remove 4,071 cubic yards of soil that had been in storage in an Oak Ridge Site facility since 1989.

In February this year, workers finished disposing 4,050 of the 4,071 cubic yards of soil onsite. The remaining 21 cubic yards of soil did not meet the site’s waste acceptance criteria for onsite disposal. Workers packaged and shipped that portion offsite for disposal last week.

“This approach resulted in state and federal agencies finding the best path, partnering with a small business to address a longstanding need, and completing a project tens of millions of dollars below original estimates,” Mullis said.

The removal of soil paves the way for OREM to reuse the building where the soil was stored. Workers conducted sampling to confirm the facility is safe for future projects. OREM expects to use the facility for research on waste treatment and cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

-Contributor: Ben Williams

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Crews Safely Finish Lighting Renovations at Savannah River Site Facility

The Savannah River Site’s 717-F building shown before and after lighting renovations.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM crews recently completed extensive lighting renovations across a facility supporting many critical missions at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

Workers safely replaced 30 light fixtures at the 717-F building using lifting equipment or scaffold they constructed atop a 30-ton crane deck.

Over the years, the building’s light fixtures burned out, prompting workers to use temporary lighting for work areas. The lights in the fixtures were difficult to safely access and replace — about 60 feet in the air — with interferences limiting use of an aerial lift to perform replacements.

Crews planned the renovations over many months, relying on a hazardous energy control expert and the site’s fire department to ensure safety. Experts also verified that workers were protected from falls from the scaffold by load testing the roof trusses.

A team of electricians, carpenters, ironworkers, crane operators, and others performed tasks such as ensuring proper controls for hazardous energy, construction of scaffolds, setup of fall protection, removal of old fixtures, and installation of new fixtures.

Workers safely completed the renovations over several weekends. The team then reviewed the project and identified improvements to extend the life of the light fixtures, thereby reducing the frequency of future light replacements.

The 717-F building is home to Savannah River Nuclear Solutions construction and maintenance groups, and the Savannah River Remediation construction group.

-Contributor: Lindsey Monbarren

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Steam Plant Startup Testing Begins at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant

A view of the exterior of a steam plant needed to support EM’s program for treating underground tank waste at the Hanford Site by 2023.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant recently began startup testing of the steam system needed to support EM’s program for treating underground tank waste at the Hanford Site, called Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste.

A number of facilities and systems are going through the startup and commissioning phases to prepare for starting to treat low-activity tank waste by 2023.

Electrical foreman Paul Neiman monitors steam plant systems at Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

Startup testing of the steam system began when crews ignited the first of three large diesel-fired boilers inside the steam plant, known as a boiler “first fire.” The steam plant will undergo functional testing throughout the summer and into early fall as part of its startup phase.

The steam plant is capable of providing 45,000 pounds per hour of steam necessary for plant-wide process and facility heating.

-Contributor: George Rangel

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Hanford Manager Joins Students for STEM Exercises at Nez Perce Reservation

LAPWAI, Idaho – EM Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance, far left, back row, recently visited students at the Preparing for Academic Excellence (PACE) Camp on the Nez Perce Tribe’s reservation following his briefing on Hanford Site cleanup progress to the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee. Vance talked with the students about his experience as a former U.S. Navy submarine officer working in nuclear related projects. He emphasized DOE’s commitment to prepare students as future leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), pointing to Hanford’s Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Federal Training Center as a resource for real world training and knowledge sharing. Next to Vance is Solo Greene, Nez Perce Tribe education coordinator and head of the PACE Camp.

Representatives from DOE’s offices of EM and Nuclear Energy (NE) joined Vance at the PACE Camp. Using kinesthetic learning, the students simulated nuclear fuel chain reactions, tossing ping pong balls representing neutrons. As a complement to DOE’s STEM engagement visits, the Navigating Nuclear learning platform will expose students across the country to similar concepts, providing rural communities STEM learning opportunities.  

NE Tribal STEM Advisor Melinda Higgins, with Chickasaw Nation Industries, guided students at the PACE Camp through multiple chemical reactions that produced gas, dynamic color, and temperature changes. Higgins supports all three of DOE’s tribal working groups, including EM’s State and Tribal Government Working Group.

A stakeholder joined DOE federal and contractor employees to promote STEM to students at the PACE Camp. From right, EM Tribal Affairs Director Albert “Brandt” Petrasek, NE Physical Scientist Jay Jones, Washington State STEM Education Foundation Executive Director Deb Bowen, and Giancarlo Casalino with DOE contractor Tribal Tech. The foundation partners with DOE and Hanford contractors to provide STEM exploration and preparation opportunities for thousands of students in the Mid-Columbia region and seeks to expand outreach to tribal students.

-Contributor: Giancarlo Casalino

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New Advisory Board Members Get Up-close View of Oak Ridge Cleanup

New Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board members, from left, Georgette Samaras, Amy Jones, Noah Keebler, Harriett McCurdy, Andrea Browning, and Robert Whittaker visit the historic Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The reactor is being preserved and included in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Newly appointed members of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) recently toured EM’s major cleanup projects at the Oak Ridge Site.

The local environmental advisory board provides community insight and recommendations to help inform EM’s decisions and priorities.

“ORSSAB is a key component of our commitment to community engagement and transparency,” said David Adler, director of quality and mission support for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. “The board is a unique resource for the cleanup program to gather insight and recommendations from the public.”

The newest additions to the 22-member board are Andrea Browning, Amy Jones, Noah Keebler, Harriet McCurdy, Georgette Samaras, and Robert Whittaker, as well as a new student representative from Oak Ridge High School, Avigail Duke.

This year’s tour also included representatives from EM headquarters in Washington, D.C. Alexandra Gilliland, center, with EM’s Office of Regulatory Compliance, brought four EM interns to broaden their understanding of the cleanup program’s field operations, from left: Alexa Dombrowski, a rising senior at the University of Florida studying economics and environmental science; Jaclyn Zidar, a rising senior at the University of Maryland studying environmental engineering; Corey Flynn, who is pursuing a degree in environmental management at University of Maryland-University College; and Jasmin Melara, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia studying civil and environmental engineering.

Because all ORSSAB members are volunteers and come from a variety of professions and backgrounds, OREM regularly conducts guided tours of its ongoing projects to provide firsthand experience about the site’s progress and cleanup challenges.

The group visited Oak Ridge’s three major sites — the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).

At Y-12, members experienced the strict safety and security standards required at national security sites. They observed EM’s progress decommissioning the Biology Complex and constructing the Mercury Treatment Facility. They also learned about the various ways EM safely categorizes, treats, and disposes of soil and debris in onsite facilities, while hazardous material is shipped offsite.

At ORNL, they learned how the nation’s inventory of uranium-233 is securely stored, and how renovations underway at Building 2026 will enable the remaining inventory to be processed and down-blended for disposal. The tour also passed where crews are constructing the new Translational Research Capability Facility, made possible after EM removed two Manhattan Project-era buildings. Members also toured the historic Graphite Reactor, now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

While few buildings still stand at ETTP, traveling the site's perimeter gave participants a perspective on the immense scope of work that was required to bring down 12 million square feet of Manhattan Project and Cold War-era facilities over the years. Crews are working to take down the remaining buildings by the end of 2020.

-Contributor: Shelley Kimel

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University’s Environmental Outreach at SRS Continues to Grow

Sean Poppy, outreach coordinator for the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory outreach program, shows a juvenile alligator to students at Blakeney Elementary School in Waynesboro, Georgia.

AIKEN, S.C. – A team of environmental educators reached over 60,000 individuals last year through an outreach program supported by EM funding at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

Team members with the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) program educate the public about the animal and plant diversity surrounding the site’s operations and the ecosystem in neighboring communities.

Pacifico Perea, the program manager for SREL, said the team reached between 35,000 and 40,000 individuals in previous years, but with expanded programming and staff, SREL has surpassed those numbers.

“Our educational offerings have diversified from a primarily amphibian- and reptile-focused program to programs that reflect the broad range of wildlife seen across the SRS,” Perea said. “We also highlight the research the lab conducts to monitor, manage, and protect the habitats that these animals call home.”

Sean Poppy, outreach coordinator for the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory outreach program, instructs students to use their guidebook to identify aquatic species found at Upper Three Runs Creek at the Savannah River Site.

Perea said that adding topics of current ecological concern, like the decline of pollinators and threatened and endangered species, has contributed to the program’s growth. These topics add to the lab’s original programming that includes wildlife safety talks for site employees and adults in the local communities.

Programs for students from kindergarten through high school have titles such as “Ecologist for a Day” and “EcoTalk,” teaching ecological science through live animal presentations and interactive activities.

“Let’s Grow Together” is a program that educates students about pollinators and their role in plant growth. The program is a collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service–Savannah River (USFS-SR).

Perea said such collaborations are key to the lab program's growth.

In addition to working with the USFS-SR, SREL partners with other organizations like the STEM Community Coalition, a national grant-awarded program developed to reach students in rural and low-income communities that are underserved in science education.

Elementary school students marvel at a gopher tortoise on the “Ecologist for a Day” trail. The event at the Savannah River Site was organized by University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

According to Perea, SREL’s outreach program has always sought to meet needs through partnerships. In 2017, SREL began partnering with a Georgia non-profit organization to educate residents in Waynesboro, Georgia about environmental monitoring programs in their area.

Megan Winzeler, the program’s coordinator, said the Radiological Education, Monitoring, and Outreach Project (REMOP) differs from the lab’s other outreach programs that focus on wildlife. REMOP focuses on natural resources — air, water, and soil.

Winzeler said the project’s goal is to equip residents to read and understand the technical reports produced by radionuclide monitoring programs in the local region run by DOE and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. She said REMOP has reached more than 750 individuals in a year.

Perea said the team has seen other successes. He noted that Sean Poppy, the outreach coordinator, was recently awarded South Carolina’s environmental awareness award.

“Since Sean has been doing this job for more than 20 years, we are seeing young biologists that cite his influence in their career path,” said Perea. “This is evidence that we are making a huge difference in telling the story of the Savannah River Site.”

-Contributor: Vicky Sutton-Jackson

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