EM Update | Vol. 11, Issue 36 | Sept. 17, 2019

• Pioneers in the Cleanup Program Look Back on EM’s 30 Years
• Hanford Crews Safely Compete Sludge Transfer, Reducing Risk to River
• Moab Project Marks 10 Million Tons Moved
• Under Secretary Dabbar Celebrates EM Success, Focuses on Priorities
• EM’s Todd Shrader: Build on Closure Sites' Lessons Learned
• Panelists Spotlight Cleanup Successes Across EM Complex
• Site Managers Discuss Community Engagement, Contracts in Roundtable Session
• Hanford Team Reflects on Site’s History, Looks Forward to Waste Treatment
• As SRS Approaches 70-Year Anniversary, Panelists Optimistic About Site's Future

Pioneers in the Cleanup Program Look Back on EM’s 30 Years

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Leaders and key stakeholders integral to the cleanup program over the past three decades looked back at key moments and lessons learned as EM recognized its 30-year anniversary at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

A thread running through the years and EM’s successes has been the program’s relationships and partnerships in the cleanup communities that shared in their challenges and achievements.

Thomas Grumbly, who served as EM Assistant Secretary from 1993 to 1996, recounted early challenges in setting a course and ramping up the program swiftly following its establishment in 1989 with a mission to remediate 107 former nuclear weapons production and research sites. EM has completed cleanup at 91 of those sites.

Grumbly said he came to an important realization that would remain a touchstone of the EM program.

“One of the things I recognized right away was that cleanup was not a technical problem. It was a political problem,” he said. “We worked very hard then and I’m happy to say over the years everyone followed up. We tried very hard not to have this be a partisan political issue. If it was ever turned into a partisan political issue, the program would have no money today.

“We also had to recognize that while on paper (EM) was a federal program, it really is a state-federal program and not a whole lot could be accomplished without the agreement of states,” Grumbly said.

“One of the main things we did was to reach to communities around the country and bring them into the process,” he said. “Show them to the extent we could how difficult the cleanup was, and how difficult the choices were and try to get away from the antagonism. Getting out of the attitude that DOE knew best all the time, and into an attitude that this was a joint project of the state and the feds, and that the people who lived around these places had to be involved.”

The fifth annual National Cleanup Workshop, held Sept. 10-12, brought together nearly 800 DOE, state and local officials, contractors, and community stakeholders to discuss the EM program.

Thomas Grumbly, EM Assistant Secretary from 1993 to 1996.

Keith Klein, former manager of EM’s Carlsbad Field Office.

Keith Klein, former manager of EM’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO), said the initiative, support, and persistence of local leaders in New Mexico was key to the establishment of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the nation’s only underground waste repository.

“WIPP is the story of science, perseverance, regulatory frontiers, and politics,” Klein said. “The story is complete with drama and lessons learned, including lessons that still apply today."

Klein was acting manager of CBFO when WIPP finally accepted its first shipment in 1999, 10 years after construction. He recalled it was an emotional experience when the shipment rolled through Carlsbad, where people gathered to welcome it in the middle of the night.

“Townspeople were out in the streets cheering, clapping, holding up signs. It was just un-fricking believable,” he said. “At 3:30 in the morning. Talk about passion. These workers who had been there 10 years waiting for this day. They were cheering, applauding, and swear to God, crying. It’s all true.”

Paul Golan served as acting EM Assistant Secretary from July 2004 to May 2005 and also was deputy manager of the field office at Rocky Flats, one of EM’s signature cleanup completions.

Golan said it took discipline, commitment, strong relationships, a willingness to set aside ego and to compromise — all while maintaining a steadfast devotion to safety — to achieve success at Rocky Flats.

“We committed to maintaining a strong relationship and an ongoing dialogue with our community advisory board that was critical as we worked through some very difficult issues,” he said. “We built strong relationships and today they would be called partnership agreements. We were actually in partnerships before the department coined the term partnership agreements.”

Paul Golan, acting EM Assistant Secretary from 2004 to 2005.

Jack Craig, former manager of the Savannah River Site.

Jack Craig, former manager of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and former deputy manager of the Ohio Field Office where he was responsible for the management, cleanup, and restoration of the Fernald, Mound, Battelle-Columbus, and Ashtabula sites, said successes in Ohio would not have been possible without strong relationships with community advisers.

“Never underestimate the power of collaboration with the community and the regulators,” he said.

Former U.S. congressman Doc Hastings of Washington state, founder of the U.S. House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, noted that the caucus was created to educate new lawmakers from key states about the cleanup program’s worth and needs.

Hastings said the cooperation among lawmakers from districts that supported cleanup culminated in the creation of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, established in 2015 to highlight the roles of Hanford, Washington; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the nation’s nuclear defense, including the preservation of the historic B Reactor at Hanford.

Former U.S. congressman Doc Hastings of Washington state.

Seth Kirshenberg, executive director of Energy Communities Alliance.

Rick McLeod, president and CEO of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization.

Seth Kirshenberg, executive director of Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), which represents local communities near DOE sites, and Rick McLeod, president and CEO of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, pointed to the importance of local communities having a voice in the cleanup, including when a cleanup at a site is complete.

Kirshenberg said ECA was formed at a time when DOE sites were transitioning from weapons production roles to cleanup, with resulting impacts on their workforces and potential opportunities for future uses of the properties.

“The partnership was built because the communities, the states, and the Department of Energy actually had to work through a lot of very difficult issues,” he said.

Kirshenberg said the cleanup program and the people who work there are key to their communities.

“When I think of people at the sites, I think of the contractors and the Department of Energy people,” Kirshenberg said. “I also think of them — they are the Rotary Club members. They are the elected officials a lot of times. They are the Little League baseball coaches. And as we go forward they are the people who have done the work, who have really made a difference.”

“When we talk about 30 years, they are the people I really think about,” he said. “In the end, it really is the working relationships and the partnerships that make this thing work.”

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Hanford Crews Safely Compete Sludge Transfer, Reducing Risk to River

Workers prepare the 20th and final sludge container for shipment at the Hanford Site. The transfer of sludge from K West to T Plant reduces a significant risk to the Columbia River and marks a key accomplishment in the overall Hanford cleanup mission.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM workers recently completed an important project, transferring 35 cubic yards of highly radioactive sludge from the K West Reactor fuel storage basin to T Plant, located on the Hanford Site’s central plateau, for safe interim storage.

“Everyone who has worked on this project and contributed to its success should be very proud of what they have done for Hanford, the nearby communities, and the entire Pacific Northwest. This is a fantastic testament to their dedication,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said.

Sludge consists of sand, dirt, corrosion products from uranium fuel, and other materials. It was created when irradiated fuel rods began to deteriorate after decades of sitting in a fuel storage basin.

Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said years of planning and training went into protecting workers and the environment to reduce a significant risk to the Columbia River.

"Removing the sludge is a critical step in moving forward with other work near the K reactors to reduce Hanford’s annual operating costs,” Vance said.

The sludge containers were transferred from the K West Reactor Basin to T Plant, about 10 miles away in the center of the Hanford Site. The containers will be safely stored here until final disposition plans are completed and implemented.

Sludge transfer began in June 2018 and was recently completed, more than three months ahead of a Tri-Party Agreement milestone.

The transfer of the sludge began in June 2018 and is done three months ahead of a Tri-Party Agreement milestone.

“This important mark of progress is a result of the whole CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) team working together, and also making a dedicated team effort with the Department of Energy, workers, labor and labor leadership, regulatory agencies, and community leadership,” said Ty Blackford, president and CEO of CHPRC, in a message to his workers Sept. 11.

Efforts are already underway to remove debris, like contaminated tools and pumps, from the basin, which will in turn enable dewatering and demolition to begin. The sludge will remain in interim safe storage at T Plant until a disposition path is selected.

-Contributor: Mark Heeter

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Moab Project Marks 10 Million Tons Moved

EM Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project employees gather around project equipment after loading the 10 millionth ton of uranium mill tailings into a container to be shipped by train to the Crescent Junction disposal cell.

MOAB, Utah – Crews from EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project loaded and shipped the 10 millionth ton of uranium mill tailings to a dedicated disposal cell, a significant milestone in the 10-year-old cleanup.

The Moab Project’s Sept. 16 achievement means more than 62 percent of the estimated 16 million tons of mill tailings have been safely shipped for disposal away from the Colorado River.

To prepare tailings for removal, workers excavate and condition the tailings in drying beds to reach the optimal moisture content for disposal and to reduce shipping excess water. Excavators load tailings in steel containers with locking lids for transport to Crescent Junction, Utah, roughly 30 miles away. The Moab Project is currently shipping four trains a week.

Employees at the Crescent Junction disposal cell site come together to mark the milestone as they await the train carrying the 10 millionth ton from the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project.

“A decade ago, the project shipped its first trainload of material,” Moab Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister said. “We are proud to see the tremendous progress our team has made since then, all with a commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, and efficiently completing this project.”

The Moab Project continues at an accelerated pace. Since February 2019, the project has doubled its weekly train shipments from two to four. The project has shipped nearly 215,000 tons more than initially planned at the previous two-trains-a-week schedule.

-Contributor: Honora Thompson

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Under Secretary Dabbar Celebrates EM Success, Focuses on Priorities

Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar speaks to nearly 800 EM stakeholders at this year's National Cleanup Workshop.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – DOE is maximizing its opportunities for progress in environmental cleanup, Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar told an audience at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop in remarks congratulating EM on its 30-year anniversary.

“At several sites where there was once radioactive and hazardous waste, today there are wetlands, nature preserves, industrial parks, and land available to local communities so they can execute their economic development and diversification plans,” Dabbar remarked to an audience of nearly 800 EM stakeholders at the fifth annual event.

Dabbar said the Department is making the most of its opportunities, highlighting efforts to contain a contaminant plume at Los Alamos National Laboratory, begin retrievals at the A and AX Tank Farms at Hanford, and complete environmental corrective actions at the Nevada National Security Site. The Nevada project saved $66 million and was accomplished six years ahead of schedule.

“Progress like this leads to secure management and disposition of waste, substantially reduced risks to people and the environment, and culminates in new opportunities for preservation, recreation, and economic development in the communities that hosted these sites for decades,” he said.

Over the next year, the Under Secretary said he expects progress on addressing tank waste. At Hanford, DOE is committed to the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste approach to tank waste treatment that will enable large-scale tank waste treatment. At the Savannah River Site (SRS), the Salt Waste Processing Facility is preparing for startup, he added.

Dabbar discussed the Department’s efforts to tackle the challenge of getting waste out of tanks sooner. Historically, DOE has managed a significant amount of reprocessing waste as high-level waste despite much of it not being highly radioactive. EM has proposed a science-driven solution for reprocessing waste to be defined by how radioactive it is rather than its origin. He said this new approach could offer more options, with efforts underway as part of this initiative to analyze a particular waste stream at SRS.

He also emphasized contracting efforts to strengthen project management, drive cleanups to completion, identify opportunities to accelerate cleanup and closure, optimize sequencing of cleanup activities, and reduce liabilities.

-Contributor: Lauren Milone

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EM’s Todd Shrader: Build on Closure Sites' Lessons Learned

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader reflected on the magnitude of the cleanup program’s past 30 years of achievements at this year's National Cleanup Workshop and emphasized the importance of building on the lessons learned from those victories as EM works to close more sites in the years ahead.

“I often say that I’ve been in DOE for 20 years roughly. I’ve never packaged one drum of waste; I have never picked up one contaminated piece of equipment,” Shrader said. “It is you guys that do the work. It’s the contractors, it’s the federal staff that works with them. This is your progress that we celebrate today.”

Shrader said EM is applying lessons from its closure sites to make more progress on its mission. EM has completed cleanup at 91 sites, and 16 sites remain where work is ongoing.

Shrader highlighted the success of the Rocky Flats site closure.

“It was a great example of teaming among regulators, the Department, and contractors, and putting in place the right contracting structures — an early version of end-state contract called closure contracts,” he said.

Shrader also focused on accomplishments at smaller closure sites such as the Mound Site in Ohio, which is now a successful business park, as an illustration of what cleanup meant for communities at some of the completed sites.

“Our goal is to turn these sites back over to communities, to work with stakeholders, determine end states, and to continue outreach with our stakeholders and our communities moving forward,” he said.

EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader.

Sandia National Laboratories, the Separations Process Research Unit, and Brookhaven National Laboratory were highlighted as among the sites where the EM mission will soon be completed and the cleaned-up areas turned over for other uses. He showed a map displaying 10 dots representing EM sites in 2029 rather than today’s current map with 16 sites, challenging federal and contractor workshop attendees to achieve this goal in the next 10 years.

By building on the lessons learned from Rocky Flats, Mound, and the Fernald site in Ohio, and the near-term anticipated completions at Sandia and Brookhaven, Shrader emphasized the need for an operations and completion mindset.

Shrader acknowledged that the remaining sites are the most challenging. However, he said he’s encouraged by having the best scientific and engineering resources on the tasks and believes ways can be found to reduce risk, lower cost, and accelerate completion.

Shrader said he also sees opportunity to increase accountability through strengthened project management and through a shift to end-state contracting. This will be achieved by defining the work by segments that are easier to track and accomplish, and improving incentives to drive costs down.

Completion is also dependent upon productive relationships with regulators, communities, tribal nations, and stakeholders, Shrader said. He emphasized the importance of expanding stakeholder engagement and partnering with regulators to collaborate on the best solutions to reach completion.

To move forward, EM must build collaboration, enable decisions at the appropriate levels, ensure work is carried out in a manner protective of human health and the environment, and increase communications and engagement of stakeholders.

-Contributor: Lauren Milone

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Panelists Spotlight Cleanup Successes Across EM Complex

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – EM federal and contractor leaders from several sites highlighted major successes in the cleanup program during a panel session at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.  

Although they have different missions, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site, Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO), Oak Ridge Office of EM (OREM), and EM Los Alamos Field Office have all demonstrated significant cleanup progress.

INL Site

DOE-Idaho EM Manager Jack Zimmerman described a collaborative relationship that includes the state of Idaho, DOE, and employees of the Idaho Cleanup Project that has led to mission success at the INL Site.

Zimmerman discussed a recent 50-day demonstration of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), which was built to treat 900,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste from nearby underground waste tanks. In the demonstration by Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor, more than 63,000 gallons of simulant were successfully treated with steam-reforming technology.

“It showed that the process is going to work,” he said of the demonstration.

DOE-Idaho EM Manager Jack Zimmerman discusses collaborative efforts that led to cleanup mission successes at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.

Zimmerman noted that workers have made more than 200 modifications to the facility since its construction. Following additional testing and modifications, IWTU will undergo another test run next year before actual waste treatment operations begin.

Fluor Idaho Environmental, Safety, and Health Director Kliss McNeel talked about the progress of EM’s targeted buried waste exhumation project, which began in 2005 to remove radioactive and hazardous materials buried in a shallow, unlined landfill. Crews have cleared waste from more than 5 acres of the landfill, with just 0.69 acres remaining for removal.

McNeel said many employees of Fluor Idaho’s workforce have been with the INL Site cleanup for more than 20 years.

“They love Idaho and have really become committed to this project,” she said.

Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) Manager Robert Edwards,left, and Mid-America Conversion Services President and Project Manager Zack Smith discuss safe and successful operations at PPPO's depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion and storage facilities.

PPPO

EM and contractor Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS) have been safely and successfully converting depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) into a more stable oxide form for subsequent reuse or disposal. EM’s DUF6 conversion and storage facilities at the Portsmouth and Paducah former gaseous diffusion plant sites are addressing more than 840,000 metric tons of DUF6 stored in 67,000 cylinders.

PPPO Manager Robert Edwards and MCS President and Project Manager Zack Smith discussed safety and other improvements at the plants.

Following equipment and operational improvements, all seven conversion lines were operating simultaneously this year. The plants have achieved an operating “uptime” of 70 percent, up from 12 percent when MCS commenced its contract in 2017. Uptime represents how long the process operates over a given period of time.

The project is expected to exceed its fiscal 2019 production goal by emptying 1,136 cylinders and converting 14,369 metric tons of DUF6.

Oak Ridge

OREM Manager Jay Mullis said Oak Ridge’s EM developed a 10-year program plan issued in 2014 that established a roadmap for the next decade, ensuring all employees work toward common goals and objectives, making it possible to achieve ambitious visions in Oak Ridge.

Those visions include Vision 2020 and Vision 2024, each correlating to the year they are scheduled for completion. In 2016, Oak Ridge achieved Vision 2016, its goal to remove all of the site’s former gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plants. This accomplishment marked the first time in the world this feat had been achieved.

EM and contractor UCOR are working toward the next major milestone known as Vision 2020. When complete next year, crews will have completed major cleanup at a former uranium enrichment site — now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park — another world first.
Oak Ridge has taken a creative approach to enable future reuse of the land by the community.

UCOR President and CEO Ken Reuter noted that as land is cleaned, it is transferred from government ownership back to the community as part of a multi-use industrial park. The site will include 1,500 acres for industrial development, 3,500 acres for conservation and recreation, and 100 acres for historic preservation efforts. Oak Ridge has already made tremendous progress toward that goal, having transferred more than 1,200 acres and 14 facilities totaling 332,000 square feet to private companies that have created more than 300 jobs.

Vision 2024 focuses on cleanup at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex — two important research and national security sites for the U.S.

EM and UCOR’s strong partnership and clear visions have made it possible to achieve ambitious goals, make tremendous progress toward EM’s mission, and help usher in new opportunities for the region.

Oak Ridge Office of EM Manager Jay Mullis explains the development of a 10-year program plan that established a roadmap to achieve visions to complete cleanup at Oak Ridge.

EM Los Alamos Field Office Manager Doug Hintze, left, and Glenn Morgan, president of legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos, talk about progress to contain and control migration of a groundwater contaminant plume.

Los Alamos

Doug Hintze, manager of the EM Los Alamos Field Office, and Glenn Morgan, president of legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B), highlighted progress with an interim measure to contain and control migration of a contaminant plume in groundwater. The system is located along the southern edge of the plume beneath Sandia and Mortandad canyons near the boundary between DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Pueblo de San Ildefonso.

To date, more than 100 million gallons of contaminated water have been treated, and EM is seeing better-than-expected plume mitigation with the interim measure, which helps engineers prepare the final remediation design.

The contaminant hexavalent chromium was first detected in the groundwater in 2005. It resulted from a non-nuclear power plant at LANL. From 1956 to 1972, workers periodically flushed chromium-contaminated water from cooling towers into Sandia Canyon. Chromium was commonly used as a corrosion inhibitor. LANL ceased releasing chromium-contaminated water in 1972.

Following the discovery of the contamination, EM installed several groundwater monitoring wells to better characterize the extent of the contamination and to determine how far the contaminant had moved. An extensive groundwater model was developed to help determine the optimum location of additional wells and better understand the extent of a contaminant plume.

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Site Managers Discuss Community Engagement, Contracts in Roundtable Session

From left, Hanford Manager Brian Vance, Savannah River Operations Office Manager Michael Budney, and EM Los Alamos Field Office Manager Doug Hintze participate in a roundtable session on EM cleanup activities and the importance of community outreach at this year's National Cleanup Workshop.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Managers leading cleanup at EM’s largest sites discussed accomplishments, the changing contracting landscape, and the importance of community engagement during a roundtable session at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

The panel was comprised of Savannah River Operations Office Manager Michael Budney, Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Manager Robert Edwards, EM Los Alamos Field Office Manager Doug Hintze, Oak Ridge Office of EM Manager Jay Mullis, Hanford Manager Brian Vance, and DOE-Idaho EM Manager Jack Zimmerman.

The session began with an emphasis on the significance of EM sharing its accomplishments in the communities surrounding its sites.

“It’s important to highlight our achievements in a way that reinforces the pride that should come with the difficult and challenging work we accomplish,” Vance said. He continued about the potential for members of Hanford’s 9,000-person workforce to serve as ambassadors in the community to help increase understanding about site’s operations and successes.

Hintze shifted focus to the importance of engaging the community in the early phases of planning before finalizing approaches and beginning field work. He pointed to a new community engagement program at the Los Alamos site as a means to cultivate a more open and collaborative culture.

“It takes more work upfront, but it helps ensure the community’s full support,” Hintze said. “This cleanup is not just for ourselves, it’s for our kids and the next generation beyond us, so it’s important that the community’s desires and input are valued.”

In some cases, the engagement itself is leading to new accomplishments. In Oak Ridge, these collaborations with the city and Roane County help EM transfer ownership of land and infrastructure for new uses. As a result, the region has been provided with assets to enable economic development, while helping EM avoid more than $110 million in costs associated with maintenance, emergency services, and other oversight responsibilities.

From left, EM site managers Jay Mullis, Robert Edwards, and Jack Zimmerman discuss some of EM's largest cleanup sites.

The panelists were asked how much their sites are able to collaborate with one another. Together, the sites represented on the panel account for the majority of EM’s annual cleanup budget.

“We have our regular field manager meetings and calls, but we also have relationships that allow us to discuss mutual issues,” Mullis said. “For example, since Oak Ridge, Savannah River, and Paducah are all in the same EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) region, we are able to coordinate on regulatory issues.”

Zimmerman noted that representatives of EM sites have formal meetings as well as informal interactions.

“I can easily call other sites, and they will make lessons learned available to us so we aren’t recreating the wheel,” Zimmerman said.

Edwards highlighted the Corporate Strategy Board that EM Senior Advisor Ike White recently established for field managers to weigh in on decisions for the program.

Many workshop attendees in the audience were interested to hear how EM will adjust to changes in the contracting landscape.

“We want to create conditions where world class contractors can perform world class work,” Vance said.

Budney described goals from his perspective, one of which is the need to remain “focused on meeting objectives of the mission.”

The final question for the panelists focused on how each site is taking steps to interact with the community on cleanup topics.

“We’ve made an effort to get involved with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in local schools,” Mullis said. “In that setting, we are able to explain what engineers are doing in Oak Ridge, types of opportunities and jobs related to our work, and how to access those opportunities. To see that lightbulb go off is very gratifying.”

Vance added, “As part of (Hanford’s) outreach process, we want to allow people to ask questions directly to the men and women doing the work. If we have an issue in the future, we have already established credibility and relationship. We want to make every opportunity count.”

-Contributor: Ben Williams

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Hanford Team Reflects on Site’s History, Looks Forward to Waste Treatment

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance led a panel discussion about Hanford’s past, present, and future with leaders from the site’s major cleanup contractors during this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

“Hanford is on the list of great public works of the last century, when you think about the amount of work that was done and the importance of the work to the nation and the world,” Vance said. “It was a very important piece of history and very important outcome for our country.”

At the time of EM’s creation in 1989, roughly 160 cleanup milestones were established in the Tri-Party Agreement, which governs cleanup at Hanford. As time went on, hundreds of milestones were added. As of October 2018, more than 1,600 milestones had been completed, Vance said.

“We’ve had a phenomenal last 30 years,” Vance said.

Ty Blackford, president and CEO of cleanup contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company, summarized the company’s work scope over the years.

“Our mission has been to protect the Columbia River, get off the river, and that mission is moving forward,” he said.

Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance, center, is joined by Ty Blackford, president of CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company, far left, and Brent Gerry, mayor of the City of West Richland, Washington, as he leads a panel discussion on Hanford cleanup activities. 

From left, Bob Wilkinson, president of Mission Support Alliance; Val McCain, Bechtel National, Inc. principal vice president and Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant project director; and John Eschenberg, president and CEO of Washington River Protection Solutions.

Blackford then announced that the yearslong process of transferring sludge away from a reactor basin had been completed recently — prompting applause from the audience of nearly 800 workshop participants.

Washington River Protection Solutions President and CEO John Eschenberg, whose company manages the mission of retrieving 56 million gallons of waste stored in underground tanks, described a shift in the culture at Hanford as workers advance toward treating the waste.

“I can tell you there is excitement in the air at Hanford because we’ve been working to this end for decades,” Eschenberg said.

He described a countdown clock for waste treatment in the lobby at the EM Office of River Protection that he says helps to focus the entire Hanford workforce.

“It has created this unity among all of us and we’re all driving toward this one objective,” Eschenberg said. “Now to see this countdown timer clicking away, this is very exciting for us all.”

After describing efforts in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) construction, progress toward commissioning, and developing the future workforce, Bechtel National, Inc. Principal Vice President and WTP Project Director Valerie McCain echoed Eschenberg’s sentiments.

“It’s an exciting time on the project and in this mission. It feels different,” McCain said. “There are a lot of challenges that remain in front of us, and it’s going to take all of us here working closely together to be successful.”

Bob Wilkinson, president of site services contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA), said MSA celebrates the site’s successes as part of the greater Hanford team.

“Their success is our success and Hanford’s success. We celebrate with them, because we’re in there together,” Wilkinson said. “We enable, we create, and we allow them to execute what they need to be successful.”

The entire workforce across the site is pulling toward the goal of treating the waste.

“It’s really about all of us working together, so we come together at that critical point when we’re all ready to start making glass,” Vance said. “We’re thinking about that every single day and we’re working together to get everyone on the site thinking about being in an operational mindset to support site-wide commissioning activities in about 20 months.”

-Contributor: Mark Heeter

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As SRS Approaches 70-Year Anniversary, Panelists Optimistic About Site's Future

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A panel of DOE federal and contractor leaders discussed the future of the Savannah River Site (SRS) at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

As SRS marks its 70-year anniversary next year, it continues to support national security missions while advancing environmental stewardship and cleanup, waste management, and nuclear materials management, said Betsy Connell, EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, who moderated the panel.

Connell highlighted EM successes at SRS, including the deactivation & decommissioning of buildings and reactors, remediation of soil and groundwater, and tank waste cleanup. She noted that SRS has the only tank waste program in the DOE complex with a complete cradle-to-grave cycle for liquid low-level waste from spent fuel reprocessing and the only operating vitrification plant for high-level waste. In addition, SRS has successfully closed eight of the 51 approximately 1-million-gallon tanks and disposed of nearly 18 million gallons of low-level waste, which have been solidified in a cement matrix.

Betsy Connell, EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs.

Michael Budney, manager of the DOE Savannah River Operations Office.

Stuart MacVean, president of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.

Tom Foster, president and project manager for Savannah River Remediation.

“This really shows what can be accomplished through partnerships, partnerships with contractors, the community, and regulators,” Connell said. “The innovation in tank cleaning and closure can be attributed to the exceptional work that continues to be done by the tank closure program, along with all the groundbreaking research carried out at the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL).”

In the early portion of the panel session, a video was shown that provided a snapshot of SRS and its future operations. Watch the video here.

Panelist T.L. Cubbage, Deputy Under Secretary for Science, emphasized the importance of innovation and technology in the EM program, which can be supported by a new, recently announced Artificial Intelligence office in the Department.

Cubbage commended work on high-level waste at SRS and SRNL’s support to Japan in the cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor accident. He acknowledged the significance of SRNL beyond its role as the EM national laboratory through its work for other agencies.

T.L. Cubbage, Deputy Under Secretary for Science.

Nicole Nelson-Jean, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Savannah River Field Office.

Michael Budney, manager of the DOE Savannah River Operations Office, said the site’s liquid waste, H Canyon, and spent nuclear fuel missions remain a focus. He added that he’s proud of contractors at the site and their efforts to hire locally, which helps address attrition.

Nicole Nelson-Jean, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Savannah River Field Office, discussed SRS’s role in national security and strategic planning documents NNSA recently developed.

Tritium missions and the proposed plutonium pit production planning efforts continue, and she acknowledged the successful dilute-and-dispose efforts and removal of one metric ton of plutonium from South Carolina. Nelson-Jean also shared recent NNSA contributions to the community around SRS and the commitment to continue community engagement and support of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education.

Stuart MacVean, president of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the SRS management and operations contractor, said it’s an exciting time at SRS and work accomplished over the past 10 years, such as the 85-percent footprint reduction, set the site up for the future.

MacVean said that while the EM mission remains a focus, SRNS is heading toward supporting EM and NNSA missions through a 50-50 split. MacVean also talked about hiring to support current and future missions. He said that over half of the current workforce has been at the site less than six years and that efforts are in place to provide knowledge transfer and training.

Vahid Majidi, SRNL director, said SRNL was designated a national lab in 2004 and has been on a journey of growth to build on the lab’s legacy and pedigree. He described the opportunity to use the site to develop programs and to identify key elements and best tools.

Tom Foster, president and project manager for Savannah River Remediation (SRR), the site’s liquid waste contractor, said that SRR recently celebrated a 10-year anniversary and the completion of 4,000 canisters of radioactive glass. He noted that a review of the liquid waste process and the Salt Waste Processing Facility will drive completion of the liquid waste mission.

Rick McLeod, president and CEO of the SRS Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), gave an overview of SRSCRO’s work, and its impact to the community and the region’s economic development. He also shared SRSCRO’s successes and discussed its efforts as a conduit for DOE and NNSA support for workforce development efforts in the region.

-Contributor: Barbara Smoak

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