EM Update | Vol. 11, Issue 48 | Dec. 17, 2019

• A Step Forward for DFLAW as Analytical Laboratory Chemists Begin Work
• Oak Ridge Begins Deactivating Last ETTP Facility Set for Demolition
• West Valley Crews Tear Down Former Office Building
• Hanford Tanks Contractor Earns 94 Percent of Available Fee in Fiscal 2019
• Celebrating 30 Years of EM: Employee Spotlight
• SRS Employees Have Donated 400,000 Toys to Children Since 1991
• Idaho Site Contractor Employees Donated 202 Units of Blood in 2019
• SRS Employee is First FPD to Receive Level IV Certification in Three Years
• Commission Awards SRS Contractor for Improving Waste Management

A Step Forward for DFLAW as Analytical Laboratory Chemists Begin Work

Inorganic Chemistry Supervisor Katherine Keltner, left, and Laboratory Training Specialist Stephanie Servi work with scientific instruments inside the Analytical Laboratory at Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

RICHLAND, Wash. – The first team of chemists is setting up shop at EM Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP), marking another step toward startup of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity (DFLAW) system.

The chemists will perform the first scientific work inside the plant’s Analytical Laboratory to support starting the treatment of Hanford tank waste by the end of 2023 via DFLAW.

The laboratory’s key function is to confirm that glass produced by the Low-Activity Waste (LAW) vitrification facility meets regulatory requirements and standards. During waste treatment operations, laboratory staff will analyze approximately 3,000 process samples annually to confirm a high-quality glass product and good process controls. Analyses will also confirm the correct glass-former “recipe” needed to produce a consistent glass form.

“Our Analytical Laboratory is a key component of meeting regulatory requirements for tank waste treatment,” said Tom Fletcher, WTP federal project manager and DFLAW program manager for EM’s Office of River Protection. “The work to develop analytical processes, procedures, and methods is an important step to being ready to treat low-activity waste and preparing the workforce for the upcoming commissioning phase.”

Over the next 18 months, more employees are expected to be hired, trained at an offsite lab, and then transferred to the Analytical Laboratory.

“The chemists represent another group of permanent positions to support plant commissioning, along with 95 commissioning technicians currently working in the control room of the plant’s Low-Activity Waste Annex and throughout the plant,” said Valerie McCain, a principal vice president and project director for WTP contractor Bechtel National, Inc.

Construction is finished for the Analytical Laboratory at Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. The first team of chemists have arrived to perform the first scientific work inside the plant’s laboratory to support the treatment of Hanford tank waste by the end of 2023.

The chemists prepared for their transition to Hanford by first honing their skills and instruments at a smaller-scale offsite lab at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington.

During the past year, the laboratory team collaborated with WTP engineers to analyze glass made from a slurry of low-activity waste simulant and glass-forming materials. This same analytical method will verify the glass vitrified in the LAW Facility meets DOE standards.

Long considered one of the most formidable cleanup challenges at Hanford, DOE is advancing toward achieving a cleanup commitment that has been decades in the making — vitrifying Hanford’s tank waste through the DFLAW process. “Direct-feed” means waste is separated at a double-shell tank farm to remove the more radioactive portion so that the less radioactive waste can be fed directly to the LAW Facility.

Arrival of chemists at the Analytical Laboratory marks the latest step forward for the DFLAW system. This builds upon other DFLAW progress this year including: installation of lab equipment, several upgrades to support the underground waste tanks’ transformation to new digital automation systems, utility support infrastructure upgrades necessary for tank waste treatment, opening key DFLAW facilities to the commissioning workforce, placement of an 111-ton electrical powerhouse and two massive processing vessels for the Effluent Management Facility, substantial completion of engineering, procurement, construction, and transition to the startup testing phase for DFLAW facilities, worker training as DFLAW transitions to commissioning and startup, and work to prepare the tank farms to feed DFLAW facilities.

-Contributor: George Rangel

Oak Ridge Begins Deactivating Last ETTP Facility Set for Demolition

Building K-1600 will be the last major demolition project scheduled at Oak Ridge’s East Tennessee Technology Park.

Demolishing Building K-1600 will remove risks and increase access to the K-25 Building footprint, which is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. K-1600, highlighted here in yellow, sits at the center of the K-25 Building footprint.

Crews have begun to deactivate Building K-1600, a former test and demonstration facility for uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Remaining deactivation work at K-1600 includes rendering the building “cold and dark,” which involves disconnecting utilities to the structure and installing temporary utilities needed for cleanup crews. UCOR will also remove asbestos and equipment.

EM and UCOR are working to convert ETTP into a multi-use industrial park, national park, and conservation area.

To date, Oak Ridge’s EM program has taken down facilities spanning 12 million square feet, transferred more than 1,200 acres of land for economic development, and placed more than 3,000 acres in a conservation easement for community recreational use.

Additionally, more than 100 acres will be used for historic preservation efforts at ETTP. Since the K-25 footprint is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, the demolition of Building K-1600 will increase accessibility and remove risks in the area for future use.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

West Valley Crews Tear Down Former Office Building

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – Workers recently demolished the former Main Plant Office Building at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) site, bringing EM’s total number of structures removed in the cleanup there to 66.

Built in 1964, the three-story, 3,760-square-foot facility was as part of the original commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at the site. The building housed many different departments over the years, including operations and operations support personnel, and provided viewing access into the chemical process cell inside the Main Plant Process Building.

EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower commended the demolition crew with CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV), EM’s WVDP cleanup contractor.

“This particular work evolution has certainly changed the landscape of the WVDP site,” Bower said. “The Main Plant Office Building was one of the first buildings constructed on the site and its demolition is a reminder of the ongoing progress here.”

Demolition of the Main Plant Office Building brings EM’s total number of teardowns at the West Valley Demonstration Project site to 66.

Shown in the foreground is the site of the former Main Plant Office Building, which crews recently demolished. It was adjacent to the Main Plant Process Building, pictured in the background.

CHBWV President Scott Anderson noted that the team maintained safety and prevented damage to the Main Plant Process Building, which is set to be demolished in the near future.

“Our team continues to leverage their combined knowledge and expertise to safely complete the demolition, disposition, and restoration of facilities no longer needed,” Anderson said.

The Main Plant Office Building is the fifth of seven Main Plant Process Building support facilities torn down by West Valley workers. The remaining two ancillary facilities will be demolished in the future.

Disposition of waste from the Main Plant Office Building teardown continues and is about 70 percent complete.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere

Hanford Tanks Contractor Earns 94 Percent of Available Fee in Fiscal 2019

Washington River Protection Solutions radiation control specialists take readings as a pump is pulled from Hanford tank AP-102 to prepare for waste feed delivery operations. The AP tank farm will be used for staging and transferring hazardous tank waste to Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant as part of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste program.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Office of River Protection awarded its tank farms contractor nearly $38.7 million, or 94 percent, of the available $41 million fee for the performance evaluation period of Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019.

Washington River Protection Solutions’ (WRPS) fiscal 2019 performance was evaluated against nine subjective criteria and four performance-based incentives. Of the nine subjective criteria, known as special emphasis areas, WRPS received one “excellent,” six “very good,” and two “good” ratings.

The contractor received the “excellent” rating for its safety programs, including implementing a new type of air monitor in the tank farms at the Hanford Site to improve worker safety and increase efficiency.

WRPS also developed an internal tracking system to identify areas requiring routine sampling for beryllium, a hazardous waste, and to monitor worker entries into areas controlled for beryllium.

ORP also recognized the contractor’s “Speak Up, Listen Up” training to ensure workers have the tools to raise and receive safety-related feedback in the workplace. The fee scorecard also noted WRPS’ Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) award for safety and health outreach and a DOE VPP Star of Excellence.

WRPS’ biggest award for performance-based incentives was completing testing and laboratory studies to support primary and secondary waste disposal during underground tank waste treatment, including advanced glasses, secondary liquid waste streams, and secondary solid waste forms.

Areas of improvement for WRPS include prioritizing permit modification actions to ensure planned changes are implemented, and submitting error-free and complete safety analysis documentation that supports tank waste treatment projects.

The fiscal 2019 scorecard for WRPS is available here.

-Contributor: Gary Younger

Celebrating 30 Years of EM: Employee Spotlight

SRS Employees Have Donated 400,000 Toys to Children Since 1991

AIKEN, S.C. – EM contractor employees at the Savannah River Site (SRS) this year donated more than 20,000 toys and 600 bikes to the Toys for Tots campaign, and gave 730 area children in need toys and clothing.

These contributions brought the total amount of toys donated to children through the site’s Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots and Salvation Army Angel Tree campaigns to more than 400,000 since 1991. Employees sponsored the 730 children through the Angel Tree Program.

“It warms my heart to see the expression of love for the children in our community,” said Danielle Elliott, chair of the SRS Toys for Tots effort. “It is truly an act of showing someone you care for them.”

For the 19th year, Savannah River Site workers provided 730 area children with toys and clothing through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program.

Each year, at the close of the SRS Toys for Tots celebration, trucks full of presents leave the site in parade formation, led by Santa Claus and his helpers. The Toys for Tots drive has occurred each year at SRS since 1991 and the site’s annual Angel Tree campaign began in 2000.

“Christmas is a magical time for kids. Every child should experience the excitement of opening a gift on Christmas morning,” Elliott said. “Without the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program, so many children wouldn’t be able to celebrate Christmas. This program also gives the person sponsoring an angel the personal experience of fulfilling the child’s Christmas wish, and knowing they are a part of their joy on Christmas morning.”

The annual giving campaigns are managed by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the SRS management and operations contractor. They also are supported by DOE-Savannah River; National Nuclear Security Administration-Savannah River; liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation; security contractor Centerra Group; and others through donations, including monetary contributions.

-Contributor: DT Townsend

Idaho Site Contractor Employees Donated 202 Units of Blood in 2019

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The American Red Cross has received 202 units of blood from employees with Fluor Idaho, EM’s cleanup contractor at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site, in blood drives at INL Site facilities this year. The company ranks third among government-sector companies in the state for giving blood. Since 2016, Fluor Idaho employees have given enough blood to save 1,000 lives. Kristy McCandless, Anna Thinnes, Kasey Archer, Vicki Hooper, Teresa Steffler, and other Fluor Idaho employees have volunteered for the blood drives. “There are people who consistently donate and I find that impressive,” McCandless said. Pictured are Patrick Holmes with Fluor Idaho and Beverly Hunter with the Red Cross.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

SRS Employee is First FPD to Receive Level IV Certification in Three Years

AIKEN, S.C. – DOE recently presented a Level IV federal project director (FPD) certification to an employee for the first time in three years.

Shayne Farrell is the DOE-Savannah River (DOE-SR) deputy FPD for the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) project, and FPD for the construction of saltstone disposal units (SDUs) 7-12. Farrell completed the requirements of the Project Management Career Development Program (PMCDP) and was designated a Level IV FPD by the DOE Certification Review Board Dec 4.

Prior to Farrell’s achievement, it had been three years since the last Level IV was awarded by the Department and eight years since the last EM Level IV certification.

“Obtaining my FPD Level IV is a very important milestone in my DOE career. This achievement is the culmination of over 25 years of project management experience and work at DOE-SR and the DOE complex and provides me the opportunity to take on larger projects in the future,” said Farrell. “I join an extremely qualified group of colleagues who I have looked up to and learned much from over the years.”

Shayne Farrell, DOE-Savannah River deputy federal project director for the Salt Waste Processing Facility project, and federal project director for the construction of saltstone disposal units.

The PMCDP establishes requirements for four certification levels that correspond to progressively more project responsibility and experience. The PMCDP is critical to the success of DOE's capital asset project goals. FPD certification is mandatory for those persons formally appointed to manage, direct, and execute projects.

With over 31 years of experience with DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense, Farrell has worked in a variety of program areas. He has been with DOE-SR since November 1990 and served in a number of positions, including special assistant to the EM Assistant Secretary for more than a year.

The PMCDP, in the DOE Office of Project Management Oversight and Assessments, was established in 2001 by a congressional mandate to ensure DOE has well qualified and experienced FPDs to oversee the agency’s diverse portfolio of highly-technical construction, experimental equipment, and environmental cleanup projects.

The primary goal of the program is to provide FPDs with the tools and training necessary to deliver projects that meet pre-defined scope, schedule, and budgetary requirements, while maintaining the safety and security of these capital assets.

SWPF will be key to accelerating the disposition of low-level salt waste, which accounts for 90 percent of tank waste volume at the Savannah River Site. The SDUs are being constructed to safely and permanently store the large volume of decontaminated salt solution to be generated at SWPF.

Commission Awards SRS Contractor for Improving Waste Management

Savannah River Remediation successfully processed low-level salt waste at the Actinide Removal Process/Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit facilities for 11 years. These facilities served as the pilot process for future Salt Waste Processing Facility operations.

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