EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 27 | Sept. 22, 2020

• White Celebrates EM’s Transformational Progress at National Cleanup Workshop
• Under Secretary Dabbar Extols Culture Change at EM
• EM Sites Spotlight Historic Accomplishments
• Panelists Discuss Strategic Vision’s Role in Helping EM Maintain Momentum
• Public-Private Panel Serves Up ‘Hot Topics’
• Crews Tear Down Ninth Building at ETEC Site
• Progress at Disposal Facility Supports Hanford Tank Waste Treatment Mission
• Hanford Laboratory Gas Systems Ready for Treating Tank Waste
• Innovative Tank Waste Processing Technology Resumes at Savannah River Site
• Oak Ridge to Host Virtual Town Halls Celebrating Vision 2020

Editor's Note

Along with news from the EM complex, this issue of the EM Update focuses on the sixth-annual National Cleanup Workshop, held Sept. 16 in a virtual environment due to the COVID-19 response. The event, which drew more than 730 registered online attendees, was hosted by the Energy Communities Alliance with the cooperation of EM and the Energy Facility Contractors Group, and is a premier annual gathering to discuss progress in environmental cleanup of former government weapons sites and nuclear research facilities.

White Celebrates EM’s Transformational Progress at National Cleanup Workshop

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an address at the National Cleanup Workshop, EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White said EM remains on track for 2020 to be a significant year for achievement despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The accomplishments we have this year are keeping us on track to realize transformational progress over the decade ahead,” White said.

EM will complete cleanup work at some sites and advance noteworthy mission scope at others, White said. These efforts are addressing the Department’s largest environmental risk — tank waste — which represents 60 percent of EM’s total environmental liability and takes at least 40 percent of the EM budget annually. White added that Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Deputy Secretary Mark W. Menezes, and Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar have demonstrated a commitment to addressing the tank waste challenge head-on.

Among EM's successes this year: Continued progress on the facilities necessary for the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste approach to tank waste treatment at the Hanford Site; completion of the transfer of the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada from EM to the DOE Office of Legacy Management; and the launch of an Acquisition Corps to serve on Acquisition Integrated Project Teams and Source Evaluation Boards that evaluate submissions for contract awards, further strengthening EM's procurement capabilities.

EM Senior Advisor William "Ike" White

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), DOE approved the final stage of startup for the site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), a first-of-a-kind, multi-billion dollar facility. White noted that SWPF greatly accelerates EM’s ability to empty and close tanks at SRS. By 2030, it is expected that most of the tank waste inventory will be processed and nearly half of the site’s underground waste tanks will be closed.

White also discussed the Idaho Site’s continued progress on the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, which will treat the remaining 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium bearing waste at the site. Other 2020 accomplishments include Oak Ridge completing the Vision 2020 effort at the East Tennessee Technology Park, buildings coming down for the first time in over a decade at the Energy Technology Engineering Center, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant moving forward with upgrades to continue its vital role in supporting cleanup and national security programs.

White stressed the importance of ensuring a long-term strategic focus on the cleanup program and the expectation that the EM complex will be a very different place by 2030. To ensure EM is on track to complete significant scopes of work over the next decade, he emphasized the need to have the right people in the right positions.

In closing, White shared that he is inspired by how the EM team, industry partners, and stakeholder groups have pulled together to boost productivity and teamwork in the face of the global pandemic.

Read about EM’s Strategic Vision here.

-Contributor: Stephanie Shewmon 

Under Secretary Dabbar Extols Culture Change at EM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM is undergoing a culture change that has resulted in significant achievements over the past several years, and the promise of continued successes ahead, Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar told the audience at the National Cleanup Workshop.

DOE and program managers have set a higher bar that “not only should we be accomplishing what we are supposed to be getting done, but doing it well,” he said.

Now, he said, EM is reaping the rewards.

Results have included major accomplishments across the complex, including startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, major progress toward initiation of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste process to treat liquid waste at the Hanford Site, and cleanup completed ahead of schedule and with savings of $500 million at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge.

EM also has successfully implemented policy initiatives, such as transitioning a number of major contracts to a model that emphasizes getting projects to end states faster and efficiently while maintaining safety, and its interpretation of “high level radioactive waste” that could enable long-stored liquid waste to be dispositioned more effectively.

“We got here because of a lot of partnerships, because of a lot of visibility and transparency, not pointing fingers but holding people accountable and having the right bar,” Dabbar said. The recipe includes senior DOE and EM officials, as well as senior contractor managers at sites and corporate headquarters, committing to work together to identify, analyze, and overcome thorny challenges.

“That cultural change is beginning to happen,” Dabbar said. “If the standard we are setting should be that we can work together, that we are doing the proper contract management and doing the project planning, on a regular basis we should and we can deliver projects on time and on schedule.”

Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar

Dabbar said EM has positioned itself in what he has called the “virtuous circle,” where successes build confidence among stakeholders and Congress, which in turn leads to increases in resources that enable EM to build upon its progress. Dabbar said officials from the Office of Management and Budget have approached DOE to discuss what’s going right in the EM program and how other areas of government can learn from it.

The challenge now, he said, is to maintain momentum.

“It’s great we have success, but the virtuous circle means that we need to continue every single day, and every single day means every single project,” he said. “You can’t rest on the laurels of what just happened.”

Dabbar said EM has earned “hard-won optimism.”

“There is a long history of this program, of challenges we have run into,” he said. “For us to have achieved what we have achieved over the last 12 to 24 months, from my point of view, is truly amazing. If we are setting the right standard, we have not only what we have just achieved, but a wall of successes we see coming in front of us.”

EM Sites Spotlight Historic Accomplishments

The Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Savannah River Site (SRS) is on the verge of a new era of processing radioactive waste as workers prepare to start hot operations at a facility 18 years in the making, DOE-Savannah River Manager Mike Budney said at this year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

The upcoming startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) was among the major cleanup successes EM federal and contractor officials from SRS, Oak Ridge, and Hanford highlighted during a panel session at the workshop. EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Nicole Nelson-Jean served as the panel moderator.

“With SWPF, we will be able to accomplish our mission of tank cleanup down here decades earlier than we would otherwise have been able to do so,” Budney said.

He discussed the work by the SRS team to bring SWPF online and integrate it with the site’s liquid waste mission.

“They did an incredible job of making sure all the rest of the system is ready to go as SWPF comes on, and it took a lot of effort to do that,” he said.

EM embarked on the SWPF project in 2002 to help accelerate radioactive waste processing. SWPF will have the potential to process as much as nine million gallons of waste per year, Budney said.

Frank Sheppard, senior vice president and SWPF project manager at Parsons, EM’s SWPF contractor, said SRS has an outstanding workforce that has made the complex first-of-a-kind nuclear facility a success.

“We are now poised for success here to accelerate the processing of the 35 million gallons of [radioactive] waste that’s in the carbon steel tanks,” he said. “Exciting times down at Savannah River.”

He added that lessons learned from the project are being prepared for use across the DOE complex.

EM’s cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park took a major step forward with removal of the Centrifuge Complex in late July.

Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of EM, and Ken Rueter, president and CEO of Oak Ridge contractor UCOR, discussed the completion of core cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). An event celebrating that accomplishment is scheduled Oct. 13.

Mullis credited partnerships with regulators, stakeholders, contractors, and others for helping get Oak Ridge to the Vision 2020 milestone.

“Partnerships is certainly a theme that we talk about quite a bit in Oak Ridge because we think that is one of the secrets to our success,” Mullis said.

EM’s partnership with cleanup contractor UCOR has proven effective. Together, they have completed core cleanup at ETTP four years ahead of schedule. That work was completed $80 million under budget, and it removes $500 million in environmental liabilities.

Oak Ridge took a first-of-a-kind approach to the ETTP cleanup. Workers not only tore down and cleaned a former uranium enrichment complex, but they also worked to transform the site into a multi-use industrial park for the community.

“This was a massive undertaking that was decades in the making,” Mullis said. “Getting here gives credibility to the EM program. Our work at this site has turned a liability for DOE into an asset for the community.”

Rueter said when UCOR arrived to take over ETTP’s cleanup in 2011, the company made a commitment to safety and partnerships to EM, the workforce, and the community. The company emphasized safety to ensure employees always return home from work the same way they arrive.

The result has been a historic success and marks the first time in the world an entire uranium enrichment complex has been removed. ETTP spanned more than 13 million square feet, and workers tore down dilapidated and contaminated facilities that could cover the equivalent of 225 football fields.

“I’ve asked [the workforce] about what do you think it will feel like to make history,” Rueter said. “For me, I set the bar for ourselves to say, 'Let’s go out and to make history, and let’s do that by delivering on our commitments.'”

The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford Site.

The Hanford Site has undergone a remarkable period of transformation, and the workforce is very optimistic about the site’s next phase of the mission to treat tank waste and continue other risk reduction projects, said Brian Vance, manager of EM’s Richland Operations Office and Office of River Protection.

Vance discussed progress on the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program to begin treating tank waste. Workers are nearing completion of construction of the Low-Activity Waste Facility this year, and they’re set to finish the Effluent Management Facility (EMF) early next year.

Valerie McCain, principal vice president and Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project director with Bechtel National, Inc., EM’s WTP contractor, said that workers have finished piping in the EMF, and more than 50 percent of the facility’s systems are in startup.

McCain said that chemists are working in the WTP’s Analytical Laboratory.

“We’re getting ready to start that up and be ready for plant startup,” she said.

McCain added that the Hanford team is working in an integrated fashion to ensure success.

“I’ll sum it up with three words: partnership, progress, and pride. It really is what we’re feeling out here and we’re really looking forward to 2021,” McCain said. “It’s a critical year for us and we plan on heating up a melter.”

Vance discussed other Hanford progress. He said a new water treatment facility has replaced a facility built in the late 1940s, electrical distribution system upgrades are underway to enhance the reliability of the waste treatment plant power, and completion of construction of an integrated disposal facility is scheduled for this year.

He also noted the completion of demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant.

“What’s left is a rubble pile out there that we have to clean up to close out that project. We’ll do that early next year,” he said.

Panelists Discuss Strategic Vision’s Role in Helping EM Maintain Momentum

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A National Cleanup Workshop panel of DOE leaders and local, community, and contractor representatives focused on the benefits and successes of EM’s hallmark Strategic Vision document released earlier this year.

Moderated by EM Chief Strategist Mike Nartker, the panel included Deputy Under Secretary for Science T.L. Cubbage, EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader, Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Chair Michael Lempke, Los Alamos County Councilor David Izraelevitz, and Hanford Communities Executive Director David Reeploeg.

The panelists discussed how the EM Strategic Vision captures the current inflection point in which EM is on track to complete key accomplishments that best position the cleanup mission for continued progress. Cubbage remarked that the vision “sets forth an agenda of real, demonstrable progress” to which EM can truly be held accountable. Shrader noted that the vision gives EM the steps needed to achieve its ambitious set of priorities for 2020.

Lempke said the Strategic Vision has been “received fondly” by local communities and it “gave a unified set of aligned priorities we now need to go execute on.” Izraelevitz said the vision reassured the Los Alamos community of EM’s long-term goals.

The panelists noted that the Strategic Vision is intended to be a living document needing the input of communities to ensure success. Shrader noted that the most vital input EM needs from the communities is their vision for end goals. The panelists agreed that community involvement is crucial as EM continues to update the Strategic Vison, and that an inclusive process that brings forth the best ideas is the best path forward.

Members of the panel discussed other aspects of the Strategic Vision, such as how communities can make sure long-term goals remain in place, and how the Strategic Vision can help EM maintain momentum. Panelists noted that successes build momentum, which helps propel everyone towards their goals, and the Strategic Vision helps lay out achievable milestones to demonstrate EM successes.

With the Strategic Vision, “every year can be a banner year” for sites in the EM complex, but everyone needs to keep focus, Shrader said. He added that this focus is what the Strategic Vision helps bring to EM and the communities it serves.

Read about EM’s Strategic Vision here.

-Contributor: Patrick Hefflinger

Public-Private Panel Serves Up ‘Hot Topics’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM and its stakeholder and industry partners have responded to COVID-19-related challenges that few if any could have foreseen just six months ago, according to participants at the National Cleanup Workshop.

Betsy Connell, EM’s Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, and Dae Chung, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services, provided the federal perspective on a panel devoted to EM “hot topics,” including the pandemic response that was activated just shortly after the cleanup industry’s last major gathering, the Waste Management Symposia held in early March in Phoenix. Likewise, industry and community panelists talked about what’s on their plates in light of the current operating environment.

Chung said the pandemic has prompted EM to respond creatively and cooperatively while maintaining safety and following COVID-19 guidelines.

“While it’s not ideal, what we are seeing is innovation — creative solution-making by working together,” Chung said. “I think this environment has forced us to work with better collaboration.”

Dae Chung, EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services

Karen Wiemelt, senior vice president and general manager of Jacobs, said she was surprised by how quickly the industry adapted to teleworking.

“I actually think in some respects we’ve been able to reach a lot more people through videos, involving more people than we normally would have,” she said.

Mark Whitney, executive vice president and general manager of Amentum, offered, “The projects also were able to take advantage of the different environment — things like implementing backlog reductions, as well as instituting improvement initiatives that could be completed remotely.”

Rick McLeod, CEO of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization, said he worried, however, about impacts of increased telework on commercial real estate near EM sites. He also wondered how many retirements might be forthcoming due to the relative strength of retirement investments, asking rhetorically: “How many (workers) are going to come back?”

Looking forward, panelists offered predictions on issues likely to be topics of discussion at next year’s National Cleanup Workshop.

“We’re at an inflection point with respect to the startup of the three processing facilities and we’ve made the point about progress on tank waste, which is our largest component of environmental liability,” Connell replied. “But also there is the high-level waste interpretation — dispositioning tank waste by characteristic rather than where it came from.”

Chung said he is looking forward to startup of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho Site, as well as operations that will be underway at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site. Whitney said with the SWPF coming online soon, “more tanks are going to be emptied faster, and that’s going to give us more breathing space and allow EM to move forward with tank closures quickly.”

Whitney and his colleagues touched on a number of other ongoing and upcoming projects, including at Oak Ridge and Hanford — notably the latter’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) construction project turnover to commissioning.

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

Connell named potential site closures in the years ahead, including possibly completing uranium mill tailing transfers at the Moab Site and the legacy cleanup at the Nevada National Security Site, along with other items in the EM Strategic Vision. And she announced that nine of the 10 current building demolitions at the Energy Technology Engineering Center in California are now completed.

“I’m also excited about being able to get started with the first GDP (Gaseous Diffusion Plant) process building demolition at Portsmouth next year,” Chung added. “Also, I should mention at West Valley, I think we will get the Main Plant Process Building demo started up hopefully early next year.”

Greg Meyer, senior vice president of Fluor, identified other milestone opportunities in addition to getting IWTU up and running to process radioactive waste, and starting demolition of the X-326 Building at the Portsmouth Site.

"There’s an opportunity to ship a lot of waste next year," Meyer said.

-Contributor: Brad Mitzelfelt

Crews Tear Down Ninth Building at ETEC Site

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – EM workers on Sept. 16 safely tore down the ninth of 10 buildings scheduled for demolition at the Radioactive Materials Handling Facility (RMHF) at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) in Ventura County. The building was used for administrative functions, low-level waste packaging, processing, decommissioning of parts, laundry, and other purposes. The 10th building at RMHF is set to come down this fall. Workers had resumed active cleanup at the former nuclear and liquid metals research site in July. Removing all 10 RMHF facilities, which were constructed in 1959 and used for the processing, packaging, and shipment of radioactive and mixed hazardous wastes during site operations that ended in 1988, will reduce potential risk of release of hazardous substances due to wildfires or erosion from severe storms. Activities are being conducted under an agreement between the DOE and the State of California, and in adherence to safety practices recommended to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus.

-Contributor: Stephanie Shewmon 

Progress at Disposal Facility Supports Hanford Tank Waste Treatment Mission

The Hanford Site’s Integrated Disposal Facility is divided into two separate cells, each designed with leachate collection and leak detection systems to meet regulatory requirements.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Construction progress continues at the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF), an essential component of a high-priority project to begin treating tank waste at the Hanford Site. 

Watch this video to learn about the work being done at IDF.

EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) is preparing the engineered landfill to eventually receive vitrified low-activity tank waste from the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant in support of the site’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) program, an EM 2020 priority.

“The Integrated Disposal Facility is a critical part of the DFLAW initiative to begin treating tank waste,” said Gary Pyles, IDF project manager for RL. “This is another step towards safely, efficiently, and effectively managing Hanford tank waste.”

EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company continues progress on the infrastructure around the Integrated Disposal Facility, key to Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste mission to begin vitrifying, or turning into glass, tank waste by the end of 2023.

A mile and a half of fencing is going up around the Integrated Disposal Facility. The engineered landfill will provide safe, permanent storage for vitrified low-activity tank waste from the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

Ongoing IDF activities consist of workers installing 8,000 feet of underground sewage and water lines, building concrete pads to support vitrified waste containers, and installing electrical wiring. A mile and a half of fencing is going up, and about 45,000 cubic yards of gravel is being brought in to provide a firm foundation around the facility.

“We’re also working on the disposal facility’s leachate collection system,” said Craig Larson, CHPRC IDF project director. “Water from dust suppression, rain, and snowmelt drops through several feet of filtering materials before it reaches a liner at the bottom. All of the liquid gets captured and safely processed, so nothing gets to the environment.”

During reduced operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team continued to advance the project by focusing on permitting, design, and engineering to support construction of the facility. The team is also incorporating lessons learned from more than 20 years of successfully operating Hanford’s larger engineered landfill, the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, into the design, construction, and operations planning at IDF.

After crews finish the IDF infrastructure upgrades this year, the facility will undergo operational readiness reviews to support the startup of DFLAW.

-Contributor: Joan Lucas

Hanford Laboratory Gas Systems Ready for Treating Tank Waste

Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant crews recently filled tanks with gases outside the Analytical Laboratory. During future plant operations, lab technicians will use the gases to characterize metals and organic materials in samples of low-activity waste.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Chemists inside the Analytical Laboratory at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant have finished testing high-purity gas systems that will help technicians analyze incoming samples and determine the correct glass-forming recipe for treating low-activity waste.

“The operational transition to start treating tank waste is the sum of many parts,” said Jason Young, the plant’s commissioning manager for EM’s Office of River Protection. “Getting the high-purity gas systems in the lab commissioned and ready for operations is a critical part of preparing to start treating tank waste.”

The lab’s gas systems include helium, argon, nitrogen, and methane. During future plant operations, lab technicians will use these gases, along with scientific equipment, to characterize metals and organic materials in samples of low-activity waste.

The Analytical Laboratory is key to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach that will be used to treat millions of gallons of waste from Hanford’s underground storage tanks. DFLAW is a system of facilities operating together to vitrify, or turn into glass, low-activity waste. Moving these facilities from construction to commissioning is one of EM’s priorities for 2020.

“This is a big accomplishment,” said Ross Hamlett, commissioning manager with Waste Treatment Completion Company, a subcontractor to project lead Bechtel National Inc. “It was a tremendous effort by the entire team to finish the onsite testing in hot weather while implementing COVID-19 safety controls and coordinating with employees who are teleworking.”

-Contributor: George Rangel

Innovative Tank Waste Processing Technology Resumes at Savannah River Site

AIKEN, S.C. – EM has resumed processing high-level waste (HLW) inside the Tank Closure Cesium Removal (TCCR) module at the Savannah River Site (SRS) following an extended maintenance outage.

The innovative cesium-removal technology finished processing a batch of radioactive liquid waste last month, moving the TCCR feed tank, Tank 10, closer to final closure. It was the third batch of salt waste processed at SRS since the site began using TCCR in early 2019.

EM and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) suspended TCCR in the summer last year when the main transfer pump used to prepare salt waste batches inside Tank 10 reached its end life.

Crews removed that pump from the tank and installed a replacement in March 2020, just before SRS entered essential mission-critical operations status due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Preparations for TCCR’s third batch resumed at the end of May.

TCCR Senior Project Manager Pen Mayson said that TCCR contributes significantly to the liquid-waste treatment process.

“Including the 89,430 gallons completed in the third batch, we have now processed and removed cesium from nearly 300,000 gallons of Tank 10 material, bringing the tank a step closer to final closure,” Mayson said.

TCCR consists of a modular ion exchange process with an engineered resin located adjacent to Tank 10, for the removal of radioactive cesium from salt waste.

Building on the research and development of EM’s Savannah River National Laboratory, the experience of commercial nuclear plant decontamination, and the Fukushima Daiichi accident cleanup, TCCR accelerates waste retrieval and tank closure efforts, and provides a supplemental treatment capability.

The majority of the salt waste inside the tanks at SRS will be processed through the Salt Waste Processing Facility that is preparing to begin operations. TCCR will supplement that processing to help accelerate EM’s liquid waste mission. Lessons learned have been shared with EM’s Hanford Site, which is implementing similar technology in support of providing tank waste feed for the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste approach for low-activity tank waste treatment.

SRR President and Project Manager Phil Breidenbach said TCCR is an innovation that has moved salt waste processing into the 21st century, combining first-of-a-kind technology with commercial nuclear cleanup practices and disciplined nuclear operations.

“These repairs will enable TCCR to be an active part of our ongoing activities to disposition liquid waste and operationally close tanks at SRS,” Breidenbach said.

-Contributor: Jim Beasley

Oak Ridge to Host Virtual Town Halls Celebrating Vision 2020

Participants in the first of three virtual town halls that will focus on the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s (OREM) Vision 2020 achievement are shown clockwise from left: Ken Rueter, UCOR president and CEO; Jay Mullis, OREM manager; Paul Clay, ASRC (Arctic Slope Regional Corporation) Industrial Services president; Karen Wiemelt, Jacobs senior vice president; and Mark Whitney, Amentum president.

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