EM Poised to Build on Success, White Says in Address; Crews Finish Demolishing Brookhaven Reactor Exhaust Stack; and much more!

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EM Update | Vol. 13, Issue 9 | March 9, 2021

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Fluor Idaho Calcine Retrieval Project Manager Howard Forsythe, right, and Chief Engineer Tim O’Connor monitor robotic testing for EM's calcine retrieval project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.


IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – It’s rare for employees supporting EM’s cleanup to come full circle in their careers, but Howard Forsythe has done just that.

Forsythe, a manager with Fluor Idaho, EM’s cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site, accepted an engineering job at the site in 1978 after graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in chemical engineering.

His first job was running the Waste Calcining Facility, which was known as the calciner. It used a closed-loop thermal heat source to convert a high-level liquid waste generated through spent nuclear fuel reprocessing to a granular solid called calcine.

The waste he helped transform was transferred to concrete storage vaults called bin sets, which stand out like sentinels over the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. The New Waste Calcining Facility, which replaced the original plant in 1982, permanently shut down in 2000 after both facilities had generated a total of 4,400 cubic meters of calcine transferred to six bin sets.

How ironic it would be for Forsythe to manage the calcine retrieval project that is tasked with transferring calcine from one bin set to another and closing the first bin set under federal regulations. It’s the first step to prepare the material for out-of-state disposal.

“The big difference between when I came here to create calcine and now is the technology already existed to run the calciner,” Forsythe said. “For the calcine retrieval project, we are having to create high-tech equipment and robotics from scratch to enter a bin set that was never designed to be opened.”

Forsythe manages a small team of mechanical and design engineers who have developed technologies to enter the bin set, recover the calcine from the storage vaults, transfer the granulated material 600 feet to another bin set, and monitor all activities with state-of-the-art, remotely operated cameras that can withstand extremely high radiation fields.

“What draws engineers to this project is the fact that they are creating innovative technologies, testing their designs, and modifying the equipment to ensure its long-term reliability,” he said. “They are pioneers.”

In just over a month, Forsythe will retire after a 42-year career at the INL Site. He will not get to finish seeing the calcine — that he helped to create — retrieved, but he feels he is turning the task over to a talented group of engineers who can carry the baton to the finish line.

“It’s important for those in the nuclear industry to bring up the next generation to lead the industry into the future,” he said. “I’m proud to have mentored these talented engineers who will take over this project. It’s in good hands.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson



EM Prepares to Test Hanford Tank Waste Treatment System

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To support testing of the Tank-Side Cesium Removal system, EM Office of River Protection tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions recently installed ion exchange columns and filters that will treat tank waste.


RICHLAND, Wash.EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions has begun testing a critical piece of equipment needed to treat Hanford Site tank waste.

Since delivering the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) system enclosures in September, workers have installed and tested additional equipment, including electrical, test tanks, interconnecting piping, hoses, pumps, and associated insulation. That equipment is required for operational acceptance testing, which will provide validation of operations and maintenance procedures and training.

“We’ve made tremendous progress in just a few short months,” said Janet Diediker, ORP federal project director. “We are well on our way to beginning TSCR operations this calendar year.”

The TSCR system will remove radioactive cesium and solids from tank waste and is critical to Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach, which will send treated waste directly from Hanford’s tank farms to the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant to be vitrified, or immobilized in glass.


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Nuclear chemical operator Brian Ennen is training to support 24/7 operations of Hanford’s Tank-Side Cesium Removal system.


Significant training has already occurred, including for the operators who are conducting the testing. In addition, several weeks of hands-on operator training are planned for four shifts, necessary for the safe, 24/7 operation to ensure a steady supply of treated tank waste.

Workers are also practicing switching out the TSCR system’s 24,000-pound ion exchange columns that will absorb the cesium from the tank waste after solids have been filtered out. It is estimated that two columns will reach capacity and need to be replaced about every 26 days during DFLAW operations.

View the TSCR system on a self-guided Hanford virtual tour.

-Contributor: Hal McCune



Oak Ridge Enters Homestretch of ETTP Cleanup, Transformation

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Oak Ridge workers with heavy equipment tear up a concrete slab where the former 235,000-square-foot Centrifuge Complex stood.


OAK RIDGE, Tenn.Oak Ridge crews are removing building foundations and remaining contaminated soil areas at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) to achieve EM’s ultimate vision for the site: a multi-use industrial center, national park, and conservation area.

All building removals and many major soil remediation projects at ETTP, which is the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, were completed last year. The latest work is not as pronounced as the massive demolition projects that took place there over the past two decades, but it’s just as critical as EM transforms the former Manhattan Project and Cold War-era enrichment complex into new uses.

“Completing building demolition at ETTP significantly altered the site, eliminated numerous risks, and enabled new economic development at the site,” said Acting ETTP Portfolio Federal Project Director James Daffron. “However, there are some remaining building slabs and soil and groundwater remediation projects to complete. These efforts are enhancing safety and making more land available to the community for reuse in the future."


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A view of the site where crews removed the building slab for the Centrifuge Complex. The project, scheduled for completion this spring, will result in a grassy field available for transfer from government ownership for economic development.


The former Centrifuge Complex area, which had a footprint of 235,000 square feet, is the largest slab removal taking place at ETTP. Crews are breaking up and removing the concrete slab, sampling soil to identify potential contamination, and backfilling excavated areas with clean soil.

The project, scheduled to wrap up this spring, will convert the site into a grassy field available for transfer from government ownership for economic development.

Crews with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleanup contractor UCOR are also removing contaminated soil and backfilling sites in other ETTP areas. At the location of the former K-1401 facility, workers have removed thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil and backfilled the area with clean soil. K-1401, one of the site’s early facilities, was used as a cleaning and decontamination facility, generating a variety of contaminants.


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Employees collect samples to identify areas of soil that require removal. They also conduct confirmatory sampling to ensure the removal of all contamination following completion of the project.


In another area where tanks associated with the site’s former power infrastructure stood, crews placed a 2-foot protective soil cover over a 9-acre tract that contained asbestos-contaminated soil. They are also placing a 2-foot cover on an adjacent 21-acre site and contouring it to ensure proper stormwater drainage.

OREM is also working with regulators on an interim record of decision to address groundwater cleanup at the site. It will accompany two existing records of decision addressing soil remediation of the site’s main plant and the area surrounding it.

Cleanup at ETTP is paying dividends for the region. More than 20 business are already located there. Future industrial development projects include a medical radioisotope pharmaceutical company and a nuclear test reactor facility.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney



WIPP Makes Steady Progress in Annual Maintenance Outage

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Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) personnel perform maintenance on an overhead crane in the site’s Waste Handling Building. The crane is used to remove transuranic waste containers from transportation casks. This work is part of the nearly 100 activities being performed during the annual WIPP maintenance outage.


CARLSBAD, N.M. – They are three weeks into an eight-week maintenance outage, and crews are making steady progress to help keep the vital national mission of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) moving forward.

This year’s annual long maintenance break at the nation's only deep geologic repository for nuclear waste spans Feb. 15 to April 14, with 97 planned work activities using personnel from six departments, including mine operations, waste handling, hoisting, work control, safety, and engineering. The break includes site-wide power outages to accommodate electrical work.

“We are making great progress to complete the almost 100 activities planned for the annual long maintenance break,” said WIPP outage manager Andy Cooper. “All the work is critical to ensure all systems are working properly to support WIPP’s important national mission.”

Preventive maintenance checks are made on a schedule that can range from daily to annually. Quarterly efforts generally take about a week to tackle. Once a year, a multi-week outage is scheduled to handle projects needing the greatest effort that cannot be performed while normal transuranic waste operations are ongoing.

One of the largest outage projects began when crews started removing approximately 170 feet of railroad-like rails used to transfer waste pallets. The rails and metal plates will be removed, and the salt floor will be leveled. Gravel ballast will be added as a base layer, and the rails will be reinstalled.

Crews also began replacing a battery exhaust fan in the site’s waste handling building, a project expected to take two weeks. They also started testing and repair of a 13.8-kilovolt feeder cable between two onsite electrical substations, and replacement of air pressure instrumentation.

As of March 1, workers completed mechanical and electrical inspections on four contact-handled waste bay dock cranes; calibrations of dock instrumentation; a filter changeout on two ventilation fans; mechanical inspections on the supplemental ventilation system fan; mechanical and electrical inspections of two fans known as the 860-series fans; and inspections of eight bulkheads in the WIPP underground used to direct airflow.

-Contributor: Roy Neese



DOE Recognizes EM Nevada Program Experts for Contributions to Waste Management Assessment

LAS VEGAS – Two experts associated with the EM Nevada Program have been honored with the Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award in recognition of their service to a DOE complex-wide assessment team.

The prestigious honor — a subset of the annual Secretary's Honor Awards and based on accomplishments from 2019 — was awarded to Marilew Bartling, Radioactive Waste Acceptance Program manager for Navarro Research and Engineering, the environmental program services contractor to the EM Nevada Program; and Andrew Worker, a general engineer specializing in waste disposition, who recently joined the EM Nevada Program.


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Marilew Bartling, Radioactive Waste Acceptance Program manager for Navarro Research and Engineering, the environmental program services contractor to the EM Nevada Program.


Andrew Worker, a general engineer specializing in waste disposition, who recently joined the EM Nevada Program.

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The Achievement Award honors a group or team of DOE employees and contractors who accomplish significant achievements on behalf of the Department, demonstrating cooperation and teamwork in attaining their goals.

Bartling and Worker were recognized for their contributions to a 36-person assessment team, formed at the direction of the Deputy Secretary of Energy. The team extensively investigated and analyzed radioactive waste packaging and shipping practices across the DOE complex. Bartling and Worker possess nearly 50 years of combined experience in radioactive waste management.

In an explanation of the award, the Secretary of Energy emphasized that Bartling and Worker had “applied their extensive technical expertise and knowledge of DOE policies, procedures, and practices toward independently assessing a critical system within the Department, thereby enhancing the confidence of senior DOE leadership in the safe conduct of radioactive waste packaging and shipping operations.”

With the support of Bartling and Worker, the work of the assessment team ultimately led to the issuance of a DOE report titled “Enterprise-wide Assessment of the Department of Energy’s Packaging and Shipping of Radioactive Waste.” The Secretary noted that the report had succeeded in “extensively documenting recommendations and best practices found across the Department” and provided “a road map to further strengthen the management of radioactive waste packaging and shipping operations.”

The final assessment report found that, overall, DOE site contractors have developed and implemented effective procedures and practices for the proper characterization, waste stream control, packaging, and shipping of radioactive waste for disposal.

For more information on EM Nevada’s safe, secure, and successful radioactive waste management program, click here.

-Contributor: Michelle French

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