EM Update | Vol. 13, Issue 32 | Aug. 17, 2021

• Nonprofit Awards EM Sites, Contractors for Purchases of Sustainable Goods
• Hanford Receives First Delivery of Glass Materials for Waste Vitrification
• Los Alamos Water Quality Program Ramps Up Amid Exceptional Drought
• WIPP Marks Milestone in Ventilation System Project Six Weeks Ahead of Schedule
• DUF6 Conversion Project Reaches 1-Million-Hour Safety Milestone
• Crews Clean Up Reactor Pool to Prepare for Facility Demolition at ORNL
• Hanford Begins Retrieving Waste From Another Underground Storage Tank
• Upgraded Fire Suppression System Enhances Canister Transporter Safety at SRS

Nonprofit Awards EM Sites, Contractors for Purchases of Sustainable Goods

The Hanford Site created a video to accept its 2021 Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool Purchaser Award, offering a virtual high five to represent five consecutive years of award wins. Pictured from left are Hanford federal and contractor employees Karie Madson, Tammy Maruska, Sara Austin, Chris Shannon, Sue Kon, and Jackie Texley, who all appear in the video.

A nonprofit that advocates for purchasing practices that improve the environment recently honored several EM sites and contractors for buying green products that are more energy efficient, less toxic, longer lasting, and easier to recycle.

The Global Electronics Council manages the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) ecolabel for the IT sector, helping purchasers, manufacturers, resellers, and others buy and sell environmentally preferable electronic products.

The EPEAT Purchaser Awards recognize excellence in sustainable procurement of IT products and services. The council named award winners representing EM’s Hanford, Oak Ridge, Portsmouth, Moab, and West Valley sites. According to the council, the sites have contributed to 1.3 billion sustainable products purchased through the council’s ecolabels since 2006, totaling a reduction of 184 million metric tons of greenhouse gases and an energy savings of 283 million megawatt hours.

Hanford Site

The Hanford Site in Washington state received its fifth consecutive purchaser award from the council for prioritizing the purchase of products featuring high environmental standards. The site’s 2021 EPEAT award reflects cost savings and sustainability of more than $60,000 for products purchased during fiscal 2020.

Hanford’s award recognizes purchases of more than 2,500 products meeting strict sustainability criteria across five categories: computers and displays, imaging equipment, mobile phones, TVs, and servers.

During fiscal 2020, environmental effects from Hanford’s purchases were equal to taking 63 cars off the road for a year and saving enough electricity to power 116 U.S. households. The purchases also helped conserve about 800,000 gallons of water — more than enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

“The purchase of sustainable technology products for the Hanford Site supports our commitment to taking a proactive role in environmental management, limiting our contribution to the growing stream of e-waste,” said Stephen Desnoyers of Hanford’s information management team. “We prioritize the acquisition of EPEAT-registered products to reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change.”

E-waste, or electronic waste, increases as the volume of existing and new types of technology grows every year, according to the council. About 50 million tons of e-waste are generated annually, weighing more than all the commercial airliners ever made, and 80% of e-waste is not collected for recycling, with 76% not documented and 4% thrown into household waste. It is estimated there are more than 100 million old devices in homes.

EM and contractor employees from across Hanford provided a video acceptance of the award for a virtual ceremony. The acceptance video can be viewed here.

Oak Ridge

The council honored EM’s East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee with the EPEAT Purchaser Award for the seventh consecutive year.

During fiscal 2020, environmental effects from purchases at ETTP were equal to taking 24 cars off the road for one year and saving enough electricity to power 44 U.S. households. The 735 purchases at ETTP also helped conserve about 325,0000 gallons of water.

In fiscal 2020, more than 730 purchases at EM’s East Tennessee Technology Park at Oak Ridge led to nearly $22,000 in cost savings and many benefits to the environment, as shown here.

UCOR, EM’s prime cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, uses EPEAT in purchasing contracts to require vendors provide electronics that meet the council’s strict sustainability criteria and adhere to labor and human rights along the supply chain. Buying the EPEAT-registered products aligns with EM’s mission to protect communities and the environment, while eliminating hazards and reducing risks.

“Purchasing EPEAT products is a priority for UCOR,” said David Buhl, UCOR’s pollution prevention and waste minimization coordinator. “As with everything we do, our goal is to make environmentally responsible decisions, and purchasing energy efficient and easily recycled products helps us achieve that goal. We are honored to have received this award for the seventh consecutive year.”

Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project

The council awarded the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project in Utah with the EPEAT Purchaser Award for the second year in a row. Purchases that qualified for the award added up to nearly $40,000, including 50 computers and displays, four printers, and two cell phones.

The Moab Project continuously finds ways to reduce its environmental impact. Green electronic purchases not only result in cost savings, but they also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and solid and hazardous waste generation, and lower the amount of electricity needed.

“These purchases help the Moab Project to continuously strive towards fulfilling environmental management system goals and reduce environmental impacts,” says Stephanie Lein, the environmental air quality monitoring technician with S&K Logistics Services, the technical assistance contractor for the Moab Project.

West Valley Demonstration Project

The West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) in New York received the council’s award for purchasing computers and equipment that comply with EPEAT’s standards.

Bryan Bower, EM’s WVDP director, noted that the site’s continued commitment to purchase sustainable products helps reduce environmental impacts through eco-friendly products and environmentally-sound practices.

"Receiving the EPEAT award speaks volumes for the West Valley Demonstration Project team members, who strive for sustainable procurement by purchasing goods and services that reduce our impact on the environment," Bower said. “I am truly proud of this team’s accomplishment, and sincerely thank everyone for putting the environment first.”

Portsmouth Site

The council also honored the Portsmouth Site with an EPEAT Purchaser Award.

“The Portsmouth Site is proud to continue DOE’s leadership in growing a long-term sustainability with electronic stewardship,” said Jeff Bettinger, Portsmouth Site lead with the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.

Hanford Receives First Delivery of Glass Materials for Waste Vitrification

RICHLAND, Wash. – Local contractor Two Rivers Terminal recently made its first delivery of materials that will be used to immobilize Hanford Site underground tank waste in glass for disposal to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP).

EM Office of River Protection (ORP) prime contractor Bechtel National, Inc. awarded a contract to Two Rivers Terminal of Pasco, Washington to source, import, store, and deliver materials that will be used in the glass-forming, or vitrification, process as part of the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program.

The DFLAW program is a system of interdependent projects and infrastructure improvements, managed and highly integrated, that must operate together to vitrify the waste. During vitrification, the contaminated waste and glass-forming materials are mixed and heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit inside one of two large melters in the Low-Activity Waste Facility, then poured into stainless steel containers for safe storage.

“We look forward to continuing to work with local businesses like Two Rivers Terminal,” Bechtel Senior Vice President and WTP Project Director Valerie McCain said. “Contracts like these present opportunities for local businesses to join the collective Hanford team as we near melter heatup during plant commissioning and complete our shift from construction to operations.”

Silos like this one at the Hanford Site will store glass-forming materials. Labels on the pipes list some of the materials that will be used to turn contaminated waste into glass.

The first delivery of a glass-forming material was lithium carbonate, an industrial chemical used in processes such as manufacturing lithium ion batteries. Other materials used in vitrification are varied, consisting of multiple silicate compounds and other chemicals — and even sucrose, more commonly known as sugar. Silica will be the major compound used in the process. The initial material delivered will be used in the process of starting up and tuning the first melter later this year.

Two Rivers Terminal will source the glass-forming materials domestically and internationally, with about half of the materials coming from locations around the U.S. The contractor will be required to keep a three-month supply available.

“This contract is a great opportunity for a local company to be involved with the treatment of Hanford tank waste for years to come,” Two Rivers Terminal General Manager Steve Peot said. “It’s our opportunity to be a part of Tri-Cities history.”

Before delivering the materials to the WTP, Two Rivers Terminal will work with another local business, Mukang Labs in Pasco, to ensure the materials meet quality specifications for vitrification. Mukang Labs will sample and analyze the material and coordinate results with Bechtel.

“Receiving this material is an important step that brings us one step closer to realizing our mission to bring the DFLAW Program together and begin treating tank waste,” said Mat Irwin, ORP deputy assistant manager for the plant.

Founded in Pasco in 2003, Two Rivers Terminal is a fertilizer and chemical formulator, distributor, and importer that serves agricultural and industrial businesses. The company has grown beyond the Tri-Cities to include other locations in Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as international offices overseas. Two Rivers Terminal previously supported the 200 West Groundwater Treatment Project at Hanford.

-Contributor: Tyler Oates

Los Alamos Water Quality Program Ramps Up Amid Exceptional Drought

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – With hopes for rain during monsoon season amid exceptional drought conditions, the EM Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) recently activated samplers at 183 monitoring sites that collect surface water and stormwater for potential contaminants around Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

The drought conditions have the potential to lead to wildfires reminiscent of the Las Conchas fire in 2011 or the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. Destruction from such fires — namely downed trees and debris that erodes hillsides — can alter stream channels and also damage equipment used to collect samples. Heavy rain in forests devastated by fire can then lead to landslides.

“The extreme drought makes everything more challenging,” said Isaac Cadiente, a field lead with Tech2 Solutions, a subcontractor to N3B. “We’re seeing less frequent, higher intensity rain events. And those heavy rains can be damaging, especially on the heels of wildfire that makes the landscape more susceptible to erosion.”

N3B collects stormwater from automated samplers at LANL after rainfall. Most of these samples come from stormwater runoff near areas of potential contamination associated with historical LANL operations. Results from the samples determine the need for structures that mitigate the migration of contaminated stormwater.

In the past three years, 136 of those structures have been installed in addition to the roughly 2,000 already in place. The structures are made from a variety of materials, including stone, soil, and straw, to control runoff and erosion.

Crews also collect samples in canyon bottoms and tributaries of the Rio Grande to ensure contamination doesn’t reach the river.

Results from monitoring data show contaminants are below screening levels before reaching the Rio Grande, which means the controls are working. Crews also routinely inspect and maintain the structures used to control runoff.

“The Buckman Direct Diversion Water Treatment Facility is an intake of the Rio Grande, so it’s important that we’re retaining any harmful contaminants from reaching the river and Santa Fe’s municipal water supply,” said Cadiente.

In addition to controlling the potential migration of contaminated stormwater, EM-LA and N3B address contamination at its source by excavating soil and debris associated with historical LANL operations. Once these sites are remediated, the likelihood of contaminants migrating downstream through stormwater runoff decreases.

Meanwhile, EM-LA’s surface water monitoring program is making changes to improve the environment during the drought.

“The surface water monitoring program has used the ongoing drought, and resulting lack of stormwater samples, as an opportunity to implement new business practices to decrease the program’s carbon footprint,” said Karly Rodriguez, a Tech2 Solutions project manager.

“We’re piloting a program to use tablets for stormwater collection logs instead of paper forms, and relying on remote electronic devices that convey when samples have been collected, which decreases our reliance on transportation and lessens carbon emissions. We’re always looking for ways to improve our processes and minimize our environmental footprint,” Rodriguez said.

-Contributor: Kate Keenan

WIPP Marks Milestone in Ventilation System Project Six Weeks Ahead of Schedule

With the foundation concrete pour completed six weeks early, workers at the New Filter Building at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's (WIPP) Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System are already erecting the walls of the 55,000 square-foot building. The ventilation system is key to restoring full operations at WIPP. It will be the largest containment ventilation system among DOE facilities and the largest construction project at WIPP in close to 30 years.

CARLSBAD, N.M. – Workers at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recently reached a key milestone six weeks early by completing the foundation for a building critical to the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS), which will be the largest containment fan system among DOE facilities when finished.

“I am very proud of the commitment by The Industrial Company (TIC) to ramp up construction of the SSCVS while remaining focused on safety, regulatory compliance, and environmental protection,” Carlsbad Field Office Federal Project Director Janelle Armijo said. “Successful completion of this project will be a critical step in improving air quality in the underground, preparing for WIPP’s future.”

TIC plans to celebrate with a barbecue for its employees and the SSCVS project team because TIC workers marked 100,000 work hours without a lost-time accident.

TIC crews poured 44 individual concrete sections for the New Filter Building’s (NFB) shallow foundation, known as slab-on-grade. The company is a subcontractor to Nuclear Waste Partnership, WIPP’s management and operations contractor.

The NFB, whose footprint totals 55,000 square feet, is one of two major buildings that make up the SSCVS. The nearly 25,000-square-foot Salt Reduction Building will take salt-laden exhausted air from the WIPP underground and, using filters and water misters, prefilter it before sending the air to the NFB. Four 1,000-horsepower fans pull the air through switchable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units in the NFB before exhausting the air out a 125-foot-high stack.

Key to restoring full operations at WIPP, the SSCVS is the largest construction project at the site in close to 30 years.

The system will provide a modern air supply system designed to run continuously in unfiltered or HEPA filtration mode. The system will supply 540,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air to the underground, significantly more than the maximum 170,000 cfm provided by the current ventilation system.

The increased airflow allows for simultaneous mining, rock bolting, waste emplacement, maintenance, and experimental scientific operations. Bolting controls the movement of salt rock — known as salt creep — in the WIPP underground.

WIPP’s fifth shaft to the underground, the 2,275-foot utility shaft, is also under construction. When complete, it will be the site’s largest with a 26-foot finished diameter providing additional airflow to the underground in conjunction with the SSCVS.

WIPP is designed to safely isolate defense-related transuranic waste from people and the environment. Waste temporarily stored at DOE sites around the country is shipped to WIPP and permanently disposed in rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation 2,150 feet below the surface. WIPP, which began waste disposal operations in 1999, is located 26 miles outside of Carlsbad.

-Contributor: Roy Neese

DUF6 Conversion Project Reaches 1-Million-Hour Safety Milestone

From left, Carl Rogers, Paul Mathews, and Gary Grega, from Mid-America Conversion Services subcontractor American Mechanical Group, change the cooling coil out of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at the Portsmouth Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion facility. Also pictured is Larry Carter with Capital City Crane, at far right. Safety performance includes evaluation of subcontractor work.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Employees of Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS), the maintenance and operations contractor for EM’s Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project, recently surpassed 1 million working hours without a recordable injury or lost-time accident.

“MCS is committed to achieving and sustaining a world-class safety culture,” MCS Environment, Safety and Health (ES&H) Director Scott Nicholson said. “All of our employees maintain a questioning attitude, protect each other, feel free to raise concerns, and know the key for achieving sustained safe production is strengthening conduct of operations and maintenance.”

MCS operates the DUF6 conversion facilities and manages the nation’s inventory of the Cold-War uranium-enrichment byproduct at EM’s former gaseous diffusion plants in Ohio and Kentucky.

The DUF6 conversion process results in more stable compounds, uranium oxide for reuse or disposal, and hydrofluoric acid for recycling to industry. Combined, the two facilities have converted more than 84,000 metric tons of DUF6 since operations began in 2010. This represents approximately 10 percent of the initial inventory.

“A culture of safety is a journey, not a destination,” MCS President and Project Manager Zack Smith said. “It requires our continuing diligence, great leadership, and the support of our United Steel Workers partners to accomplish milestones such as this.”

Mid-America Conversion Services operator-technicians Pete Bowen, left, and Erica Stanley paint a cylinder with epoxy for contamination control.

MCS recently completed several plant modifications at EM’s Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky facilities to improve their safety and reliability, and achieved them safely despite challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“MCS employees have always embraced safety as their top pillar in performing work,” said Joe Johnson, ES&H manager at Paducah. “This year, with the pandemic impacts, has been no different. It is a safety-rich environment and each employee has done his or her part in achieving ongoing safety success at the site.”

Zak Lafontaine, EM’s DUF6 program manager for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, noted that safe work takes precedence under any circumstance.

“All personnel, from the front line to the senior leadership, share the same responsibility for safe work,” Lafontaine said. “This achievement demonstrates that communication, responsibility, and teamwork are key to building and maintaining a positive safety culture.”

-Contributor: Kearney Ackermann

Crews Clean Up Reactor Pool to Prepare for Facility Demolition at ORNL

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EM crews at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have removed highly radioactive components from a reactor pool in a facility slated for demolition.

This effort is a crucial step that allows EM to drain the pool and move forward with demolishing the Bulk Shielding Reactor, also known as Building 3010 — an aging, contaminated facility that no longer supports DOE’s research missions.

UCOR, EM’s prime cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is leading the project. The reactor pool cleanup activities are scheduled to be complete by the end of the year. That work includes draining the pool. The next step will involve grouting the pool before the reactor facility can be demolished.

“This is a big step toward getting Building 3010 demolition-ready,” said Nathan Felosi, EM’s ORNL portfolio federal project director. “This is one of several research reactor facilities we are currently deactivating in the heart of ORNL, and that area of campus will look drastically different in the coming years because of our progress.”

Watch this video to learn more about how EM crews at Oak Ridge National Laboratory safely and successfully removed highly radioactive components from a reactor pool at the Bulk Shielding Reactor, which is slated for demolition.

Oak Ridge workers reduced the size of irradiated materials and placed them into a 6,100-pound waste transfer liner set 21 feet deep in the reactor pool.

Workers use specialized equipment to move and lift an 88,000-pound transportation cask onto a trailer to ship it for off-site disposal.

To remove the irradiated materials, UCOR moved a 6,100-pound waste transfer liner to a 21-foot depth in the pool. Workers placed the irradiated materials into the waste transfer liner and sealed it, lifted it from the pool, and placed it in a waste disposal liner. Workers then transferred that liner to an 88,000-pound transport cask, which was shipped safely for off-site disposal.

“All of this work was done inside the building led by radiation protection professionals and specialists certified in completing each step of the cask evolution,” said Dan Macias, the UCOR manager of the Oak Ridge Reservation environmental cleanup. “The cask evolution process required 16 UCOR workers, weeks of preparation, hours of focused labor, and well-coordinated efforts with our specialty subcontractor.”

A view of a transportation cask containing irradiated components from the Bulk Shielding Reactor pool being hauled away from Oak Ridge National Laboratory for off-site disposal.

The Bulk Shielding Reactor was constructed in 1950 to lead groundbreaking aircraft radiation protection research as part of the federal government’s aircraft nuclear propulsion program. The program was one of the earliest research and development initiatives to identify peaceful uses of atomic energy after World War II. Workers researched designs and configurations to protect crew members from radiation in a proposed nuclear-powered aircraft.

The facility also housed a low-power reactor used to train reactor operators and provide hands-on experience for college students until it was shut down in 1987.

The facility was one of more than a dozen research reactors constructed at ORNL over multiple decades. Each contributed to ORNL’s reputation as a world leader in cutting-edge nuclear research and development. EM’s current phase of cleanup at ORNL is focused on safely removing these excess contaminated facilities to eliminate risks and clear land for future research missions.

The Bulk Shielding Reactor is one of 16 inactive research reactor and isotope facilities EM is currently addressing at ORNL.

-Contributors: Mike Butler, Carol Hendrycks

Hanford Begins Retrieving Waste From Another Underground Storage Tank

Workers with EM tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions install remotely operated, specialized equipment to retrieve waste from single-shell tank AX-103 at the Hanford Site.

To prepare decades-old tanks for efficient and safe waste retrieval operations, workers remove old systems and equipment, like this thermocouple that was used to measure the temperature of waste. They install new retrieval and monitoring equipment, ventilation safety systems, and waste transfer lines.

Tank AX-103 is the third million-gallon tank to have its waste retrieved in a group of four called the AX Tank Farm. WRPS has already retrieved waste from tanks AX-102 and 104. Retrieval of the last tank, AX-101, is scheduled to begin next year.

Preparing a decades-old tank farm for safe waste retrieval takes years of retrofitting. Workers remove old, contaminated equipment from the tank to make space for the equipment needed for retrieval of the waste. Then they install modern retrieval equipment, ventilation safety and leak-detection systems, and transfer lines to move the waste to a double-shell tank. They also install utilities and cameras with lighting so operators can see inside the tanks while operating equipment remotely.

To date, workers have completed retrieving the waste from 17 of Hanford’s 149 older single-shell tanks. Those tanks include the 16 tanks in the C Farm and a tank in the S Farm. Once tanks AX-102 and 104 go through a standard technical review for completion that can take several months, the list will grow to 19.

Hanford’s single-shell tanks were constructed of carbon steel and reinforced concrete between 1943 and 1964 to store radioactive and chemical waste created during plutonium production operations in World War II and the Cold War era.

Upgraded Fire Suppression System Enhances Canister Transporter Safety at SRS

Savannah River Site employees recently upgraded the site’s shielded canister transporter with an advanced fire suppression system.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM has installed an improved fire suppression system on a one-of-a-kind Savannah River Site (SRS) vehicle that moves high-level waste canisters.

The shielded canister transporter (SCT) at SRS is a specially designed vehicle that is more than 18 feet tall, 25 feet wide, and weighs 235,000 pounds. It moves canisters of vitrified high-level waste produced at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) to safe interim storage at the Glass Waste Storage Buildings (GWSB). The SCT also double-stacks stored canisters to increase storage capacity in one of those storage buildings. Each stainless steel canister is 10 feet tall and weighs approximately 5,000 pounds when filled.

SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR) upgraded the fire suppression system on the SCT, including improvements to an operator’s ability to safely exit in the unlikely event of a fire emergency on the SCT. Due to the location of the SCT operator, the extensive radiation shielding blocking visibility to the engine compartments, and the engine noise created by SCT operations, the need for an automatic fire suppression system was identified as a necessary improvement.

SRR Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Project Manager Mark Schmitz said he is pleased with the work on the SCT, which was completed by SRR and small disadvantaged business contractor FQS Bear.

“Ensuring our high-level waste canisters are safely stored is part of the ownership SRR takes in the liquid waste mission at SRS,” Schmitz said. “Anything we can do to enhance safety is carefully evaluated and applied. This new system was engineered to be reliable and technically advanced, while meeting national fire protection standards.”

A view of the liquid agent tanks for the fire suppression system of the shielded canister transporter at the Savannah River Site.

The permanently installed system on the SCT is designed for heavy-duty mobile equipment and consists of heat-detection devices for automatic activations, six liquid agent tanks, and control units for each of the SCT’s two engines. A system display is in the cab of the SCT, which shows the system status and allows for manual operation, if necessary.

DOE-Savannah River Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Jim Folk said the SCT now has a system that has met rigorous testing standards for loss prevention.

“The SCT is a large and complex vehicle. Its importance to the execution of the liquid waste mission cannot be understated,” Folk said. “Having a certified fire protection system on this one-of-a-kind vehicle helps ensure we can continue to move canisters from DWPF to the GWSBs efficiently and safely.”

-Contributor: Ashley Dernberger

Like EM on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DOEEnvironmentalManagement

Follow EM on Twitter: @EMcleanup