EM Update | Vol. 13, Issue 44 | Nov. 9, 2021

• Nelson-Jean Highlights Recent EM Achievements at Conference
• EM Officials Detail Progress in Tank Waste Efforts
• Oak Ridge Achieves EM Priorities for 2021
• STEM is Key to Attracting New Employees to Cleanup Program
• Hanford Completes Critical Loss of Offsite Power Test for Waste Treatment Plant
• Fiscal 2021 Saltstone Production Surpasses Past Five Years Combined
• Hanford Effluent Treatment Facility Readies for Operations After Major Upgrades
• Savannah River Contractor Surpasses 23 Years Without Missed Day Due to Injury
• Cleanup Contractor Earns 85 Percent of Final Fee at Hanford Site

Nelson-Jean Highlights Recent EM Achievements at Conference

Significant achievements at EM cleanup sites such as the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), Hanford, Oak Ridge, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) highlight EM’s mission progress in recent months, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Nicole Nelson-Jean told an industry conference last week.

Nelson-John was the keynote speaker at the 2021 RadWaste Summit, held in Las Vegas. Nelson-Jean delivered her remarks in a recorded video.

Besides touting EM field accomplishments, Nelson-Jean also announced that EM-Los Alamos has been chosen as one of five DOE pilot programs under the Justice40 Initiative. This initiative was created by the Biden Administration through the executive order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and provides recommendations on how certain federal investments might be made toward a goal that 40% of the overall benefits flow to disadvantaged communities.

“This guidance supports the administration’s comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all people in the United States,” Nelson-Jean said. “This is a unique opportunity for the Office of Environmental Management to show its ongoing efforts to support disadvantaged communities.”

Nelson-Jean also discussed the EM Strategic Vision: 2021-2031 in which she mentioned that EM is expanding its recruiting strategies and leadership development programs.

“We are committed to promoting and supporting an inclusive environment that provides all employees with the chance to work to their full potential,” she said.

EM Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Nicole Nelson-Jean

In her remarks, Nelson-Jean pointed to a number of EM achievements in recent months, including:

• Demolition of the final 18 DOE-owned buildings at the ETEC site in southern California, reducing important safety and fire risks. “We will continue to work with the state of California on final cleanup, including groundwater and soils remediation,” she said.
• Completing the first commissioning test, involving one of 37 remote-operated cranes, within the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at Hanford in Washington state. “This accomplishment brings us one step closer to treating tank waste at the site,” she said.
• Completing environmental cleanup at Bayview Parcel 1 South at LBNL in California. Workers deactivated, demolished, and removed tunnels, foundation slabs, and utilities for disposal offsite, and also cleaned up contaminated soils. “This effort will allow valuable land to be made available for the laboratory’s future use,” Nelson-Jean said.
• Initiating characterization and hazard-reduction activities at the Test Cell C complexes and the Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly complex at the Nevada National Security Site, preparing the buildings for demolition.
• Completing demolition of the final building at the Biology Complex at Oak Ridge in Tennessee. Taking down the six-story, 255,000-square foot Building 9207 “was quite a feat,” Nelson-Jean said. “Completion of the Biology Complex removes significant structural risks and opens land for the future lithium processing facility.”
• Continuing progress on construction of the Salt Reduction Building at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, a feature of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System being planned to strengthen airflow through the underground repository.
• Successfully conducting a startup test of the 700-C fan at WIPP. When the component comes online, it will increase airflow in the underground during non-waste handing operations, allowing for improved working conditions, Nelson-Jean said.
• Removing a septic system and well associated with a former one-room schoolhouse at the West Valley Demonstration Project in New York, completing the removal of 46 accessory facilities no longer needed for site cleanup.

Nelson-Jean noted that EM continued to make progress in its mission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is true testament to the work ethic and dedication of the federal and contractor employees,” she said.

EM Officials Detail Progress in Tank Waste Efforts

An aerial view of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site.

EM officials speaking at the 2021 RadWaste Summit last week detailed progress at the Savannah River, Idaho, and Hanford sites in the treatment of tank waste, the most significant challenge facing the environmental cleanup program.

The audience at the conference held in Las Vegas heard from Mike Budney, manager of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina; Joel Case, assistant manager for facility and material disposition at the Idaho Cleanup Project; and Mat Irwin, deputy assistant manager of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at Hanford in Washington state. The EM officials spoke via a virtual connection to the event.

At Savannah River, the Salt Waste Processing Facility began full radioactive operations at the beginning of the year and is proving to be the workhorse of the site’s liquid waste complex, where it is crucial for every facility to be synchronized and operational at the same time, Budney said. In fiscal 2021, Savannah River treated and disposed of more than 3 million gallons of decontaminate salt solution, a record amount.

Budney also extolled progress in the construction of mega-volume Saltstone Disposal Units (SDU). The approximately 33-million gallon capacity SDU 7 was completed in July and is receiving grout. SDUs 8 and 9 are being built, while construction will start soon on SDUs 10, 11, and 12.

“I’m pretty proud of our government contractor teams,” Budney said. “In terms of constant dollars, we’re really able to find efficiencies and reduce costs as we build each subsequent tank.”

Budney said the final piece to execute the SRS liquid waste mission was the recent award of the Integrated Mission Completion Contract. The contract will enable SRS to shift to an “end-state” approach that provides greater flexibility to define work scopes and assign tasks to the contractor. Budney said he expects nearly all the site’s salt waste inventory will be processed and its tank farm will be nearly empty by 2033.

Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) operator Samantha Phillips operates a crane at the facility at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory Site while Trevor Clark, also an IWTU operator, observes.

At Idaho, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) is nearing operations after years of confronting and overcoming technical challenges, Case said. IWTU will process about 850,000 gallons of sodium-bearing waste stored in three underground tanks. The liquid waste will be converted into grains similar in form to clothes detergent, and stored onsite pending final disposition.

The project was faced with redesigning a key IWTU component, the Denitration Mineralization Reformer. EM and its contractor Fluor Idaho brought in outside experts, collaborated with an industrial laboratory in Colorado where extensive testing occurred on a scaled model, and spent thousands of hours solving the problem.

“It was a very long and involved process,” Case said.

Workers also discovered that IWTU metal filters became clogged with fine particulates. They have since been replaced with ceramic filters better able to withstand heat and corrosive environments. On top of that, the IWTU workforce was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We never had to shut down operations, but it did slow down efficiency,” Case said.

Now, Case said, the IWTU has initiated preparations for a final 50-day test during which waste simulant will be run through the system, one of the final steps before startup of radiological operations.

An engineer conducts tests on the turnstiles inside the pour caves of the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford Site. The turnstiles will hold three stainless steel containers into which vitrified waste will be poured during operations.

Irwin focused on startup of Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) system that will vitrify the low-activity fraction of Hanford tank waste. The Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility at WTP will mix liquid waste with glass-forming materials to produce a glassified product in stainless steel containers for long-term storage.

The LAW Facility over the past year has been testing individual system components like fans, pumps, power supplies, and the like. Irwin said systems have progressed from testing to being handed over to plant management for commissioning. The last of the systems was handed over just recently.

On Oct. 30, the plant had its first significant integrated commissioning test. Offsite power was cut off in a test of backup power systems and the ability of crews to restore full power.

“It tested the people-and-process part of the equation in making sure we could use our abnormal operating process and then recover the plant back to normal power,” Irwin said. “We’re working through the results but from my perspective I expected a lot more surprises. It was a very successful test to demonstrate the ground we still have to cover.”

Oak Ridge Achieves EM Priorities for 2021

Demolition began on the last remaining facility in the Biology Complex at Oak Ridge in March. Building 9207 stood six stories tall and spanned 255,000 square feet. Teardown of the final buildings — 9207 and 9210 — generated 118 million pounds of debris.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) completed the ambitious goals laid out for the site in EM’s 2021 priorities.

Each year, EM releases its priorities for the coming calendar year, a key marker to the cleanup program’s continuing success in addressing the legacy of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. The Calendar Year 2021 Mission and Priorities outlines specific planned accomplishments across the cleanup complex for the year.

“Through the work ethic and dedication of our federal and contractor workforce, Oak Ridge continues to reinforce its reputation as a site that completes its projects on time and on budget,” OREM Acting Manager Laura Wilkerson said.

OREM had three entries in EM’s 2021 priorities. They include completing demolition of the Biology Complex, transferring property at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) to the community, and awarding the Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract.

A view of the Biology Complex slab after demolition. Workers are actively removing the buildings’ foundations, which is slated for completion early next year. The 18-acre area will be reused to support national security missions at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Demolishing the former Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex wrapped up in June and created the biggest skyline change at Oak Ridge this year. The project involved significant deactivation efforts and cleared away facilities that spanned 330,000 square feet and stood up to six stories tall. Crews removed 3.5 million pounds of asbestos and waste from the deteriorating 1940s-era facilities prior to their teardown.

That EM 2021 priority eliminated significant structural risks, and it opens an 18-acre area to support national security missions at the site. Workers are slated to finish removing the buildings’ foundations early next year, the final step before the land is available for reuse by the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management completed two transfers at the East Tennessee Technology Park this past summer. Both transfers preserve areas with historic significance. Portal 11, pictured above, and the adjacent land was transferred to the City of Oak Ridge. The transfers preserve a former worker portal and provides land for reuse by the city’s fire department.

At ETTP, OREM continues progress toward its ultimate vision of transforming the site into a multi-use industrial park. After nearly two decades, all demolition is complete and hundreds of acres of land are available for reuse to attract new businesses and economic development, create conservation areas, and preserve and share ETTP’s history.

OREM has transferred nearly 1,300 acres at ETTP to the community to date for industrial development. Two transfers completed this summer preserve areas with historic significance, including one of the site’s main entryways — known as Portal 4. It’s expected to be refurbished and repurposed for new office space.

Oak Ridge accomplished its third and final 2021 priority with the award of the Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract to United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) in late October. The new contract will span 10 years and has an estimated value of up to $8.3 billion.

The contractor will be responsible for soil and groundwater remediation at ETTP; cleanup of excess contaminated facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12; and operational activities and surveillance and maintenance for numerous facilities across the Oak Ridge Reservation.

“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished this year, which extends beyond the three items listed. We also made progress in many other areas that positions our program for more successes and priority completions next year,” Wilkerson said.

-Contributor: Ben Williams

STEM is Key to Attracting New Employees to Cleanup Program

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) not only are critical to EM achieving its cleanup mission effectively, but they’re also the keys to the future EM workforce, according to Kristen Ellis, EM’s senior advisor for STEM and talent acquisition.

Ellis, who is also the acting director for regulatory, intergovernmental, and stakeholder engagement, made the comments via video at the recent 2021 RadWaste Summit.

She emphasized the innovation driving all areas of DOE, but particularly in EM’s work. STEM careers are already critical to EM and will continue driving the cleanup mission.

“In fact, nearly 40 percent of the DOE federal workforce are in STEM positions, and over 70 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher. These figures will only increase as the Department continues to address national security, energy, and environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions,” Ellis said.

Kristen Ellis, EM senior advisor for STEM and talent acquisition, and acting director for regulatory, intergovernmental, and stakeholder engagement.

EM and its contractors will serve as an incubator for future innovation and employees, she said. The key is starting with the youngest of EM’s potential future workers, including elementary school students.

“This builds on investing in community-based STEM education to opening up early career opportunities all the way through providing continuous learning for educators and for today’s workforce,” Ellis said.

She pointed out that annually, the national laboratories provide programs for more than 250,000 kindergarten-through-12th grade students, 22,000 kindergarten-through-12th grade educators, nearly 3,000 undergraduate interns, over 2,000 graduate students, and 2,300 postdoctoral researchers. Additionally, many events are sponsored by EM, including science bowls, STEM nights, and high school job shadowing opportunities.

Ellis concluded by looking at what the future workforce might look like and signaling bedrock EM principles as the future workforce is explored.

“The health and safety of our workers, along with their families and communities, is paramount. Second, we must be effective in carrying out and completing our mission. It’s not optional, because it’s integral to the health, safety, and security of our nation. Third, we want to explore and build on the flexibility of the past year and a half to promote a more dynamic and agile workforce,” she said.

Ellis added, “The need for the best and brightest leaders in the field at our sites, in our labs, in our classrooms, and in our boardrooms is growing, as the workforce ages and we shift to an innovation-based economy. One of our core values is to invest in the future through inspiring and nurturing STEM learning, and we build this work and this culture into the EM program.”

Hanford Completes Critical Loss of Offsite Power Test for Waste Treatment Plant

Commissioning Technician Ruben Fuentes participates in a loss-of-offsite-power test for Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant from the switchgear building.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant has successfully completed a loss-of-offsite-power commissioning test, a critical step toward the heatup of melters and vitrification, or immobilization within glass, of Hanford’s radioactive and chemical tank waste for disposal.

When offsite power was cut during the test, plant personnel activated backup power to keep critical safety systems operational while they worked through procedures to restore power to the plant.

“Our proficiency in responding to a loss of offsite power is important, because during 24/7 plant operations, each of our shift crews needs to be able to respond appropriately,” said Rick Holmes, general manager for the Waste Treatment Completion Company, a subcontractor to project lead Bechtel National, Inc. “They need to place the plant in a safe configuration and restore power to the melters to ensure they stay at their operating temperature.”

Offsite power is provided to the plant by infrastructure managed by contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS). To “cut” offsite power, HMIS remotely opened the primary power supply breaker to the plant and then closed it once the test was completed.

The ability to restore power to the plant is critical. Two melters inside the plant’s Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility will immobilize radioactive and chemical waste in a glass form. Once a melter has reached its operating temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, it must remain at temperature for its entire lifespan. If a melter were to cool and the glass inside became solid, the melter would need to be replaced. The first melter will be brought up to temperature in the next few months.

“Achieving this milestone brings us a significant step closer to initiating melter heatup,” said Mat Irwin, EM Office of River Protection deputy assistant manager for the plant. “The training has paid dividends and brings us one step closer to vitrification.”

Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant employees walk through and execute procedures to bring systems online inside the switchgear building during the loss-of-offsite-power test.

The entire Hanford Site is preparing for a shift to 24/7 operations by the end of 2023, when vitrification of tank waste is scheduled to begin as part of EM’s 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, waste treated to remove radioactive cesium and solids at a tank farm will be fed directly to the LAW Facility’s melters. The waste and glass-forming materials will be mixed, heated, and poured into specially designed stainless-steel containers. The containers will be transported a short distance to the site’s Integrated Disposal Facility for disposal.

The 300-ton Hanford melters are each four times larger than the one in operation at EM’s Defense Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Hanford’s LAW Facility is designed to vitrify 5,000 gallons of low-activity waste a day — or 1.75 million gallons a year — when operating at full capacity.

-Contributor: Tyler Oates

Fiscal 2021 Saltstone Production Surpasses Past Five Years Combined

AIKEN, S.C. – EM’s liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) immobilized more decontaminated salt solution (DSS) in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 than in the previous five years combined.

Savannah River Remediation (SRR) converts DSS into a grout and safely dispositions the engineered waste form inside mega-volume storage units.

From Oct. 1, 2020 through Sept. 30, the SRS Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) received more than 3.1 million gallons of DSS. In the prior five years of operation, the facility received approximately 2.8 million gallons. SPF mixed the record amount of DSS with cement and dry slag, a byproduct of steel mill production, and fly ash, a byproduct of burned coal. The combination produced just over 5 million gallons of grout for disposal — more than any year in the site's history. The previous five years resulted in the creation of slightly less than 4.9 million gallons.

The accomplishment is the result of increased capabilities across the entire SRS liquid waste program.

The Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), built and operated by contractor Parsons Corporation, is processing greater quantities of high-level waste, resulting in larger amounts of DSS to be converted into grout. SRR is providing the qualified waste feed to SWPF and receiving the DSS for conversion and final disposition.

Once the grout is created at SPF, the mixture is sent to nearby Saltstone Disposal Units (SDUs), which are large concrete units used for permanent disposal of the grout made from DSS. The mega-SDUs each hold approximately 33 million gallons of the grout, which cures into saltstone.

Jim Folk, DOE-Savannah River assistant manager for waste disposition, said the ability to treat and immobilize greater quantities of DSS will help meet the expectations of the SRS liquid waste mission.

“We have strengthened the systems at the Saltstone Production Facility over the course of several years, preparing for increased throughput from the Salt Waste Processing Facility,” Folk said.

Some facility improvements that led to the fiscal 2021 accomplishment and increased overall efficiency include a new grout formula, optimized equipment, and additional trained staff needed for added shifts.

SRR Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Project Manager Mark Schmitz said the upgrades at SPF have enabled the facility to significantly boost its production.

“The overall liquid waste infrastructure is now greatly enhanced,” said Schmitz. “It is exciting to witness the accomplishments of recent investments at these facilities. Achieving these new heights is the result of the innovative approach that has been the hallmark of Savannah River Remediation’s teamwork and continuous improvement efforts.”

-Contributor: Jim Beasley

Hanford Effluent Treatment Facility Readies for Operations After Major Upgrades

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Hanford Site’s critical Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is nearly ready to once again treat wastewater generated by numerous remediation activities.

EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) just completed a yearlong upgrade of the ETF, which will play a major role when 24/7 operations to treat tank waste begin by the end of 2023.

“ETF is essential to the success of Hanford’s waste treatment mission,” said Bibek Tamang, EM program manager for the facility. “The upgrades boost efficiency and dependability to ensure the facility can handle the increased capacity.”

Upon startup of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, tank waste treatment and disposal operations will add up to 6.2 million gallons of hazardous and radioactive wastewater to ETF processing. Annual treatment totals in the past have varied as cleanup work has progressed, including large treatment campaigns to support the evaporation of water used to transfer tank waste.

Workers for tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions adjust the initial flow of water through the Effluent Treatment Facility’s new ultraviolet oxidation unit during operation acceptance testing. The new system is part of upgrades to support Hanford’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program.

The upgrades on the nearly 30-year-old ETF included replacing an aging monitoring and control system with one that will communicate more efficiently with other site facility systems. This communication is crucial to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program, which links together highly interdependent and integrated projects in the tank waste treatment process.

Old ultraviolet oxidation units, which remove organic compounds from ETF waste, were obsolete and replacement parts were hard to come by. They were replaced with a new system vital to treating the wastewater.

“I am proud of our entire team for its tireless effort to complete these projects,” said Jim Foster, WRPS area manager for ETF. “Managing the integration of both construction and plant operations personnel in our current operations posture was challenging, and I am excited to see the team ready to begin treating wastewater again.”

ETF will begin its next wastewater processing campaign this month. One million gallons will be run through the facility over the next few months.

In the year ahead, workers will expand the ETF load-in facility, almost doubling its operating capacity by allowing for an additional tanker to be prepped for unloading while another tanker is pumped. Workers are also upgrading the motor control center, replacing outdated freeze protection systems, and installing a new wastewater filtration system that will allow continuous operation during filter backwashing.

-Contributor: Joan Lucas

Savannah River Contractor Surpasses 23 Years Without Missed Day Due to Injury

Savannah River Remediation construction workers have exceeded 23 years, or 34 million hours, of work without a missed day of work due to an injury.

Cleanup Contractor Earns 85 Percent of Final Fee at Hanford Site

Crews with Mission Support Alliance (MSA), a former sitewide services contractor for EM Richland Operations Office, inspected and readied three new mobile hydraulic cranes for service at the Hanford Site last year. EM has awarded the last fee to MSA for work performed in the final eight months of MSA’s contract with DOE.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) awarded former cleanup contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) approximately $13.9 million, or about 85 percent of the available fee for work performed at the Hanford Site in the final eight months of MSA’s contract with DOE.

EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments — earned by completing the work called for in their contracts — to further transparency in its cleanup program.

MSA’s contract ended Jan. 24, 2021, when transition to a new Hanford Mission Essential Services Contract and contractor was completed.

MSA exceeded many significant award-fee criteria and met overall cost, schedule, and technical performance requirements of the contract, according to the award fee determination scorecard. MSA met or exceeded expectations while accomplishing several performance goals, including:

• Protecting the health and safety of its workforce while performing well during the COVID-19 pandemic; and providing leadership in anticipating, identifying, and resolving issues across the site in a timely manner.
• Lowering long-term maintenance costs by reducing the site’s infrastructure.
• Providing services to other Hanford contractors, while effectively managing service costs and maintaining good communications with EM and contractors.
• Consistently performing excellent oversight of large geographic areas where cleanup actions have been completed, including coordinating with other Hanford contractors to ensure continued protection of human health and the environment.
• Maintaining a fully staffed help desk to assist thousands of teleworking site employees, handling a larger-than-average volume of calls and a record 1,500 calls in a day.

The contractor went beyond expectations to anticipate EM’s future needs and demonstrated forward-thinking, proactive problem solving, according to the scorecard.

Although there were no broad areas of significant deficiency, some notable opportunities for improvement in MSA’s performance included testing fire systems, supporting the business management portion of the transition to the new contract, and subcontracting.

View the MSA fee determination scorecard here.

-Contributor: Ed Dawson

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