AIKEN, S.C. – Banners decorate overpasses, safety-related stories fill internal communications, posters adorn walls, and badges and stickers with the words “Safety Begins with Me” appear on badge lanyards, filing cabinets, building doors and vehicle dashboards.
The Savannah River Site (SRS) management team has introduced a new site-wide employee safety awareness campaign known as Safety Begins with Me.
A Savannah River Nuclear Solutions employee hangs one of several “Safety Begins with Me” banners near a Savannah River Site entrance.
“The results associated with this campaign have already exceeded our expectations,” DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager David Moody said. “In fact, the buzz created by this effort is proof alone that our employees fully support our safety culture and pursuit of an injury- and incident-free work environment.”
As part of the campaign, all employees at SRS are expected to understand their personal accountability for safety performance and play an active role in helping SRS achieve a world-class reputation for safety.
“Time and again, I’ve heard it said and seen it displayed throughout our diverse workforce. Our employees truly believe the health and welfare of their co-workers is crucial and nothing less is acceptable,” said Dwayne Wilson, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) President and CEO. “We take safety very seriously at SRS.”
SRNS is the SRS management and operations contractor.
To date, the success of the campaign launched in fall 2011 has involved increasing employee focus on proven principles, such as DOE’s Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS), and encouraging characteristics of the culture that foster employee dedication to safety.
ISMS is a five-step method for performing work safely. It calls for defining the work, identifying and analyzing hazards, developing and implementing hazard controls, performing the work within those controls, and providing feedback for continued improvement.
The campaign will help SRS employees to further internalize fundamental safety values, concepts, practices and principles to include:
SRS Safety Core Value
We conduct all aspects of our work safely, continuously improving in pursuit of injury-and incident-free performance.
SRS Safety Vision
We will be recognized for our world-class safety culture that builds on our history and anticipates the challenges of our current and future missions.
SRS Safety Principles
These are the key concepts that must stay in the forefront of our thoughts as we work each day.
The Integrated Safety Management System is the framework for our safety.
Our safety includes industrial, nuclear, security, environmental and radiological aspects.
We believe in zero incidents and injuries.
Our leaders will provide a safe environment.
We work safely as a condition of employment.
We report, investigate and act upon all incidents and safety issues.
We are empowered to prevent incidents.
We view all of our experiences, including our mistakes, as opportunities to learn.
“These all-important principles drive a safety-oriented mindset and nurture the safety and health of each and every employee,” Moody said. “This approach to our jobs is not an option at SRS, it is an accepted fact and required way of life that we all clearly recognize and hold dear.”
Said Wilson: “In fact, our lab, the Savannah River National Laboratory, just achieved 10 million hours worked without a lost-time injury.”
A green cross was chosen as the site’s primary symbol for the program and a visual reminder. The campaign emphasizes a return to basic safety practices and proven safety programs for the thousands of employees working at the 310-square-mile site in rural South Carolina.
A green cross was chosen as the primary symbol for the Savannah River Site’s “Safety Begins with Me” program.
A new slogan, “See Something Unsafe, Say Something for Safety,” is the latest campaign element introduced to employees as a part of the program. It is a value that is being rigorously promoted throughout the workforce. SRS employees fully expect their co-workers to proactively speak up and be willing to immediately stop work whenever a potentially unsafe condition exists.
“This new phase will further instill an automatic reaction within SRS employees that does not question the need for a prompt response to prevent a potential injury,” Moody said. “We care about each other and will watch out for each other.”
Top executives from all major contractors at the Savannah River Site and DOE Savannah River Operations Office Manager David Moody (seated) work together to create a video production promoting the “Safety Begins with Me” program.
A video production was recently created by the SRS executive team to support the rollout of the program.
SRS employees are committed to create safe, innovative, effective solutions for our country’s most pressing initiatives. SRS offers in-depth nuclear knowledge for the nation and works to make the future of our country secure, energy independent and environmentally responsible.
Oak Ridge Makes Safety a Community Affair
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Safety has long been a cornerstone of Oak Ridge’s operations, from conducting advanced research to removing dilapidated structures and transporting radioactive waste.
Oak Ridge’s leadership places special emphasis on safety to maintain the site’s safety record and culture. The attention and unified support for safety is paying dividends.
Since the beginning of fiscal year 2012, Oak Ridge’s three largest environmental cleanup contractors have achieved significant safety-related accomplishments. URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge’s prime contractor for EM, accumulated 1.6 million hours without a lost-work event. The contractor is responsible for numerous projects including the removal of Tank W-1A — the greatest source of groundwater contamination at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory — and demolition of the K-25 building, which housed the world’s first gaseous diffusion plant for enriching uranium.
Employees receive training to remove Tank W-1A prior to excavating it. From 1951 until 1986, the tank collected and stored liquid waste from radiochemical separations and high-radiation facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, until significant levels of soil and groundwater contamination were traced to the vessel.
Isotek, the site’s contractor for the highly sensitive transportation and disposition of uranium-233, reached 1.8 million work hours without a recordable incident. Wastren Advantage Inc., the company that operates the Transuranic Waste Processing Center, totaled 160,000 hours without any recordable incidents.
“Having employees in the field with an understanding and commitment to safety is invaluable,” said Sue Cange, assistant manager for EM. “Accumulating these safe hours, despite complex work environments, is a testament to our federal and contractor project managers and training staff.”
DOE’s Oak Ridge Office continues promoting safety dialogue through it’s participation in the Oak Ridge Business Safety Partnership. The partnership, which dates back to 2004, is a collection of government agencies, contracting companies and labor unions that raise safety awareness in the region to achieve accident-free workplaces. The organization helps companies understand the demanding safety culture of DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration and shares lessons about relevant safety topics.
The partnership’s theme for 2012 is Above and Beyond: Creating a Sense of Urgency. This year, the partnership is sponsoring two training sessions for the community, and it will host the first Safety Fest in September. The community initiative, with large participation from DOE and its contractors, holds quarterly open forums to increase safety awareness and positively affect the community.
“From an overview standpoint, our job is really about performing missions that improve the safety and quality of life for area residents,” said Cange. “But our top priority is performing work safely so our employees can go home to their families at the end of the day.”
EM Occupational Injury and Illness Rates Continued to Decline in Fiscal Year 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The EM Office of Safety and Security Program conducts analysis of EM-wide safety performance on a quarterly basis to provide EM senior management a tool to compare and evaluate performance and identify emergent trends that may not show up in other safety operational oversight activities. Evaluation of safety performance uses operational experience data from existing departmental sources and field analysis of contractor safety performance data. This analysis allows performance comparisons between sites and contractors of varying size and risk.
Occupational injury and illness performance is measured using two metrics defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and widely used in industry. These metrics are the Total Recordable Injury Cases (TRCs) rate and Days Away from work – Restricted or Transferred (DART) case rate. TRCs are cases that require medical treatment for occupational injuries beyond first aid, and DARTs are TRCs that are typically more serious than medical treatment only. DART cases involve days away from work, days of restricted work activity, or require a worker to be transferred to another position.
EM’s cumulative rates for fiscal year 2011 are TRC rate = 0.78 and DART case rate = 0.32. These rates are significantly below the EM safety performance goals for fiscal year 2011 (TRC goal = 1.3; DART goal = 0.6).
While performance, as measured by occupational injury rates, continues to demonstrate improvement, EM and its contractors also use many additional performance metrics to ensure nuclear and worker safety and health are evaluated to ensure any emergent issues or performance trends are quickly addressed.
The charts below are from the Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2011 EM Quarterly Safety Summary Report.
This figure shows the downward trends of EM TRC and DART case rates for the last three fiscal years. These three years correspond to the time of substantial increase in work activities in support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
EM’s TRC and DART case cumulative rate trend lines over the past 15 quarters remain well below comparable industries’ TRC and DART Case rates. For benchmark comparison, the Construction Industry and the Waste Management & Remediation Service Industry numbers are selected to best approximate the complex-wide decontamination and decommissioning (D&D), remediation, waste management, and facility construction activities contracted by EM.
New Member of EM’s Leadership Team Envisions Success Following Reorganization
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Alice Williams was named EM’s Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary on Jan. 1. Williams recently talked with EM Update about her role in EM’s new organizational structure, which is based on a matrix construct and facilitates collaborative decision-making around shared goals and objectives. This structure aims to better align the program to achieve success in the Cold War cleanup. As part of its reorganization, EM created Mission Units, which are in charge of the effective program management of the mission areas and the activities necessary to complete the cleanup mission.
Alice Williams was named EM’s Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary on Jan. 1.
What are your goals in your position of day-to-day oversight of the three Mission Units (tank waste and nuclear materials; waste management; and safety, security and quality programs)?
The new organization is highly matrixed, and therefore, at least in the interim, one my goals is to work very closely with the Mission Support Deputy Assistant Secretaries and the field offices to achieve common goals. One common goal is the work at the Waste Treatment Plant and tank farms, which is funded by a large portion of EM’s budget. That is a huge focus for EM and we must be successful in this project.
Also, the managers in the Mission Units all need to be inwardly focused on managing the people and making sure our EM staff members are fully empowered to do their job and have the needed training. The training is a really challenging one because we all know program direction funds are very dear and scarce right now. So, a lot of what we will be doing is looking at training opportunities that are somewhat innovative, taking advantage of current technologies. But it will not be the old ways of flying across the country for one or two weeks of specialized training.
Another area I am very mindful of is President Obama and Secretary Chu’s commitment to sustainability. Whether we have infinite program direction funds or not, it is clearly the expectation of Dr. Chu that we will be using less fuel and minimizing emissions not only in our site operations and construction projects but also in how we conduct our businesses as federal employees.
In your own vision, discuss some of the accomplishments you anticipate from the Mission Units.
I am excited that the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility at the Idaho site will be operational in the very near future. I certainly cannot take credit for that because that has been an ongoing, long-term construction project. But I clearly acknowledge the Mission Units do have a role in being able to have that facility operational.
We definitely are going to be focused on closing two more high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site, and that is going to be an activity that is going to take a village.
Tell us how your experience as manager of the Lawrence Livermore Site Office within the National Nuclear Security Administration will help EM advance its mission under this new organization.
The Livermore Site Office is co-located with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. So, in that sense, federal oversight is very easy because you would walk out the door and essentially be overseeing. We have several nuclear hazard category facilities, so the office had a very strong capability and focus on nuclear safety. There are some similarities with EM that I think will be very useful to me. Livermore’s budget is roughly $1.5 billion. Just as we are seeing with EM, competition for funding and resources is increasing and it has become more difficult to achieve the funding levels that perhaps all of us would like to see.
My experience effectively building collaborations at Livermore will be an asset. The days when you would expect a nuclear weapons laboratory to almost be a citadel are over. You have to be able to build that coalition and show that you can work in collaboration on issues. The laboratory is completely surrounded by the community of Livermore. If Livermore is not a good neighbor, it will cease to exist. And in some ways that is the role of EM, too. We do have a responsibility to the communities where we are doing our cleanup activities.
Do you believe your experience in both headquarters and field sites will be an asset to EM as it continues its mission under this matrix structure, which calls for improved integration between headquarters and the field and clear roles and responsibilities for each?
The first time I came to EM headquarters, in 2003, I was completely unprepared for how headquarters worked and how things were defined as important for headquarters. Gaining that insight and knowledge was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I would make a case that people who have spent their whole career at headquarters likewise will have a blind spot as to how field units work, what is important to them, how they conduct their business and how they view the world. You have to be able to see both sides and experience both sides to be as effective as one can be as a federal employee.
How do you think this new organization will better align the program to support program priorities and achieve mission success than EM’s previous organizational models?
I was not part of the organization as the new organization was envisioned and came together. So essentially, I am parachuting in after all the hard work has been done. As I understand the process that Senior Advisor for Environmental Management David Huizenga and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Tracy Mustin and their team were envisioning for the new organization, there was a lot of work with individuals in EM and the previous organizational construct to see what people felt needed to be changed to be more effective. So I am taking it on face value that this is the organization that is going to allow a more effective EM organization. And I view my job in my new position as helping to make it happen.
How will you ensure Mission Units, in cooperation with the sites, are accountable for effective performance to complete cleanup activities?
Right now we are working on performance plans, and that means taking EM goals and the DOE Strategic Plan elements and flowing them down to me, the Deputy Assistant Secretaries, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretaries and individual employees. This is always a worthy goal and it is not always achievable. But there should be a time in the not very distant future when I can go to anybody in the EM organization and say, “Talk to me about the goals you are supporting. How do you see your contribution as to the success of those goals that you talked to me about? Where do you see yourself fitting in into the larger Department of Energy?” Some of things I would like them to be able to tell me is, “Yes, I have read the DOE Strategic Plan.” And they can tell me any thoughts they might have on it and relate it to their business life.
How will this new organization foster collaborative decision making for shared goals and support improvements across the program? What other benefits do you envision from the reorganization?
I have worked with David and Tracy on and off for many years in many different situations. I think one of the strengths of David and Tracy is that they do want a collaborative decision-making process. Both of them are very comfortable with the fact that they are the ultimate decision makers within EM and so that means the collaborative decision-making process is very important to them. They want to be able to understand how that work has gone on, what has been looked at, what has been considered, what are the pros and the cons and what are the outlying opinions. They want to understand all that before they make their decisions. But when they make the decision, they expect the organization to align to that decision and work toward those goals.
Another focus of the Mission Units is accelerated cleanup and closure of EM’s sites. Which sites are on track for accelerated cleanup and closure?
There are several sites on track for accelerated cleanup and closure. In fact, I would think most of our sites have an accelerated strategy. Case in point is the expeditious closure of two high-level waste tanks at the Savannah River Site. Another example is disposition of the sodium-bearing waste within 10 months of the start of operations at the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility. And, one of the biggest successes of EM recently was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act work and how EM could mobilize, implement and demobilize in a short time. That is something we have learned and it is pretty exciting.
In our corporate tradition we do not spend a lot of time talking about the great things in the past, but it does not hurt to remember that the Mound, Fernald, Rock Flats and Pinellas sites are closed. That is an amazing accomplishment. And there will always be facilities such as the Brookhaven National Laboratory, but there will not always be an EM presence at them. Really, when you think about it, it is amazing.
EM's Strategic Planning Initiative Examines Impact of Lower Funding Targets
WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM is conducting a strategic planning effort that aims to optimize progress in the organization’s environmental cleanup program.
As part of efforts to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of resource management and build on the success of the $6 billion EM American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Program, EM headquarters officials are working with staff at EM’s 17 field sites to analyze the impact of austere funding projections on project costs and schedules. EM is working to align the cleanup program with current budget realities and prioritize cleanup activities at the sites to maximize limited resources.
In this initiative, EM is updating life-cycle costs for the Cold War cleanup to better manage current EM liabilities across the DOE complex. EM headquarters and field site staff are analyzing various planning scenarios for each site to highlight the impacts of the funding projections on the program. The team leading the strategic planning effort is reviewing current site estimates and schedules to develop options for re-planning the program under those projections. A life-cycle cost analysis is scheduled for completion in March.
Information obtained through this initiative will support budget decisions in 2014 and guide the long-term strategy for the EM program. The initiative will highlight potential delays, cost increases, compliance issues, and other impacts that would result from reduced funding.
EM will work with regulators and stakeholders when compliance is at risk because of fiscal constraints to determine the best path forward. EM expects to brief the EM Site Specific Advisory Board Chairs at their meeting in April in Paducah, Ky. and feature updates in communications such as EM Program Updates and the EM Update newsletter.
EM Partners with University in Successful Start to Reactor Decommissioning Project
COVE CREEK, Ark. – A team tasked with preparing an experimental reactor for decommissioning far exceeded EM expectations by completing substantial work beyond its scope, all for more than $3.1 million less than original cost estimates.
Under a unique cooperative agreement with a university highly regarded for its project management process, EM established a pilot program with a twofold goal: decommission the South West Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor and explore alternatives to improve project management and performance across the EM complex.
The agreement called for the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville to complete an updated historical site assessment and initial characterization of the reactor site at a cost of $1.9 million. Late last year, the team finished those activities, and also completed the entire characterization and began decommissioning activities at the cost of $1.9 million, much less than initial cost estimates for characterization work that exceeded $5 million.
“In this project, we accomplished a lot of work for a little money and the team is very proud of that,” said Christopher Murnane, the EM federal project director. “The can-do attitude of the team was inspiring.”
A view of the South West Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor in northwest Arkansas.
The university estimates that remaining work scope, which includes demolition of the reactor, will cost $23.7 million. That remaining work has not been scheduled. Completion of the reactor decommissioning will end EM’s legacy cleanup activities in Arkansas.
Located in northwest Arkansas, the reactor was built in the 1960s to test the viability and safety of the fission process of “breeder” reactors. Its experiments to contain the byproduct of the fission process supported the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s energy and weapons research needs. The reactor was shut down in 1976. The university then took ownership of the facility, using it to calibrate equipment until the mid-1980s.
Workers remove the South West Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor’s 110-foot-tall stack.
The team’s accomplishments include:
Completion of a decommissioning plan approved by state regulatory agencies;
Cleanup of two former burn pits, a septic system and an underground diesel storage tank and fuel;
Demolition of a maintenance building and tool shed and removal of a 110-foot-tall stack;
Asbestos abatement and cleanup and disposal of 50,000 gallons of contaminated water; and
Remediation of the remaining residual sodium and removal of piping and tanks from a secondary sodium system.
The team is preparing a report highlighting lessons learned and alternatives to improve project management and performance, such as:
A “can do” culture with open communication: communication protocols based on well-defined lines of responsibility and authority; use of effective, streamlined reporting to clearly communicate the status of scope, schedule and cost; an environment in which project managers can discuss issues with upper management without fear of reprimand; ground-level employees are expected and encouraged to communicate concerns, and they are engaged and supported by strong leadership; project leaders work closely with the state regulatory agents;
Benchmarking and application of lessons learned: the university’s project management process emphasizes that effective use of lessons learned and benchmarking is essential to project success; team members benchmark the project by researching the market to determine a suitable approach and successful methods; the university benchmarks similar projects considered best in class to better understand project requirements and scope; the use of assessments and corrective actions are used to improve the project management process; and
Use of private-sector consultants and peer reviews: one of the most important aspects of project management is a clear, in-depth and detailed knowledge of the nature, content and scope of the project; this knowledge helps avoid problems in project execution and allows the project manager to focus on the cost and schedule in a realistic manner.
WIPP Representative Selected For National Environmental Justice Advisory Board
CARLSBAD, N.M. – Organizers say no similar opportunity or conference exists in America. In April, representatives from federal and state agencies, local governments, tribes, communities, business, academia and other groups will gather in Washington, D.C. for the 2012 National Environmental Justice Conference and Training Program.
DOE is a founding partner and sponsor of the event, which was first held in 2007.
Melinda Downing, DOE Environmental Justice Program Manager, said the conference provides federal agencies an opportunity to present collaborative environmental justice efforts at the national level.
“During the conference, communities will have direct access to federal officials and members of Congress,” said Downing. “It’s the largest and most diverse environmental justice conference in the nation.”
Rose Scott, a governmental affairs specialist with URS Washington TRU Solutions LLC, the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant management and operating contractor, was selected for the National Environmental Justice Advisory Board.
A newcomer to the conference advisory board, Rose Scott, a governmental affairs specialist with URS Washington TRU Solutions LLC, the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) management and operating contractor, said she, too, looks forward to participating in the conference.
“The interests and well-being of stakeholders is important to us at WIPP. We do our best to inform them about opportunities to participate in proposed DOE initiatives and the public process,” she said.
Scott is a former magistrate judge, former president of New Mexico Democratic Women and current president of the Hobbs Hispano Chamber Foundation. Her Spanish-speaking skills have made her a key liaison at community meetings and asset to the WIPP Joint Information Center, should the need arise for emergency public information.
Environmental justice experts will guide conference participants through a variety of topics, such as strategies related to land use, mitigation of environmental hazards and socioeconomics. The conference training program offers professional-level educational credits to federal employees and stakeholders.
The 2012 National Environmental Justice Conference and Training Program conference will be held April 11-13. For more information, contact Downing at melinda.downing@hq.doe.gov or the conference coordinator, Lloyd Moore, at email@thenejc.org or (202) 827-2224.
Savannah River Site Marks Waste Processing Milestone with Melter’s 2,000th Waste Canister
AIKEN, S.C. – The second melter to operate in the 16-year history of the nation’s largest radioactive waste glassification plant shows no signs of slowing after recently pouring its 2,000 canister of glass-formed hazardous waste.
The melter at Savannah River Site’s (SRS) Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is a 65-ton refractory-lined melting vessel that receives a chemically-balanced feed of treated high-level waste from the site’s underground waste tanks. A mixture known as borosilicate frit is used to remove contamination. When heated, these elements form a molten glass. The solid glass-formed waste is then poured into stainless-steel canisters, which are safely stored onsite until they can be placed in permanent storage. Each canister is 10 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter and weighs about 5,000 pounds when filled with the glass-formed waste.
Melter operations are vital to SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation’s (SRR) mission to dispose of the site’s hazardous waste, SRR DWPF Treatment Project Director Steve Wilkerson said.
“The melter is the heart of the DWPF and keeping it safely operating is key,” Wilkerson said. “We continue to surpass performance milestones with the help of recent enhancements, such as the deployment of bubbler technology in the melter.”
A Savannah River Remediation employee uses a manipulator located inside a shielded enclosure at the Defense Waste Processing Facility, where a melter pours molten glass into a canister.
The facility’s second melter began operations in 2003. Since achieving its 2,000th milestone, the melter has poured more than 30 additional canisters. The first melter poured 1,339 canisters over a seven-year period that ended in 2003.
SRR has achieved other production milestones as well. In December 2011, the second melter produced 37 canisters, the most ever in a month. In all of 2011, it poured 266 canisters, an annual production record.
With liquid waste operations continuing into the next decade, additional melters will be required. SRR has a third melter in storage, ready to operate when necessary. A fourth is under construction. SRR expects melters will need to pour a total of 7,557 canisters to dispose of SRS hazardous waste.
DOE Savannah River Operations Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Project Terrel Spears said canister production is crucial to eliminating the site’s hazardous waste.
“Since beginning operations, DWPF has poured 14 million pounds of glass and has immobilized 40 million curies of radioactivity,” Spears said. “Every canister poured means less risk to people and the environment.”
Immobilizing some of the most hazardous waste in South Carolina is a focal point of liquid waste operations at SRS, according to Dave Olson, SRR President and Project Manager.
“By mixing the radioactive waste in a glass form, DWPF reduces the risks associated with liquid waste at SRS and is essential in SRR’s mission to clean and operationally close the site’s waste tanks,” Olson said.
The SRS liquid waste contract is managed by SRR, a team of companies led by URS Corp. with partners Bechtel National, CH2M Hill and Babcock & Wilcox. Critical subcontractors for the contract are AREVA, Energy Solutions and URS Safety Management Solutions.
Contributors Box
Angie Benfield, Savannah River Site
Rick Kelley, Savannah River Site
Christopher Murnane, EM Office of Management Systems and
Analysis
Susan Scott, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
David Sheeley, EM Office of Communications and External
Affairs