EM Update | Vol. 14, Issue 9 | March 8, 2022

• Secretary Granholm: Cleanup Poised for ‘Next Level’
• EM to Clear Decks, Tackle Challenges, White Says in Waste Management Address
• U.S., U.K. Renew Agreement To Collaborate on Waste Strategies
• SRS Ends Groundwater Treatment System Mission With Success
• Diverse Employee Skills Ensure Oak Ridge Facilities Remain Safe, Stable
• All Hanford Double-Shell-Tank Farms Now Equipped With Upgraded Ventilation Systems
• West Valley Prepares Roadway for Flow of Trucks in Main Plant Demolition
• Paducah’s Future Brighter With New Efficient Lighting

Secretary Granholm: Cleanup Poised for ‘Next Level’

PHOENIX – DOE achieved most of its environmental cleanup priorities in 2021 and now is poised to take it “to the next level,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at the 2022 Waste Management Symposia on Monday.

Granholm noted EM made key progress in the past year while confronting challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We reached important milestones on, or outright completed, well over a dozen different projects, from demolitions to hazardous waste management,” she said.

“Our team is rightfully proud of their contributions, but they know there’s more to do,” she said.

Granholm spoke via recorded remarks to the audience of about 2,000 attendees at the conference, the nation’s leading gathering of government, international and industry experts on waste management. She noted she addressed the group last year, less than two weeks after she took office, “and let me tell you, we’ve gotten to work in the time since.”

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm spoke via recorded remarks at the 2022 Waste Management Symposia.

Granholm said she’s seen EM operations firsthand at the Savannah River Site and the Savannah River National Laboratory, and during a visit to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where EM was performing cleanup at the Bayview area.

DOE’s environmental management mission “is about so much more than just knocking down buildings and cleaning waste out of tanks,” Granholm said. “It’s about keeping promises we’ve made to the American people.

“Our nuclear programs have left behind two things: an environmental legacy, and a sacred obligation — an obligation to ensure the air, the water, and the communities surrounding our programs are safe, and that the families in those communities can thrive,” she said.

And beyond the cleanup mission, DOE also is addressing broader priorities such as deepening the talent pool in science, technology, engineering and math fields, training the next-generation workforce, and pursuing goals for climate action, Granholm said.

“After all, we need our environmental management at its best to ensure that the clean energy technologies we need to overcome climate change — like advanced nuclear — are safe and secure, so we can deploy them on a global scale,’ she said.

EM to Clear Decks, Tackle Challenges, White Says in Waste Management Address

EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White speaks during the plenary session at the 2022 Waste Management Symposia.

PHOENIX – EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White told an audience at the 2022 Waste Management Symposia on Monday that EM is focused on “clearing the decks” and tackling major remaining hurdles to sustained success.

The last time White had attended the annual conference in person was two years ago. The event was conducted virtually last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The past two years took a heavy toll on each of us,” White said in his plenary session remarks. “These past two years also showed, though, what the men and women across the cleanup complex are capable of.”

White hailed the first large-scale treatment of radioactive and chemical waste from large underground tanks at the Hanford Site through the Tank-Side Cesium Removal System to prepare for eventual vitrification.

“How long have many of you here waited to hear at this conference that DOE is actually starting to treat tank waste at Hanford?” he said.

At the Savannah River Site (SRS), with the Salt Waste Processing Facility in operation, EM now has the site’s entire liquid-waste treatment system up and running, White said. And at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site, EM is in in the final stages of preparing the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) for operation.

“We anticipate actual waste processing at IWTU later this year, another accomplishment that has been long in the making,” he said.

White also laid out some remaining hurdles for EM, including:

• Developing a realistic, achievable approach to address high-level tank waste at the Hanford Site that builds upon the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program.
• Ramping up EM’s tank-waste mission and managing long-term risks to the community.
• Defining the path forward for key sites such as SRS so they remain integral to DOE’s national security and scientific research missions for decades to come.
• Strengthening — and in some cases rebuilding — relationships with regulators and stakeholders in key states across EM to gain alignment to enable collective future progress.

“None of this will happen without the right people building a high-quality and diverse workforce that benefits from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences to continue this mission long after most of us in this room have retired,” White said.

EM is not alone in its mission to tackle its nuclear cleanup.

“We will need the experience and expertise of the companies participating here this week — large businesses and small,” White said. “We will need input and support from the communities, tribal nations and state regulators with equity in our cleanup program. And we will need to leverage the successes and challenges that our international partners have experienced.”

Noting that this year’s featured country at the symposia is the United Kingdom, White said that EM has had a long and fruitful relationship with the U.K., stretching to the start of the U.K.’s cleanup program and the launch of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

White spoke about EM’s future, touching on the EM Strategic Vision 2022-2032 and some of the work EM hopes to accomplish over the next decade, including:

• Beginning tank waste vitrification at Hanford.
• Completing disposition of the uranium-233 inventory at Oak Ridge.
• Finishing tank-waste treatment at the INL Site.
• Completing salt waste processing and legacy transuranic waste disposition at SRS.
• Finishing legacy cleanup at the Nevada National Security Site and Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project.

“This is an exciting future for EM and our ability to achieve it will be based on the work many of you here today are doing now, and what you’ll do going forward,” White said.

White also spoke about how EM aligns with the Biden Administration on environmental justice.

“We are excited Los Alamos has been chosen as one of the Department’s pilot projects for the Justice 40 Initiative,” White said. He noted that the initiative seeks to ensure that EM is delivering at least 40% of the overall benefits from federal investments in climate and clean energy to traditionally underserved communities.

A key component of EM’s environmental justice efforts at Los Alamos and other EM sites is enhanced stakeholder engagement.

“Our sites are fortunate to be surrounded by diverse communities and tribal nations who are strong partners in advancing cleanup and planning for the future,” White said.

As he concluded his remarks, White said that EM has not only survived the challenges of operating in the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has thrived in conducting the world’s largest environmental cleanup program.

“I am proud and fortunate to be a part of EM at this point in its history, and I hope all of you here today who play a role in our success are excited and proud as well,” White said.

-Contributor: Stephen Clutter

U.S., U.K. Renew Agreement To Collaborate on Waste Strategies

PHOENIX – A longstanding relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom on environmental cleanup was commemorated during the 2022 Waste Management Symposia with the renewal of a statement of intent to continue collaboration on technologies and approaches to legacy waste management. Signing the latest five-year renewal at the conference on Monday were, from left, EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White; U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority CEO David Peattie; and U.K. National Nuclear Laboratory Chief Science and Technology Officer Fiona Rayment.

SRS Ends Groundwater Treatment System Mission With Success

AIKEN, S.C. – A multi-decade project to treat contaminated groundwater and stop its migration beneath a portion of the Savannah River Site (SRS) has successfully concluded with the removal of an estimated 18,000 pounds of chemicals.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control recently approved terminating and dismantling the groundwater treatment system, which has removed the vast majority of chemicals from the treatment area.

EM and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the site’s management and operations contractor, used the pump-and-treat system to safely process the contaminated groundwater from a network of wells located throughout 132 acres of property at SRS.

Known as volatile organic compounds, the chemicals are often used to create paints and paint thinners, refrigerants, hydraulic fluids and dry-cleaning agents. They are common groundwater contaminants found throughout the U.S. At SRS, the legacy chemicals were used as a degreasing agent at manufacturing facilities during the Cold War.

SRNS Project Manager Joao Cardoso-Neto said the system stripped the chemical vapors from the groundwater and exposed them to the sun’s ultraviolet light, leading the vapors to degrade naturally and cease to be a threat to the environment.

“The system, one component of which towers 45 feet in height, will soon be rendered inoperable and eventually dismantled and removed. Any residual contamination remaining underground will have no impact on the public, our employees, wildlife or vegetation,” said Cardoso-Neto. “The results of this project have been impressive.”

Cardoso-Neto noted that while the groundwater treatment system was effective, it consumed a large amount of electricity and required multiple workers to operate it 24/7.

“It successfully fulfilled an important need at the time using the best available technology,” he said. “Its termination will result in an annual cost savings of $150,000.”

For several years, the SRNS environmental cleanup program has been steadily shifting to innovative passive groundwater treatment processes largely powered by natural means. They include underground barrier walls that redirect and channel groundwater flow toward zones where an environmentally harmless solution is injected into the water to make it less acidic and reduce the migration of contaminants.

“Where it makes sense, this is the future for us,” said Shannan Lucero, SRNS manager for area closure projects. “There are several practical, low-cost and highly effective technologies already being put to use across the site while others are currently being studied. It’s an exciting and highly promising time for environmental cleanup at the Savannah River Site.”

-Contributor: DT Townsend

Diverse Employee Skills Ensure Oak Ridge Facilities Remain Safe, Stable

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EM crews have performed numerous corrective maintenance projects over the past two years to ensure nuclear facilities on the Oak Ridge Reservation continue operating safely and effectively.

Corrective maintenance is critical to keep nuclear facilities safe while ensuring continuity of operations. These activities include repairing, restoring or replacing failed or malfunctioning equipment.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and cleanup contractor UCOR are responsible for maintaining infrastructure that supports waste treatment and environmental cleanup missions, such as the Liquid Gaseous Waste Operations (LGWO) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). They are also responsible for surveillance and maintenance operations at hundreds of radiological and contaminated facilities at Oak Ridge awaiting demolition in the years ahead.

The past couple years have brought numerous challenges to the teams responsible for oversight and upkeep of those facilities, including partial shutdowns due to the pandemic, supply-chain issues impacting needed materials and complexities inherent with facilities and systems operating beyond their designed lifecycle.

A central concern during that period was ensuring uninterrupted operations at LGWO. Despite the challenges, the UCOR nuclear operations maintenance team has performed needed maintenance, and LGWO has continued its critical operations without interruption.

LGWO contains three waste treatment systems that collect, treat and reduce the volume of liquid and gaseous waste across the laboratory. LGWO encompasses more than 60 facilities and 27 miles of piping that process waste generated from cleanup operations, research and development laboratories, and active and deactivated nuclear reactors.

In 2021, the UCOR surveillance and maintenance team and LGWO team completed 1,687 work orders, or an average eight work orders each business day. Such work orders involve at least two visits to the facilities and numerous other tasks.

Corrective maintenance work requires a range of skillsets across the UCOR workforce, including carpenters, chemical operators, electricians, equipment operators, general laborers, instrument and control experts, insulators, pipefitters and riggers.

“Maintaining these aging structures can be challenging, but it is a top priority and necessary measure to ensure the continued safety of the workforce and the environment,” EM ORNL Portfolio Federal Project Director Nathan Felosi said.

-Contributor: Shannon Potter

All Hanford Double-Shell-Tank Farms Now Equipped With Upgraded Ventilation Systems

RICHLAND, Wash. – The EM Office of River Protection (ORP) and tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently began operating a new exhauster ventilation system installed in the SY Tank Farm at the Hanford Site.

The new system replaces the old exhauster ventilation system that had reached the end of its design life.

With the completion of the installation of the new system at the SY Tank Farm, all six of Hanford’s double-shell-tank farms, consisting of 28 tanks, now have upgraded exhauster ventilation systems.

The systems work by continuously drawing air from a waste tank, separating moisture and radioactive particles, then sending filtered air through exhaust stacks into the atmosphere. The systems protect workers by dispersing high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) above the breathing space of workers. They also prevent the buildup of flammable gases in the tanks.

“DOE and the contractor share a steadfast commitment to safety as we reduce risk to the environment posed by 56 million gallons of waste stored in our large underground tanks,” said Delmar Noyes, EM assistant manager for Tank Farms. “The new SY Tank Farm system is much more reliable and effective than the previous system, which will help ensure continued safe operations in the farm for decades.”

SY Tank Farm is made up of three double-shell tanks built between 1974 and 1976, and the 1-million-gallon-capacity tanks began receiving waste in 1977. The tank farm is still in service and will support future retrievals and waste transfers from single-shell tanks in the western portion of a 10-square-mile industrial area known as the Central Plateau.

The SY Tank Farm project involved installing two new ventilation fans and a pair of 40-foot stacks. Workers then tied into the existing ventilation ductwork.

Tim Moberg, the project’s lead engineer for WRPS, said the project team used lessons learned from the installation of previous ventilation systems in Hanford’s double-shell-tank farms in the new system’s design.

“The SY ventilation system has state-of-the-art components and a remotely operated control system that allows operators to check the status of all equipment in real time,” Moberg said. “Another major benefit is the new system will require fewer entries into the tank farm for both operations and maintenance personnel.”

Moberg, who was part of the project team for the installation and upgrades at each of Hanford’s other double-shell-tank farms, said the team faced several challenges that were addressed through collaboration.

“We had to design around a lot of underground interferences and tie into old electrical systems and existing ventilation lines,” he said. “Teamwork was key to the project’s success. We had excellent communication and collaboration between DOE and our construction, maintenance, engineering, radiological controls, industrial hygiene and safety teams.”

-Contributor: Mark McKenna

West Valley Prepares Roadway for Flow of Trucks in Main Plant Demolition

EM crews use a 235-ton crane to safely place concrete sections into position that will form a new culvert for a roadway at the West Valley Demonstration Project. Each section weighs an average of 16,000 pounds.

Paducah’s Future Brighter With New Efficient Lighting

An electrical mechanic for Swift & Staley Inc., the infrastructure contractor for EM’s Paducah Site, finishes the electrical tie to a newly installed streetlight.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Daily cost saving measures continue to provide EM’s Paducah Site with a brighter future.

Employees with Swift & Staley Inc. (SSI), the site’s infrastructure support services contractor, replaced 320 outdoor sodium street lighting fixtures with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting in 2021.

The site uses approximately 800 light fixtures to illuminate the area. The upgrades provide superior illumination to address safety concerns and save costs by reducing electric usage. The replacements will reduce the number of light bulbs replaced each year and decrease the amount of electricity used by approximately half. Old sodium lights needed replacing once a year on average, whereas LED lights are expected to have 10-plus years of service.

The next phase of the site lighting upgrade is planned for this year. It will consist of replacing another 128 fixtures, resulting in further efficiencies.

“DOE will be at this site remediating and removing structures for the foreseeable future,” EM Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Manager Joel Bradburne said. “These lighting upgrades pay for themselves and allow those resources to be devoted to site remediation.”

Tammy Courtney, SSI vice president and project manager, noted the many benefits of LED lighting, including that it’s environmentally friendly.

“Not only does safely completing this project reduce costs, it also enhances the safety of our workforce with better lighting,” she said.

-Contributor: Amanda Scott

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

Follow EM on Twitter: @EMcleanup