EM Update | Vol. 14, Issue 29 | July 26, 2022

• Hanford Facility Marks 20 Years of Testing New Technologies for Waste Retrieval
• EM Highlights Its MSIPP in White House Webinar on Advancing Equity Opportunities
• Savannah River Site Hosts Workshop for Teachers on Environmental Justice
• Hanford ‘Sting’ Operation Safely Relocates Native Bees
• Teens Find Passion, Future Opportunities at Oak Ridge STEM Summer Camp
• Moab Site Continues Green Purchasing Streak
• Bittersweet: Idaho Employee Supervises Closure of Building Where His Career Began
• SRS Liquid Waste Team Reduces Risk, Cost With Spare Equipment Rebuilds
• Portsmouth Contractor Awarded $16.6 Million Fee for March 2021-March 2022
• SRS Contractor Earns 95.5% of Available Fee for October 2021-January 2022

Hanford Facility Marks 20 Years of Testing New Technologies for Waste Retrieval

The Cold Test Facility was built on the edge of the 586-square-mile Hanford Site for testing equipment and training operators.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Twenty years ago, a mock-up single-shell tank on the Hanford Site went into service, allowing workers to safely test prototype systems and train in a nonradioactive environment.

The mock-up is the Cold Test Facility (CTF), a key player for EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) in managing chemical and radiological waste stored in Hanford’s underground tanks. Hanford crews built the innovative facility to develop ways to retrieve the waste without having to subject equipment or workers to a radioactive environment.

“Testing equipment and practicing high-risk work in a mock-up setting is extremely important at Hanford,” said Ricky Bang, ORP Tank Farms Program Division director. “Over the last two decades, the Cold Test Facility has helped us reduce the risks to our workers and develop the tools they need to work in the waste tanks.”

The Hanford Site’s Cold Test Facility went into service in summer 2002 and features a full-scale mock-up of a single-shell waste storage tank.

The centerpiece of CTF is an open-top steel tank with the same 75-foot diameter as a 1 million-gallon waste storage tank. The full-scale mock-up has platforms above it with attached risers simulating the heights of single-shell (35 feet) and double-shell (55 feet) waste storage tanks.

In the 20 years that CTF has been in operation, the facility has tested equipment and technologies for use in both single-shell and double-shell tank systems.

“Most of these systems are complex engineered products that require operational testing prior to deployment,” said Dave Saueressig, WRPS maintenance manager. “And some of the tests are minor modifications to existing tools or equipment to validate process improvements.”

Prominent technologies that have been tested, modified and perfected over the years at CTF include a vacuum retrieval system, robotic arms, high-pressure water nozzles that help mobilize the waste inside the tanks during retrieval, tools for tank inspections and repair, and several in-tank camera systems.

Additionally, CTF is used to train new personnel and allow seasoned nuclear chemical operators, engineers and other staff to gain proficiency on tasks not frequently performed.

Often a destination during Hanford Site official visits, the facility also features a briefing center to help visitors understand the story of the waste storage tanks, the waste stabilization and retrieval process, and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.

-Contributor: Kristin M. Kraemer

EM Highlights Its MSIPP in White House Webinar on Advancing Equity Opportunities

During a White House webinar titled, “Understanding how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will Improve Communities,” Nicole Nelson-Jean, EM’s associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, gave an overview of the EM Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program and its efforts to grow a well-trained, technically skilled and diverse workforce.

DOE plans to further advance equity in research and development and clean energy, and among the ways EM supports this effort is through its Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP).

On July 18, EM participated in a White House webinar titled, “Understanding how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will Improve Communities.” The webinar showcased various equitable opportunities related to DOE’s work with Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). Nicole Nelson-Jean, EM’s associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, served as a panelist.

Other DOE participants included representatives from the offices of the Secretary, Economic Impact and Diversity, Science, Bioenergy Technologies, Advanced Manufacturing and Hydrogen Fuel Technology.

The White House’s webinar series of events have granted opportunities for the departments of Transportation, Labor, and Commerce, Office of Personnel Management, Economic Development Administration and DOE to provide overviews of how they plan to implement BIL provisions as a means of showcasing how MSIs may engage with communities.

Nicole Nelson-Jean, EM’s associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations, served as a panelist during a White House webinar titled, “Understanding how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will Improve Communities.”

Nelson-Jean gave an overview of EM MSIPP and its efforts to grow a well-trained, technically skilled and diverse workforce. She said the EM MSIPP initiative addresses EM's future workforce needs through partnering with academic and government entities and DOE contractors to mentor future minority scientists and engineers. The focus is on research, development and deployment of new technologies to address environmental cleanup challenges, Nelson-Jean added.

Funding for EM MSIPP increased from $6 million in fiscal year 2021 to $56 million in fiscal year 2022.

EM partnerships in the DOE complex are key to EM MSIPP’s success, Nelson-Jean said. Such collaborations with other Department program offices — including the offices of Science, Legacy Management and Economic Impact and Diversity — as well as the Savannah River Site and National Nuclear Security Administration leverage other programs’ efforts similar to EM MSIPP. For example, this is done through roundtable events to better understand what other programs are doing related to MSIs. EM also has ensured its field sites and DOE national laboratories align with EM MSIPP. Nelson-Jean said fact sheets, school visits and virtual meetings ensure further awareness of EM MSIPP.

The EM MSIPP 1st Annual Competitive Research Award Workshop will be held Aug. 9 and 10 in North Augusta, South Carolina. Nelson-Jean will be a keynote speaker.

-Contributor: Kim Kweder

Savannah River Site Hosts Workshop for Teachers on Environmental Justice

Participants in the recent Teaching Radiation, Energy and Technology (TREAT) Workshop held by the DOE Savannah River Operations Office gather for a photo.

WAYNESBORO, Ga. – About 25 local middle and high school teachers came together recently at the Augusta Technical College’s satellite location in Waynesboro, Georgia for the Teaching Radiation, Energy and Technology (TREAT) Workshop, an event for area educators held by the DOE Savannah River Operations Office since 1995.

Through an environmental justice grant, DOE partners with Savannah State University (SSU) to develop and carry out the workshops. The goal is to educate teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade and local community leaders in the Central Savannah River Area about radiation, sources of radiation, radioactive waste management, effects of radiation on environmental health, and the negative impact of environmental radiation exposure to humans.

The workshops are designed to educate the teachers so they can in turn provide radiation education to their students, and even encourage them to pursue careers in engineering and nuclear fields. Experts from DOE, Savannah River Site (SRS), the Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources gathered to teach, answer questions and discuss potential career opportunities.

Melinda Downing, DOE’s environmental justice program manager, welcomed the group and emphasized the importance of the workshop, during which participants heard about the history and missions of SRS, Radiation 101, the SRS annual site environmental report and a presentation by the Savannah Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that strives to respect, protect and improve the entire Savannah River basin through education, advocacy and action.

“It is good being in person for this year’s TREAT and a great idea to expand our outreach to the Waynesboro community. We had a good representation and very engaging participants. Thank you all for what you do for our program’s success,” Downing said.

Savannah State University (SSU) Project Director Kenneth Sajwan, third from left; DOE Environmental Justice Program Manager Melinda Downing, center; and Savannah River Site Environmental Justice Program Manager de’Lisa Carrico, third from right, are pictured with SSU students at the recent Teaching Radiation, Energy and Technology Workshop.

Rozlyn Smith, assistant executive director of the Imani Group, a local community-based organization that provides leadership and diversity training, facilitated the majority of the workshop and shared her experience during her presentation, “Environmental Justice 101 - Community Perspective.”

Taylor Rice and Kim Mitchell of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) provided an overview of the SRNS Education Outreach program. SRNS is the management and operations contractor at SRS.

SRS Environmental Justice Program Manager de’Lisa Carrico, the workshop coordinator, said local teachers and community leaders greatly value the workshop.

“For several years now, we’ve added a second workshop for faith-based and community leaders,” said Carrico. “The participants have been highly engaged in productive discussion and have also expressed their appreciation for this special opportunity.”

“Working closely with Dr. Kenneth Sajwan, the project director at SSU, and Rev. Brendolyn Boseman, executive director of the Imani Group, we’ve conducted a series of activities promoting environmental justice in addition to the TREAT workshops," Carrico said. "For example, we hold environmental justice outreach meetings in different locations throughout the region where the public is invited. The latest community meeting was held in May in Williston, South Carolina, in Barnwell County. To best reach this audience, we usually meet in the evenings at churches where we offer fellowship and dinner along with site information. This approach has been quite successful as well.”

This collaboration strengthens meaningful public involvement in adversely impacted communities and is recognized as a model environmental justice program for communities around federal facilities.

“We hope that everyone who is touched by this extensive program, at the least, comes away with a general idea of what is accomplished at SRS and are comfortable with our dedication to safety, community outreach and environmental management,” Carrico said.

-Contributor: de’Lisa Carrico

Hanford ‘Sting’ Operation Safely Relocates Native Bees

Native bees swarm near a hive at the former K Reactor Area on the Hanford Site. Bees swarm and begin looking for a new place to nest when a colony becomes overcrowded.

RICHLAND, Wash. – The area near the Hanford Site’s former K Reactors is buzzing with activity as several environmental cleanup projects continue to reduce risk near the Columbia River.

But that’s not the only thing that’s buzzing. While preparing some old equipment for removal earlier this spring, workers with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) discovered a large colony of native bees.

The CPCCo team stopped work and contacted ecological experts with fellow site contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions to determine if the bees could be saved. The hives were located inside compartments of one of the structures, limiting access to remove the bees directly. The presence of asbestos also posed some potential hazards. After discussing several options, they decided to try to capture some of the bees when they naturally swarmed away from the hive. Bees swarm and begin looking for a new place to nest when the colony becomes overcrowded.

“We weren’t sure how well our plan would work, but we thought it was our best shot at success,” said Cynthia Synar, a planner with CPCCo and also a beekeeper. “Bees are vital to the health of Hanford’s ecosystems, pollinating the native grasses and other plants across the site’s semiarid shrub-steppe landscape.”

Cynthia Synar, a planner with EM contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company and also a beekeeper, carefully places a swarm of bees in a box. The bees were relocated to form a new colony safe from ongoing environmental cleanup activities.

Earlier this spring, workers placed bee boxes and attractant below a structure slated for demolition in Hanford’s K Reactor Area, in hopes of capturing native bees when they swarmed from a colony. The colony was found inside compartments of the structure, limiting access to remove them directly.

The team placed bee traps — or small boxes — baited with attractant near the structure and waited. In mid-May, a worker noticed a swarm near one of the bee boxes. Synar carefully placed the bees into the box and let them settle overnight. The next morning, she relocated them away from cleanup activities.

“We were so excited to be able to give them a new home,” Synar said. “They were so docile and easy to work with; they just went with the plan.”

With demolition activities on the structure set to resume later this summer, Synar hopes to keep the traps in place as long as possible or until the rest of the bees decide to relocate inside them.

“I’m impressed with the innovation of our joint contractor team to relocate these native bees,” said Paul Pak, head of the Richland Operations Office Environmental Compliance Division. “Projects like this also reinforce the importance of our wildlife management program to monitor and protect animals that call the Hanford Site home.”

-Contributor: Lynn Tegeler

Teens Find Passion, Future Opportunities at Oak Ridge STEM Summer Camp

Students with the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Summer STEM Academy take part in a tour of Oak Ridge July 14.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – For about a dozen teens, summer camp brought them into the world of EM's environmental cleanup at Oak Ridge.

The students came from across the Appalachian region to attend the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Summer STEM Academy. Part of the two-week program included a tour of the Oak Ridge Reservation.

“I thought it was really cool,” Naomi Vargas, a student from North Carolina, said of the tour. “I got a lot of pictures.”

Naomi Vargas, a student from North Carolina, toured Oak Ridge along with other participants in the Oak Ridge Associated Universities two-week Summer STEM Academy.

Residential programs are offered to middle and high school students, sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Students from 13 states attended the camp in July.

“I love telling the stories and then also just answering the questions,” said Roger Petrie, a regulatory affairs specialist with the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

Petrie served as a tour guide for the students while they took a bus to different areas of Oak Ridge, including the former K-25 site. Building K-25 was the largest structure in the world at the time of its construction in 1944. Its mission was to help end a global war by producing uranium for the world’s first nuclear weapon. EM crews completed demolition of the four-story, 44-acre facility in 2013.

Petrie said he loves it when he gets to watch the students interact with each other and “see how much fun they’re having and to actually be a part of that,” he said.

Roger Petrie, a regulatory affairs specialist with the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, served as a tour guide for students with the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Summer STEM Academy during their July 14 visit to the site.

Isabelle Gladson, another student from North Carolina, was hoping the visit would help her decide her career path. She knew she wanted to go into a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related field, but wasn’t sure where her passions fit.

“I really like the nuclear and how they’re disposing of everything, and their mission statement was really interesting,” Gladson explained. “A lot of people don’t feel the need to take care of the surrounding areas and they really wanted to. They said it was their duty to do that.”

It's students with drive like that the cleanup program is trying to reach. With about 30% of the EM workforce in Oak Ridge eligible to retire in the next decade, finding future talent is critical to completing cleanup missions.

“Show them Oak Ridge. Show them what we have to offer as far as opportunities for them, but also where we need help. We have a lot of cleanup still to do. We need people to do this cleanup,” Petrie said.

The Summer STEM Academy aims to provide hands-on experience the students wouldn’t otherwise get, while promoting teamwork and exposing them to college opportunities.

-Contributor: Summer Dashe

Moab Site Continues Green Purchasing Streak

EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project has been honored with the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool Purchaser Award for a third year in a row.

MOAB, Utah – Purchasing environmentally friendly products is a longtime goal of EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project, and the site has been recognized for it for a third year in a row.

The Moab UMTRA Project recently received the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Purchaser Award for buying electronic equipment such as computers, displays, imaging equipment and mobile phones endorsed by the Global Electronic Council, a nonprofit that advocates for purchasing practices that improve the environment. The council’s annual awards event recognizes excellence in the sustainable procurement of IT products.

EPEAT is an ecolabel managed by the council that provides a valid third-party certification so that purchasers, manufacturers, and resellers can buy and sell environmentally endorsed products. The certification system helps prevent unjustified price increases due to “green washing” — a practice in which selling companies employ deceptive marketing to make their products appear environmentally friendly — and purchasers can show that they are invested in environmental stewardship through routine purchases.

Electronic devices are made of a multitude of materials including metals, minerals, ceramics, glass and plastics. Not only are some of these materials mined from the Earth, but once they are no longer used, they oftentimes are thrown into landfills as electronic waste. By supporting use of a system like EPEAT, manufacturers are encouraged to design and build more sustainable electronics, and sellers are supported in carrying and selling those items, thereby helping to establish a productive and continuous life cycle for electronic products.

Other 2022 EPEAT Purchaser Award winners from the EM complex include:

• Hanford Site
• Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant
• Savannah River Site
• East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge
• CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project
• Swift & Staley, infrastructure support services contractor at the Paducah Site

Bittersweet: Idaho Employee Supervises Closure of Building Where His Career Began

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – As a twentysomething operations technician, Mark Henderson thought he would work in the Transuranic Storage Area-Retrieval Enclosure (TSA-RE) at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site for his entire career.

Today, a far more seasoned and experienced Henderson — now a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) project manager for EM contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition — is overseeing the initial steps of RCRA closure that will lead to the eventual demolition and removal of the aircraft-carrier-sized building at the site’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP).

Construction of the TSA-RE, Waste Management Facility-636, was completed in 1995 to cover above-ground stored transuranic waste. The facility covered 7 acres of transuranic waste, stacked 16 feet high. Most of the waste had been shipped to the INL Site from the now-closed Rock Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado, in the 1970s and early 1980s.

At one time, more than 54,000 cubic meters of waste was stored in drums and boxes, stacked on asphalt pads and covered with an earthen berm under the TSA-RE roof. The waste in the drums and boxes was comprised of items that had come in contact with radioactive elements, such as tools, wood, paper and protective clothing.

Three asphalt pads are under the TSA-RE roof: Pad 1, Pad R and Pad 2. The initial RCRA closure work has crews removing asphalt from Pad 1 and Pad R.

They are removing the asphalt with heavy construction equipment and have safely cleared about 70% of the asphalt flooring, all while being outfitted in anti-contamination personal protection equipment and respiratory protection. Once the asphalt is reduced to manageable pieces, it is loaded into containers that are transported to the onsite Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility for disposal. CERCLA stands for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

Pad 2 will continue to be used to store treated and packaged waste awaiting shipment to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for permanent disposal. Approximately 3,000 cubic meters of stored waste remain in TSA-RE on Pad 2, which will go to WIPP or other offsite disposal facilities.

Idaho Environmental Coalition project manager Mark Henderson, shown here in the orange vest, second from left, talks to new crew members about the intricacies of removing asphalt from Transuranic Storage Area-Retrieval Enclosure.

Henderson manages a crew of early-career employees who are working in a contaminated facility for the first time.

“They’re young and motivated and they’re amazed to be working on a job where safety drives everything we do,” Henderson said. “If there is a concern, we take a pause and discuss the situation. We let them know this is the right way to do work and the way I’ve been doing it ever since I was their age.”

And his approach to the job has kept the RCRA closure work ahead of schedule and under budget. The initial phase of the asphalt removal is scheduled to be completed in March 2023.
Henderson will be moving from managing the AMWTP RCRA closure project to a new job as tank farm vulnerabilities/closure project manager at the site’s Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.

It’s a bittersweet time for the 20-year employee of the INL Site.

“I’ve had so many experiences in TSA-RE and AMWTP, so many challenges, so many interesting experiences retrieving and treating waste,” Henderson said. “I hate to see it come down, but that’s the nature of cleanup work.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

SRS Liquid Waste Team Reduces Risk, Cost With Spare Equipment Rebuilds

AIKEN, S.C. – EM is reducing radiological exposure, reducing costs and minimizing facility downtime at the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) by using existing facilities to rebuild critical equipment onsite.

SWPF is key to processing the majority of tank waste at SRS. Treating 4 million gallons of tank waste at the site is an EM 2022 priority.

Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), the SRS liquid waste contractor, optimized how SWPF contactors and manipulators are maintained. SWPF uses centrifugal contactors in the solvent extraction process, and the SWPF laboratory uses manipulators to handle process samples and equipment within its radioactive cell. Both contactors and manipulators require periodic maintenance and rebuilding.

SRMC has improved the repair process by packaging and transporting the used equipment to existing onsite facilities to decontaminate and rebuild them, producing functional spares.

The contactors are now being decontaminated and rebuilt in the 299-H facility, which was used historically to decontaminate and rebuild similar contactors from the previous interim salt processing facility. The manipulators are now being rebuilt at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) manipulator shop, which is used to decontaminate and rebuild similar manipulators used at DWPF.

SRMC President and Program Manager Dave Olson said rethinking how critical SWPF equipment is maintained is a sign of a continuous improvement mindset.

“It was an easy decision to use existing decontamination facilities instead of creating a duplicate capability inside the Salt Waste Processing Facility,” Olson said. “Not only does it reflect our focus on cost savings, it demonstrates our teamwork since the repairs are done by experienced staff from SWPF and the repair facilities at DWPF and 299-H.”

Using refurbished spare contactors and manipulators instead of buying brand-new is a significant cost savings for EM, according to Jim Folk, DOE-Savannah River assistant manager for waste disposition.

“DOE is committed to creating solutions that reduce risk, promote efficiency, and incorporate lessons learned, all while maintaining good stewardship for taxpayers,” Folk said. “Minimizing facility downtime by having available rebuilt spare equipment means we can stay focused on completing the Savannah River Site liquid waste mission.”

-Contributor: Colleen Hart

Portsmouth Contractor Awarded $16.6 Million Fee for March 2021-March 2022

LEXINGTON, Ky. – EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) recently awarded the Portsmouth Site decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) contractor about $16.6 million, or 75 percent of the total fee available for its performance at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup site in southern Ohio from March 2021 through March 2022.

Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth's (FBP) quality and effectiveness performing and managing the contract was “very good,” and the prime contractor was rated “good” in the categories of environment, safety, health and quality (ESH&Q), and regulatory work, according to the award fee determination scorecard.

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

The Portsmouth Site contractor met most of its performance-based incentive tasks, including the start of structural demolition of the X-326 uranium-enrichment process building, completion of the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility (OSWDF) liner for two of the facility’s cells and operation of another cell.

FBP performed “outstanding” fieldwork execution, including startup and operation of three modular water treatment systems and a unique, 7-acre water detention system to support demolition; excavation of contaminated soils and large-scale hauling of demolition debris and engineered fill from the excavation and demolition areas to the OSWDF; debris and fill placement in the facility; construction of two waste cells; and early construction work on three future waste cells.

FBP was effective in enabling the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Department of Health to independently operate onsite air monitoring stations co-located with DOE-operated air monitoring stations, according to the scorecard. The air-monitoring program is key to ensuring the health and safety of workers and plant neighbors during cleanup operations.

The scorecard noted safety incidents in the first quarter of calendar year 2022, prompting a safety stand-down. EM noted programmatic weaknesses in environmental protection, radiation protection, and nuclear material control and accountability. A weakness in characterizing buildings in deactivation also increased cost and caused delays during FBP’s performance period, according to the scorecard.

“While there are a few concerns in the areas of deactivation characterization, safety and environmental protection going forward, FBP deserves credit for simultaneously standing up multiple complicated and interdependent functions during this time,” PPPO Manager Joel Bradburne said. “As a result, we are seeing the most significant skyline changes to date at Portsmouth.”

View the FBP award fee determination scorecard here.

SRS Contractor Earns 95.5% of Available Fee for October 2021-January 2022

A Savannah River Remediation employee monitors grout as it flows to a diversion box in Savannah River Site’s F Tank Farm.

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