With Recent Land Transfer, Oak Ridge Achieves EM 2022 Priorities; Contractors Collaborate on Safety and Progress at Hanford’s 324 Building; and much more!

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EM Update | Vol. 14, Issue 45 | Nov. 15, 2022

With Recent Land Transfer, Oak Ridge Achieves EM 2022 Priorities
Contractors Collaborate on Safety and Progress at Hanford’s 324 Building
Idaho Site Innovation Resolves 30-Year Excess Equipment Challenge
EM’s Packaging Certification Program Honored With Deming Award
International Meeting for Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities Builds Collaboration
Remote Waste Disposal Tool Reduces Risk, Increases Efficiency at SRS
Meet a Machine at Hanford: Automated Sampling of Vitrified Waste Container Surfaces

With Recent Land Transfer, Oak Ridge Achieves EM 2022 Priorities

Oak Ridge workers spent much of this year tearing up and removing building slabs left behind from the Biology Complex demolition, as shown at top. It was a key step to get the 18-acre area ready for transfer back to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Immediately above is a view of the former Biology Complex footprint after the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR completed demolition, removed the slabs and backfilled the area to enable reuse.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has completed the goals laid out for the site in EM’s 2022 priorities.

Each year, EM releases its priorities for the coming calendar year, a key marker of the cleanup program’s continuing success in addressing the legacy of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. The Calendar Year 2022 Mission and Priorities outlines specific planned accomplishments across the cleanup complex for the year.

OREM’s most recent achievement was the transfer of the former Biology Complex footprint at the Y-12 National Security Complex back to the National Nuclear Security Administration. Crews worked throughout the year to remove building slabs and backfill the area.

The parcel was under the temporary responsibility of OREM for crews to conduct deactivation and demolition, remove building slabs, and address any impacted soil to prepare the 18-acre area for reuse. This land is of particular importance because it’s the planned location for the Lithium Processing Facility that will support national security missions.

“We’re proud to again accomplish the important annual priorities set out for us,” said Laura Wilkerson, OREM acting manager. “It’s especially rewarding because reaching this particular objective also supports the important missions happening at Y-12.”

A view of the massive six-story, 255,000-square-foot Building 9207 in the Biology Complex before its demolition. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and contractor UCOR completed the teardown of that last and largest building of the complex last year.

The Biology Complex, which dates back to the 1940s, was originally comprised of 11 buildings. It was initially constructed for recovering uranium from process streams, but it was later used for research that led to strides in understanding genetics and the effects of radiation.

The complex was shut down in 2002 and later categorized as containing high-risk excess facilities due to their deteriorated structural condition. OREM tore down a number of the facilities in 2010 using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and began demolition on the remaining buildings a decade later.

Those 2020 demolitions included the massive six-story, 255,000-square-foot Building 9207 and the three-story, 65,000-square-foot Building 9210. That work was completed by OREM cleanup contractor UCOR in 2021.

The evolution of the Biology Complex site is the first of many transformations OREM has planned at Y-12. Crews recently completed demolition of another high-risk excess contaminated facility, the former Criticality Experiment Laboratory. Workers are also deactivating several former Manhattan Project-era uranium enrichment facilities at Y-12 to prepare them for demolition, including Alpha-2, Alpha-4 and Beta-1.

In addition to the Biology Complex footprint transfer, OREM’s other key EM priority for 2022 was beginning hot cell processing of the high activity uranium-233 inventory stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. OREM achieved that priority in early October.

-Contributor: Ben Williams

Contractors Collaborate on Safety and Progress at Hanford’s 324 Building

Fieldwork supervisors conduct a prejob brief at the Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center on the Hanford Site, where crews will practice repairs to an overhead crane before conducting the work in Hanford’s 324 Building.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractors Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) and Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) are teaming up again to continue removing contaminated soil beneath the 324 Building, a former nuclear materials research facility on the Hanford Site.

CPCCo crews in protective gear recently finished installing the last of 13 vertical structural supports, called micropiles, to fortify the foundation under a hot cell in the 324 Building where remotely operated equipment will be used to cut through the floor and excavate the contaminated soil.

“Installing the micropiles is a significant accomplishment in this challenging project,” said Tim Trevis, CPCCo project manager. “I’m proud of our group’s teamwork and persistence to ensure a safe path forward.”

Inside an area of the 324 Building on the Hanford Site, workers recently installed 13 structural supports, called micropiles, to ensure the integrity of the building during the removal of contaminated soil under the facility.

Key to safely installing the micropiles has been the continued use of mock-ups on the project. Such simulated work environments are frequently used at Hanford to allow employees to train and test equipment and procedures before performing work in a radiological environment.

As work on the micropiles wrapped up, a team at the Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center, managed by HMIS, met to practice repairing one of the overhead cranes in the building that workers will use to remotely clean out the contaminated hot cells. CPCCo radiological control technicians offered coaching and assistance as the team rehearsed the repairs. HAMMER stands for Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response.

“Utilizing the props at HAMMER allows workers to safely train and understand the tasks in a realistic, controlled environment,” said Brian Von Bargen, HMIS vice president of Interface & Integration Services. “This will translate to continued efficient work at the 324 Building that maintains the principle of minimizing radiation exposure.”

“I appreciate the excellent collaboration and organization among multiple contractors and crews to safely advance this work,” said Mark French, RL Projects and Facilities division director for Hanford’s Central Plateau Cleanup Project. “The sustained progress on projects like this reinforces the value of our collaborative One Hanford approach: everyone working toward a common goal to accomplish the cleanup mission.”

The 324 Building supported research on radioactive materials while operating from 1966 to 1996. Removing the contaminated soil under the facility is a priority in the Hanford cleanup mission, due to the building’s proximity to the Columbia River and the city of Richland.

-Contributors: Dieter Bohrmann, Robin Wojtanik

Idaho Site Innovation Resolves 30-Year Excess Equipment Challenge

Gene Bybee, with Millcreek Metals in Blackfoot, Idaho, prepares the last shipment of excess equipment for removal from the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. The subcontractor to Idaho Environmental Coalition, EM's cleanup contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory Site, helped EM solve a 30-year excess equipment challenge.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM has devised a simple but effective way to eliminate proliferation concerns and remove excess components slated for a classified, Cold War era facility at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site.

The supply chain management group at Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor, had a challenge to overcome: how to remove 400 pallets and crates of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) components, fire sprinkler system piping, and electrical equipment purchased 30 years ago for a new spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC).

Despite the Fuel Reprocessing Restoration Facility never entering service and the U.S. ending reprocessing in 1992, the components were considered high-risk or sensitive material.

“Originally, the plan was to have an auction for this material, but we couldn’t because of its sensitive nature,” said IEC Senior Procurement Manager Rod Harrison. “Because of the makeup of that building and the stainless steel components, it was considered high-risk or sensitive material.”

Harrison and his colleagues offered a solution: “Why don’t we treat it all as scrap?” Harrison asked. “We can have a ‘scrapper’ come in and shred the material.”

Harrison and Supply Chain Manager Shawna Southwick shared their idea with their EM counterparts, who supported the concept.

Gerald Clawson, a material specialist with EM contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, prepares to load a crate of excess equipment outside the Fuel Reprocessing Restoration Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. The shipment went to a scrap dealer in Blackfoot, Idaho, for compaction and shredding.

A scrap dealer from Blackfoot, Idaho, who had already been collecting and shredding excess metal from the INL Site, was subcontracted by IEC to take it to his business in Blackfoot, compact or shred it, and send it to a contractor in Utah to melt it. Once the material was no longer recognizable, it was no longer considered sensitive.

Earlier this month, the last of the approximately 500,000 pounds of stainless and carbon steel and copper wire left INTEC en route to the Blackfoot scrap dealer.

“Just getting that out of there is a big win for DOE,” said Harrison. “The process eliminates all of the high-risk, export-control issues. We have no proliferation material.”

From left, Idaho Environmental Coalition employees Scott Hunting, Jack MacRae and Shawna Southwick meet at the Fuel Reprocessing Restoration Facility before the last of excess equipment left the Idaho National Laboratory Site.

Now that space is freed up at the Fuel Reprocessing Restoration Facility, IEC plans to install electrical equipment, a fire sprinkler system, and HVAC for EM's calcine retrieval project, which is testing waste retrieval technologies on a full-scale mockup of a calcine bin set. The project is tasked with retrieving 220 cubic meters of a dried, high-level radioactive waste from Bin Set 1 and transferring it to nearby Bin Set 6. The first bin set would then be closed under federal regulations.

The team is also scheduled to retrieve, treat and repackage an additional 4,200 cubic meters of calcine from five other bin sets. All calcine must be ready to leave the state of Idaho by 2035 in compliance with a 1995 Idaho Settlement Agreement milestone.

Harrison said IEC employees couldn’t install the 30-year-old excess equipment because they couldn’t confirm its quality.

All excess material was safely transferred offsite, ending the 30-year challenge.

“I’m extremely proud of the work of everyone involved in the process from beginning to end,” said Southwick. “My biggest concern was the age of the pallets and the size of some of the material that had to be removed from the building. To accomplish this task safely was a victory for everyone.”

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

EM’s Packaging Certification Program Honored With Deming Award

In recognition of outstanding efforts to encourage more professionals to obtain the skills needed to enter and advance in the nuclear packaging industry, EM’s Packaging Certification Program (PCP) has been awarded the 2022 W. Edwards Deming Outstanding Training Award, presented by Graduate School USA this fall.

The award is given to a federal, state or local government organization that exemplifies excellence with an initiative or project that focuses on enhancing quality processes within that organization. Recipients demonstrate innovative training through workforce initiatives that have benefited their organizations.

Since 1986, there has been a shortage of professionals with experience in regulations and practices needed to design, regulate and use nuclear material packages.

PCP, University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and Argonne National Laboratory collaborated to develop 14 courses taught by world-class subject matter experts at five DOE national laboratories, as well as a unique hands-on internship program. Students who successfully complete the courses earn accredited university graduate units. The collaborators also developed two graduate certificates, one in nuclear packaging and the second in transportation, security and safeguards.

Over 100 students have earned graduate credit in the courses. Seven have completed graduate certificates since 2017, and they are currently employed or interning at DOE sites, working on nuclear-packaging-related topics. In the past two years, the rate of certificate completion accelerated, with four of the completions in spring 2022.

Motivated by that success, the collaborators are working to develop seven new courses, including ones taught at two national laboratories. They also are determining the feasibility of a research-based Master of Science in nuclear packaging.

“Advancing our cleanup mission relies on the ingenuity of our workforce to attract the right talent and expertise into our pipeline — professionals who will encourage innovation and efficiency in every project we start and finish,” EM Senior Advisor William "Ike" White said. “Students who receive training and certification through the Packaging University program are representative of EM's next generation of well trained, technically skilled and diverse team members. Hats off to the Packaging Certification Program team. This award is well deserved.”

EM’s Packaging Certification Program has received the 2022 W. Edwards Deming Outstanding Training Award.

The collaborators are also conducting course instructor training, assembling a council to assess and continuously improve the program, and sharing results by presenting papers at international conferences. These statistics and activities show that this educational program is developing the next generation of highly qualified nuclear packaging professionals. It is also supporting the DOE and related industry’s environmental management missions, as well as UNR’s educational mission.

Students and program leaders agree that the pioneering partnership meets a critical and growing need for expertise in nuclear packaging.

“Nuclear packaging is a specialized activity that is performed by a relatively small number of professionals,” explained Ed Cagle, a May 2022 graduate. “The combination of academics and process knowledge presented in the program helps to ensure that students learn how to perform compliant shipments.”

Graduate School USA uses the bald eagle as the symbol for the award to illustrate the strength and power that can be associated with adhering to high-quality standards. The eagle is also known for its sharp eyesight, a characteristic emblematic of having the foresight to embark upon initiatives that have the potential to transform an organization for the better. The award is named after W. Edwards Deming, considered by many to be the master of continual quality improvement.

International Meeting for Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities Builds Collaboration

Attendees at the recent Technical Meeting for Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities in Vienna. Photo courtesy of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

VIENNA – Mayors and other government officials from the U.S. were among the 70 attendees from over 25 countries who gathered in Vienna recently for the five-day Technical Meeting for Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The event provided an opportunity for information exchange among communities from around the world hosting or potentially hosting nuclear power plants and radioactive waste management facilities, including nuclear site owners, operators and regulators.

“The meeting enabled real-time two-way dialogue and sharing lessons learned and best practices throughout the lifecycle of nuclear facilities,” said Kristen Ellis, EM’s director of regulatory, intergovernmental, and stakeholder engagement, who attended the meeting and coordinated its sessions and working groups.

Working in parallel with attendees, the Group of European Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities in Europe (GMF Europe), Energy Communities Alliance (ECA), Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities (CANHC) and other international organizations noted the potential for collaboration with similar municipal organizations across the globe. As a result of the meeting, GMF Europe, ECA and CANHC will continue their individual and joint advocacy for support for local host communities among regulators, current and future nuclear industry and other members of the nuclear supply chain.

“These group discussions show the critical role for host communities living with nuclear facilities, and the challenges and opportunities for producing carbon-free, baseload energy and addressing the nuclear fuel cycle.” said Brent Gerry, ECA chair and mayor of West Richland, Washington, which is located near the Hanford Site.

Adrian Foster, mayor of Clarington in Ontario and chair of CANHC, said, “Amongst the outcomes from the shared dialogue was recognition that the current and future nuclear industry is fully dependent on the support of willing local host communities. As such, there is an expectation that the nuclear operators and nuclear supply chain provide meaningful support to the local host communities.”

Participants in the recent Technical Meeting for Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities gather outside the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. From left are Seth Kirshenberg, executive director of Energy Communities Alliance (ECA); Brent Gerry, mayor of West Richland, Washington, and ECA chair; Kristen Ellis, EM director of regulatory, intergovernmental, and stakeholder engagement; and Rebecca Casper, mayor of Idaho Falls, Idaho and ECA vice chair.

Pia Almström, GMF Europe president and mayor of Kävlinge, Sweden, said, “An open and transparent approach toward municipalities is key to engaging them in long-term dialogue. GMF, ECA and CANHC are grateful to the IAEA and its leadership for creating a forum to bring together municipalities and share experience on topics of interest to current and proposed host nuclear communities.”

U.S. representation at the meeting included Ellis; Angelica Gheen with the DOE Office of Integrated Waste Management; Seth Kirshenberg, Rebecca Casper and Brent Gerry with ECA; and Christopher Markley with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Also at the meeting, Ellis gave a presentation providing an overview of EM. She discussed how EM works with national intergovernmental organizations through cooperative agreements, and has government-to-government relationships with tribes to ensure involvement in cleanup decisions while protecting relevant tribal rights and resources. She also gave an overview of the EM Site-Specific Advisory Board and EM Advisory Board.

The meeting ended with a group photo before attendees prepared to travel home to their respective countries. However, the dialogue will not end in Vienna. Participants are excited to continue exploring a new cooperative framework with local municipalities and communities.

“Once you get the ball rolling on these types of conversations, they don’t stop,” Ellis said. “On the contrary, they lead to forming new relationships and ongoing communication that transfers back to their communities and creates more effective public involvement.”

Remote Waste Disposal Tool Reduces Risk, Increases Efficiency at SRS

An operator holds a remote control that operates the remote release hook. The hook allows riggers to place low-level radioactive waste in a slit trench with less potential for contamination while reducing radiological dose exposure and eliminating fall protection risk.

AIKEN, S.C. – EM team members at the Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently began using a new rigging hook they can release remotely to place low-level waste into trenches for disposal, saving time and reducing risks to workers.

“In the past, rigging and heavy equipment operators had to climb on the flatbed trailer that carried the low-level waste to manually attach the hook to the rigging, and then fish the rigging off the hook once it’s been lowered into the trench,” said SWMF Manager Verne Mooneyhan of SRS managing and operating contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). “There is always the potential for contamination when working that closely with low-level waste, so we looked for a better way.”

The remote release hook disengages from rigging after lowering low-level waste into a slit trench.

The answer came in the form of magnetic hooks that could attach to the rigging of the waste. A crane operator can remotely release the hook once the waste is placed in the trench. This prevents riggers from having to enter the trench to release the hook, saving time. The distance protects them from potential contamination as well.

“SRNS continues to improve our procedures and processes to ensure we are using the safest and most effective methods to get the job done,” SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean said. “Any time we can reduce the hazards to our workers is a good day for our company.”

Low-level waste includes items that have become contaminated with radioactive material or have become radioactive through exposure to radiation. At SRS, that waste is buried in engineered trenches, called slit trenches, in SWMF. That facility is responsible for the disposal of SRS’s solid waste, which include sanitary, construction and demolition, hazardous, low-level radioactive and transuranic waste.

-Contributor: Lindsey MonBarren

Meet a Machine at Hanford: Automated Sampling of Vitrified Waste Container Surfaces

RICHLAND, Wash. – Engineers at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant are testing and programming robots that will help ensure the thousands of steel containers that will be filled with vitrified, or immobilized in glass, radioactive and chemical tank waste are safe for transport to the nearby Integrated Disposal Facility. The automated machine arms in the plant’s Low-Activity Waste Facility will wipe absorbent pads, or swabs, on the outside surfaces of containers to check for contaminants. This video shows the robot touching different parts of a container to “learn" where the container is located before performing a swabbing pattern. This work supports the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program, a system of interdependent projects and infrastructure improvements, managed and highly integrated as a program, that will operate together to vitrify the waste.

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