EM Scores Another Successful Year Completing Majority of Cleanup Priorities; EM Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted Budget Highlights; and much more!

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EM Update | Vol. 15, Issue 1 | Jan. 10, 2023

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ICYMI: Watch, Read EM's 2022 Year in Review

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Catch up on EM's cleanup accomplishments across the DOE complex from 2022 with our inaugural Year in Review video and annual Year in Review report, available here. This look back at the year past recaps progress addressing our most pressing environmental risks at EM headquarters and field sites. The highlights from 2022 come as the cleanup program turns to tackle some of its toughest, most expensive challenges.



Paducah Breaks Ground on New Site Emergency Operations Center

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Watch this video on the construction of the Paducah Site's new Emergency Operations Center. Crews are shown pumping concrete for the pad of the facility.


PADUCAH, Ky. – As EM’s Paducah Site completed its first emergency exercise since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, construction crews broke ground on the new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to improve coordination and response to emergencies across the site.

The 3,500-square-foot facility will replace the existing EOC, which was established in the site’s C-300 Control Building around 1990. The C-300 Control Building was built during the 1950s. The new modern facility will be used to monitor environmental conditions and house emergency management personnel.

“Safety is a priority at DOE’s cleanup sites. As we continue deactivation and demolition of older plant and support structures, a modern emergency response facility designed for today’s needs is critical to supporting our emergency response team,” Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Program Manager Joel Bradburne said.


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Construction crews fly in structural steel for the Paducah Site's Emergency Operations Center.


The EOC supports the entire 3,556-acre site, including the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Plant. Deactivation and remediation contractor Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership (FRNP) is responsible for operating the EOC and providing emergency response, including fire, security, medical and other important functions to support emergency response for the site.

“While our employees take proactive steps to avoid site emergencies, our emergency management team must collaborate with all onsite organizations to plan effective responses to potential hazards,” said FRNP Program Manager Myrna Redfield. “This requires our team to excel in contingency planning and participate in immersive training scenarios that allow our response organizations to be prepared in the event of a real emergency.”

The new EOC will include upgrades to technologies and software that enhance communication capabilities and help improve response time to emergent events. These tools are crucial in protecting site personnel, the community and the environment.

The new EOC is scheduled for completion in April 2023.

-Contributors: Dylan Nichols, Jessica Vasseur


Hanford Completes Waste Transfer Line Communications Testing

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Nolan Wright, Washington River Protection Solutions Instrumentation and Controls engineer, left, and Darin Wood, nuclear chemical operator, talk with operators at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant control room to test the transfer line communication system between the plant and Hanford’s AP Tank Farm.


RICHLAND, Wash.Hanford Site crews recently completed testing on a transfer line communications system between the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and the nearby tank farm, or large group of underground storage tanks, where pretreated waste is being stored for transfer.

When EM Office of River Protection (ORP) contractor Bechtel National Inc. begins waste treatment operations at WTP, tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) will feed pretreated low-level waste from the AP Tank Farm to WTP’s Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility.

Control room operators on both ends of the transfer lines need to keep lines of communication open to both verbally and visually confirm the transfer is occurring. The recent testing between both contractors included simulated transfers of low-activity waste to the LAW Facility.

“This is an important step for the entire Hanford team and our collective mission of executing Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program operations to treat tank waste,” said Ricky Bang, ORP Tank Farms Program Division director.


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Simulated transfers of low-activity waste recently occurred between the Hanford Site’s Tank AP-106 and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant during testing of the tank farms monitoring and control system.


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In August 2021, workers made the final welds on the transfer line connecting the Hanford Site’s tank farms to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.


During DFLAW operations, up to 9,000 gallons of pretreated waste will be sent each day from Tank AP-106 through the new transfer lines to WTP’s LAW Facility for vitrification, or immobilization in glass form.

“DFLAW will be a 24/7 operation, and control rooms at both ends of the line need to be able to see and hear what’s being transferred,” said Nolan Wright, WRPS Instrumentation and Controls engineer. “Testing like this makes sure our procedures and people are integrated and operating safely.”

“Successful completion of these tests is an important step in being able to show that both the fiber infrastructure and the software will be ready to operate across the interface,” said Mark Esp, interface implementation engineer for WTP Mission Integration. “Having transfer status and monitoring data available to both control rooms simultaneously will be very beneficial when DFLAW operations begin.”

Fieldwork on the transfer lines was completed in the summer of 2021.

-Contributors: Joan Lucas and Staci West



Leak in Idaho Site Treatment Facility Cell Results in Startup Delay

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Ten days after beginning a heat-up process to prepare for radiological operations at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU), operators noticed a small leak of non-radioactive, non-hazardous solids in a cell, resulting in the facility’s shutdown late last month.

No radioactive waste has been introduced into the facility at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory Site.


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The non-radioactive, non-hazardous sand-like material shown in the lower left corner leaked into a cell of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit. The source of the leak has been identified and crews will make repairs and return the plant to operational condition.


The cell is where treated waste is staged until deposited into stainless steel canisters and sealed prior to being transferred into concrete vaults for storage.

The IWTU is currently shut down. Engineering and operations personnel have located the source of the leak in the cell. Evaluation of the cause of the leak is underway and will be followed by repairs. Once repairs are completed, the IWTU will prepare for the start of radiological operations.

The IWTU was constructed from 2007 to 2011 to treat 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing liquid waste from three underground, stainless-steel storage tanks at the nearby Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. The waste was generated during decontamination activities following historic spent nuclear fuel reprocessing runs.



Award-winning Video Promotes Safe Driving at Hanford

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The video titled The Lasting Impact of Distracted Driving was produced by Hanford Site contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company. It has garnered a national award from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, which recognizes international examples of excellence in video production and digital communication.


RICHLAND, Wash.EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) recently received a national award for producing a video titled The Lasting Impact of Distracted Driving, which reinforces the importance of traffic safety on the 580-square-mile Hanford Site.

The Viddy Gold Award was presented by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, which recognizes international examples of excellence in video production and digital communication. Entries come from video production companies, cable and broadcast television operations, advertising, design, public relations firms, and corporate communications departments.

The CPCCo video focuses on a vehicle accident that occurred in January 2022 on the Hanford Site to illustrate the dangers of inattentive driving and stresses the importance of following safe driving practices.


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EM contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company recently received national recognition for producing a video that reinforces the importance of safe driving on the 580-square-mile Hanford Site.


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The Hanford Site’s Traffic Safety Initiative, launched in 2019, provides workers with videos, posters, surveys and other resources aimed at reinforcing safe driving behaviors on the site.


“In 2019, the Department and its contractors launched the Hanford Site Traffic Safety Initiative to reduce accidents, increase safety on the site and improve driving behaviors,” said Stanley Branch, director of Hanford’s Safety and Health Division. “This video is a prime example of how we emphasize safe driving through education, engineering and enforcement.”

Nearly 10,000 vehicles enter and exit the Hanford Site daily. Although the accident rates on roadways at the Hanford Site are lower compared to areas outside its boundaries, DOE and its contractors continue to work together to improve traffic and conditions on roadways and in parking lots.

“We hope this video serves as a strong reminder to all employees that their actions and driving behavior can have a tremendous impact on people’s lives,” said Megan Proctor, manager of the CPCCo Environmental, Safety and Health Department. “We hope the video encourages employees to demonstrate safe driving habits on and off the Hanford Site and to share the video with friends and family.”

-Contributor: Mark McKenna

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