EM Update | Vol. 15, Issue 5 | Feb. 7, 2023

• White Joins NNSA Deputy Administrator On South Carolina Listening Tour
• Homestretch for Hanford Effluent Treatment Facility Upgrades
• Local Small Businesses Assist Idaho Site With Supply Chain Challenges
• First Shipment of Downblended Plutonium for Disposal Departs New SRS Location
• Oak Ridge Contractor Expands Employee Health Clinic and Services
• Mock-up of Radioactive Capsule Transfer System Takes Shape at Hanford
• ‘Cream of the Crop’ of DOE Officers: Hicks Wins Award at SRS
• DOE Joins Forces With Waste Management for 2-Day Job Fair

White Joins NNSA Deputy Administrator On South Carolina Listening Tour

From left, National Nuclear Security Administration Principal Deputy Administrator Frank Rose, EM Senior Advisor William "Ike" White and DOE-Savannah River Office of External Affairs Director Amy Boyette are pictured at a town-hall style meeting with Savannah River Site employees late last week.

AIKEN, S.C. – The head of the EM program and the second ranking official from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) came together late last week for a two-day visit to Savannah River Site (SRS) and the surrounding communities.

EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White and NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Frank Rose traveled to South Carolina to provide information, hear feedback and answer questions about the planned SRS management transition from EM to NNSA.

The transition planning is underway and will not affect EM’s cleanup work at SRS or its management of Savannah River National Laboratory.

The visit, billed as a “listening tour,” included a town-hall style meeting with SRS employees, a broadly attended community breakfast, and meetings with SRS site leadership.

At the employee meeting, the EM and NNSA leaders emphasized the importance of hearing from the EM and NNSA workforces and answering questions throughout the process.

“As we move forward with this transition, its success is a priority for EM and NNSA. While the process has just begun, the details will be critical to doing it right, and finishing with a successful transition,” White said to SRS employees.

He continued, “EM has a successful track record in effectively working with NNSA to pursue legacy cleanup activities at NNSA-managed sites such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Nevada National Security Site. We will look to leverage our experiences at these sites to aid our transition here.”

White also congratulated the SRS employees who recently received awards from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm for their service and contribution to DOE’s mission. Read more about those awards here.

EM Senior Advisor William "Ike" White, right, speaks during a broadly attended community breakfast held by Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, as National Nuclear Security Administration Principal Deputy Administrator Frank Rose listens. 

White and Rose also spoke to a large group of community members and stakeholders at a Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA) breakfast, and answered questions about the SRS transition to NNSA.

White assured participants in the breakfast he and other DOE leaders have the long-term outlook for SRS in mind as EM and NNSA plan the transition.

NNSA’s Rose told the breakfast crowd EM and NNSA are currently working closely to plan every detail of the transition, and pledged to maintain transparency throughout the process.

“While NNSA will assume landlord authorities, the EM mission will also continue for many years,"  Rose said. "We are committed to keeping the community informed of progress throughout the process. We have a long history of community engagement and collaboration, which will continue throughout and following this transition.”

Jim Marra, the CNTA executive director, said CNTA and the Aiken Chamber of Commerce were happy to host White and Rose for the discussion with the local community.

“The site transition is an important topic to many stakeholders as evidenced by over two hundred people in attendance,” Marra said.

White also squeezed in a visit with SRS Citizens Advisory Board Chair Gregg Murray and Vice Chair Charles Hilton and toured key cleanup projects underway at SRS.

On the second day, White and Rose held meetings in Allendale, South Carolina, at the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie. They heard from community leaders and elected officials from Barnwell and Allendale counties, as well as other stakeholders. White and Rose answered questions about the SRS transition and received briefings on DOE-funded training and apprenticeship programs.

Homestretch for Hanford Effluent Treatment Facility Upgrades

RICHLAND, Wash. – After several years of renovations and upgrades, the Hanford Site’s Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is nearly ready for its key role in treating contaminated wastewater from direct-feed low-activity waste (DFLAW) operations.

EM Office of River Protection (ORP) tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) finished construction on nine DFLAW upgrades at the ETF last year, and is on schedule to complete the final improvements this spring. New equipment will support processing additional wastewater that will be created by the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and other facilities during tank-waste treatment.

“We will see longer and larger processing campaigns at the ETF when DFLAW operations begin,” said Bibek Tamang, ETF program manager for ORP. “The upgrades will increase the capability, efficiency and dependability of the facility, which is needed for 24/7 tank-waste treatment operations.”

Equipment in this portable electrical facility will distribute additional power needed to run the many upgrades at the Effluent Treatment Facility.

The construction projects completed last year include a system that will collect and filter the air from processing equipment and tanks inside the ETF. Crews added another filtration system, along with a system to remove carbon dioxide gas in wastewater from the WTP. They also replaced aging motor controls, added new ones, and brought additional power to the ETF to support the many facility upgrades.

Workers also upgraded hardware and software in the facility’s monitoring and control systems so the ETF can better communicate with other site facilities during operations. This communication is important to the DFLAW Program, which links together highly interdependent and integrated systems and facilities in the tank-waste treatment process.

The WTP is expected to transfer as much as 5.4 million gallons of wastewater per year to the ETF from vitrifying, or immobilizing in glass, low-activity tank waste. Hanford’s Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF), where containers of vitrified waste will be disposed of, will add another 1.2 million gallons of leachate, which is rain and dust-suppression water, annually during DFLAW operations. The IDF is designed to keep the environment safe by isolating waste and leachate through an engineered liner and collection system.

In addition to preparing the ETF to receive additional volume, the contractor has also been expanding the capacity of the nearby Liquid Effluent Retention Facility (LERF). Late last year crews finished constructing a fourth 7.8 million-gallon storage basin to receive and store wastewater prior to treatment at the ETF.

Workers finished construction of a fourth wastewater storage basin at the nearby Liquid Effluent Retention Facility in December, three months ahead of schedule.

Tanker truck drivers will continue to deliver wastewater from other site facilities to the ETF for treatment. In October, crews finished constructing an additional station at the ETF for unloading tankers and are expected to finish expanding and upgrading the main load-in station this spring.

“As construction teams are wrapping up their work, ETF operations are just getting started,” said Adam Mathews, ETF and LERF manager for WRPS. “Now we begin testing the new systems and integrating them into full plant operations. It’s an exciting time. We are going to start up an entirely different facility from the one we shut down at the beginning of this outage.”

After testing is complete, WRPS will run all the new equipment in a processing campaign to ensure the ETF is ready to carry out its mission when 24/7 operations to treat tank waste begin.

-Contributor: Joan Lucas

Local Small Businesses Assist Idaho Site With Supply Chain Challenges

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Despite nationwide supply chain challenges brought by the coronavirus, an EM contractor at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory Site has found success relying on local and regional small businesses for goods and services.

Elisabeth Warn, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) Small Business Programs representative, said small businesses throughout Idaho have been particularly helpful keeping an inventory of materials necessary for IEC to fulfill its contractual cleanup commitments.

“Our work with local small businesses is vital to IEC’s success,” she said. “We have contract requirements to meet, but more important, small businesses have many unique skills and capabilities that are important to our cleanup work.”

IEC regularly purchases food, bottled water, fuel, clothing and ice melt throughout the year. Local and regional small businesses that regularly do business with IEC know to stock up on such items to enable them to immediately respond to the company’s needs.

“The supplies we provide are important for IEC employees to perform their work safely,” said Brad Doman, a sales executive with Advanced Industrial Supply in Pocatello, Idaho, about 50 miles from Idaho Falls. “Stocking and selling those supplies helps us employ more people and offer a greater array of products that helps us to be more competitive.”

IEC also uses small businesses to provide such services as electrical, engineering, radiological protection, safety, computer support, photography and technical writing and editing.

Doing business with IEC has far-reaching benefits for Wheeler Electric in Idaho Falls.

“Working with IEC, we have the ability to hire local people, local subcontractors and local suppliers,” said Wheeler Electric Project Manager Jake Norman. “Where we work is where we live and that helps keep dollars in the local economy.”

Ashley Quiroz, owner of Eagle Rock Specialties, a wholesale distributor of industrial supplies in Idaho Falls, agrees.

“Our contracts with IEC have helped us grow our business,” she said. “Because of the volume of work we do, we’re able to stock more goods that our clients need and we’re now at a point where we can hire additional employees.”

IEC’s Warn said purchasing goods and services from local and regional small businesses has an economic advantage beyond IEC and the companies it does business with.

“Using small businesses, complemented by our purchasing strategies and agreements, has helped IEC save taxpayers $1.6 million in our first year,” she said. “That’s a number that benefits everyone.”

In its first year of business as an EM contractor, IEC spent nearly $69 million of its contract funding with 290 small businesses, many of which are in eastern Idaho. Of the $69 million, 37.7% was spent with Idaho Falls-area small businesses.

For the duration of its contract, IEC will continue to promote small business in eastern Idaho and throughout the state, Warn said.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

First Shipment of Downblended Plutonium for Disposal Departs New SRS Location

AIKEN, S.C. – EM recently collaborated with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to successfully complete the first shipment of downblended surplus plutonium for permanent disposal from a new location at the site: K Area.

The shipment from K Area to EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico marked a momentous milestone culminating from multiple years of effort to prepare for and remove plutonium from the state of South Carolina.

The downblended surplus plutonium meets requirements for shipping and disposal as contact-handled transuranic waste at WIPP.

In the past, all transuranic waste shipped to WIPP was characterized, stored and shipped from the SRS Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF), located several miles away from K Area.

“Shipping directly from K Area, instead of through SWMF, saves time and resources and allows for more efficient removal of plutonium from the state,” said Lee Sims, K Area Facility manager for the site’s managing and operating contractor, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS). “It also helps further the NNSA nonproliferation mission.”

Savannah River Operations Office Manager Mike Budney said the K Area shipment is the result of a joint mission between EM and NNSA.

“It has involved integration of activities at K Area between NNSA and DOE-Savannah River to demonstrate readiness to initiate shipments, along with significant coordinated efforts with the Carlsbad Field Office to achieve certification and approval of the waste stream for the WIPP facility,” Budney said. “All of this was completed safely and within cost and schedule restraints.”

Plutonium is diluted, or downblended, in the site’s K Area Complex glovebox in a process that mixes plutonium oxide with a multicomponent adulterant to enable DOE to produce a proliferation-resistant form that can never again be readily used in nuclear weapons. The downblended material is packaged in drums and staged on a designated storage pad until it is characterized and ready to be shipped to WIPP.

While SRS is celebrating the milestone, SRNS President and CEO Stuart MacVean noted that a lot more work lies ahead.

“Work is ongoing in K Area to increase the rate of downblending and shipping, including the construction of three new glovebox lines, which are used to perform the downblending process, and new entry control facilities and housing for an influx of new employees that will be needed to meet the mission needs,” MacVean said.

-Contributor: Lindsey MonBarren

Oak Ridge Contractor Expands Employee Health Clinic and Services

Officials celebrate the opening of a newly expanded health services clinic on the Oak Ridge Reservation with a ceremonial ribbon cutting ceremony. From left: Laura Wilkerson, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management deputy manager; Ken Rueter, UCOR president and CEO; Dr. Burt Prater, former UCOR health services director; Dr. Grant Shirley, UCOR health services director; Stephanie Miller, safety systems and services integration manager; and Clint Wolfley, UCOR chief safety officer.

The new health services facility is much larger than the previous one at Oak Ridge. The expanded space includes an additional exam room, allowing for more efficiency in seeing patients.

Oak Ridge’s new health services facility features in-house X-ray equipment operated by medical staff. This addition eliminates the need for employees to travel offsite for services and allows them to get results quicker.

The 7,000-square-foot health services facility now features X-ray services, eliminating the need for employees to travel offsite and allowing them to receive results quicker.

“Employees won’t have to go offsite to obtain annual chest X-rays, or X-rays for injuries,” said Sarah Peddicord, registered nurse and X-ray technician. “They can get it right here all in one stop.”

The additional space also increases the number of exam rooms available, and the extra room features a negative airflow ventilation system that provides employees and health care providers with an additional layer of protection.

“It is a significant investment in our health services clinic, allowing us to increase our service offerings and perform them safely in the context of infectious disease transmission,” said Health Services Manager Graeme Parsons. “This is somewhat of a game changer.”

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

Mock-up of Radioactive Capsule Transfer System Takes Shape at Hanford

Workers with EM contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company install components for a mock-up at the Hanford Site’s Maintenance and Storage Facility. A full-scale mock-up is being built to allow workers to test equipment and practice processes before moving nearly 2,000 radioactive capsules from an underwater basin to interim dry storage.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) continues to make significant progress developing the equipment, tools and techniques to safely transfer nearly 2,000 radioactive cesium and strontium capsules from an underwater basin in the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) to a nearby dry-storage area at the Hanford Site.

Several major components of a full-scale mock-up of the capsule transfer system recently arrived at Hanford’s Maintenance and Storage Facility for installation and testing in a nonradioactive environment. The mock-up is designed to replicate the areas of the WESF that the capsules will be moved through while transferring them into dry-storage casks.

“Installation of mock-up equipment is a key step for this important project,” said Gary Pyles, RL federal project director. “The ability of workers to practice and get comfortable with the transfer system will help support the safe and efficient movement of these capsules to dry storage when we perform the process in WESF.”

A view of recently installed test equipment in a mock-up at the Hanford Site’s Maintenance and Storage Facility.

While the mock-up team prepares to test the new equipment this spring, WESF crews are making progress on facility modifications required to support the capsule transfer process.

“This is a complex project that requires design, fabrication and installation of unique equipment, as well as upgrades to the facility,” said Mark Buckmaster, CPCCo project manager. “I’ve been impressed with the entire team’s hard work, creative thinking and commitment to safety.”

From 1974 to 1985, the cesium and strontium recovered from Hanford’s waste storage tanks were placed in stainless steel capsules and stored underwater in cells in the WESF. While the capsules are currently in safe storage in the underwater basin, moving them to dry storage not only eliminates a longer-term risk of a radioactive release in the unlikely event of a loss of water from the basin but also enables the planned deactivation of the aging facility, saving as much as $6 million in annual operating costs.

Check out this animation to learn more about the capsule transfer process.

-Contributor: Mark McKenna

‘Cream of the Crop’ of DOE Officers: Hicks Wins Award at SRS

Centerra-SRS Security Police Officer III Brad Hicks received the Colonel Elliott P. Sydnor, Jr., Memorial Award from Anthony Taylor, director of the DOE Office of Safeguards Assessments and federal program manager for the Composite Adversary Team.

AIKEN, S.C. – A security police officer with a Savannah River Site (SRS) contractor has received an award that recognizes members of a team equivalent to the Defense Department’s special operations forces, who exhibit exceptional performance and qualities during their training, assignment and support of security assessment activities within the DOE complex.

An employee of security services contractor Centerra-SRS since 2007, and a member of the site’s Special Response Team, Security Police Officer III Brad Hicks was honored with the Colonel Elliott P. Sydnor, Jr., Memorial Award in a ceremony conducted at SRS. Anthony Taylor, director of the DOE Office of Safeguards Assessments and federal program manager for the Composite Adversary Team (CAT), presented the award to Hicks.

“SPO III Hicks is an exceptional employee and has helped improve the security posture both locally and at other DOE nuclear facilities,” said Mark Bolton, Centerra’s general manager at SRS.

Unlike conventional security forces, CAT operators train to think like terrorists. Acting covertly, they find ways to challenge DOE’s security measures at nuclear weapons facilities, and as a result, help improve security throughout the complex by promoting excellence within security operations.

CAT members are the cream of the crop of security police officers within the DOE complex. Only a select few are recruited to join the team, and they must have physical and mental toughness.

Once selected, they train in tactics and techniques that replicate terrorist and adversary capabilities to challenge DOE security measures at nuclear facilities. They use a wide array of simulated explosives, specialized equipment and weapons, and tactics to assail DOE facilities and create simulated security threats and events. With a mission to challenge physical security systems and protective forces at DOE facilities, the program has been recognized for its excellence worldwide by the nuclear security community.

Award recipients are selected by a panel chaired by the CAT program manager and includes primary instructors and the team coordinator.

Sydnor enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1945, and served aboard the attack submarine U.S.S. Raton with the Atlantic Submarine Fleet until his discharge from active duty in 1948. He later received his commission in the U.S. Army through the Army ROTC Program at Western Kentucky State Teachers College and served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his role as ground commander in the November 1970 raid on the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam. Sydnor was inducted in the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 1992. He was instrumental in establishing the CAT program as a means to enhance security of nuclear facilities.

-Contributor: Rob Davis

DOE Joins Forces With Waste Management for 2-Day Job Fair

PHOENIX – DOE and industry representatives are collaborating with Waste Management Symposia to conduct a job fair at the Phoenix Convention Center on Tuesday, Feb. 28 and Wednesday, March 1.

Job seekers looking for careers in radioactive material management, remediation, associated fields and dozens of other career areas can join the event in person or virtually. The job fair will be held in conjunction with the 2023 Waste Management Symposia.

There is no cost to attend the job fair but participants must register here.

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