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RICHLAND, Wash. – A ring believed lost is discovered decades later in an unlikely place. Knowing this ring may be precious to someone, a group of people start a quest to find its owner.
No, this is not a prequel to a famous ring-themed tale. It is a story of how one employee with EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) was reunited with his long-lost high school class ring thanks to the @hanfordsite Facebook page.
Doug Staudt, a CPCCo radiological control technician, lost his ring in the mid-1990s around the time he began his career at the Hanford Site.
“Once I realized it was gone, I looked for it for some time, but the search ended,” said Staudt. “It’s funny; not long ago I thought, ‘I wonder whatever happened to my class ring,’ thinking I would never see it again.”
Fast forward to last fall, when a local man and his son discovered a ring while taking apart an old car in a local wrecking yard. But it wasn’t just any old car; it was the Mazda that Staudt had sold 30 years earlier, soon after starting work at Hanford.
Intrigued by his find, the son brought the ring home to his grandmother, Diane Francis. Thinking it would be fun to try to find the ring’s owner, Francis set to work identifying clues. Magnifying glass in hand, she examined the ring and determined the owner had the initials “D.S.” and graduated from Kellogg High School in 1988.
However, the biggest clue was the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) symbol on the ring.
“There are several Kellogg High Schools in the U.S., but only the one in Idaho had JROTC programs,” said Francis. Kellogg, Idaho, is about 220 miles from Richland.
Francis messaged the high school’s Facebook page and asked for help finding the ring’s owner. Page administrator Gwen Johnson, a Kellogg graduate and school district employee, picked up the search from there. She contacted another 1988 graduate who helped narrow it down to Staudt. Through social media, Johnson discovered that Staudt worked on the Hanford Site, and she messaged the Hanford Facebook page to try to reconnect him with the ring.
Hanford Site Facebook page administrator Patrick Conrad, with contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, saw the message and forwarded it to Dieter Bohrmann, in CPCCo’s communications department, to contact Staudt.
“Not surprisingly, most of the messages we get on social media are related to our cleanup mission,” said Conrad. “This was certainly an unexpected inquiry, but we were happy to help connect Staudt with Johnson at the high school.”
“A couple of days after I reached out on Hanford’s social media page, Doug called the district office and asked for me,” Johnson said. “I got permission from Diane to pass on her contact info to him and vice versa.”
Staudt reached out to Francis soon after and the two met at a local coffee shop, where Francis returned the ring to Staudt.
“Thirty years ago, before social media, this probably never would have happened,” said Staudt, of the ring’s return. “I am definitely going to put the ring in safekeeping; I don’t want to lose it for another 30 years!”
-Contributor: Karisa Saywers
 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The cleanup program is seeking interested members of the public to fill vacancies on the Environmental Management Advisory Board (EMAB).
EMAB’s mission is to provide independent and external advice and recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM) on corporate issues.
The board works to identify applicable private and public sector best management practices and provides counsel on how to integrate them into the EM program. EMAB also provides strategic management advice on where and how to focus the program’s resources to achieve maximum impact and greatest risk reduction.
The membership of EMAB includes individuals from governmental and non-governmental entities, private industry and scientific and academic communities. Members are sought in all professional fields related to EM programs and specifically groundwater and soil remediation.
Members are appointed for two-year terms. The board typically meets twice a year in person and as needed virtually. Members serve on an uncompensated, volunteer basis. However, committee members are paid travel and per diem for each meeting that requires travel.
Membership appointments are made by the Secretary of Energy. Interested candidates must submit their resume and biography along with any letters of support to Kelly.Snyder@em.doe.gov by May 15, 2023. For additional information about EMAB, click here.
 ALLENDALE, S.C. – Students from the greater Allendale, South Carolina, area recently enjoyed the inaugural “All in Allendale” event, which offered fun, food, and music, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities. EM Savannah River Site contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), a major sponsor for the event, also offered a popular hands-on STEM activity pictured here. SRNS employee Lydia Boynton, right, provides advice to fourth grade student K-Jenae Cunningham, who is attempting to create a geodesic dome out of toothpicks and gumdrops. The event was developed primarily for kindergarten through 12th grade, with an emphasis on easing the intimidation students often feel when undertaking STEM subject matter, according to April Cone, dean, University of South Carolina Salkehatchie. “STEM should be fun, and there’s certainly a high demand in the workplace for this knowledge, especially at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions,” she said. “One day, these children may be working there.”
-Contributor: DT Townsend
EM is hosting its first Reverse Industry Day (RID) next month, giving the contractor workforce an opportunity to share details on the industry decision-making process and offer perspectives to enhance the cleanup program’s business environment.
The free event, to be held virtually from 1 to 3:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, May 4, in turn gives EM’s acquisition workforce the chance to learn about the challenges most important to companies when doing business with the cleanup program.
Over 90% of EM’s annual budget, which totaled $8.3 billion for fiscal year 2023, is awarded to industry contractors. That makes EM’s management of contracts a top priority.
“The EM cleanup mission cannot be successfully completed without strong engagement and successful partnering with industry,” said Angela Watmore, EM head of contracting activity.
 Industry panelists are shown in discussion during a Federal Aviation Administration Reverse Industry Day in 2020.
The RID is geared to helping EM maintain its strong partnerships with the contractor workforce and continue the cleanup program’s routine engagement with the industry.
The event is co-hosted and facilitated by the Professional Services Council (PSC), which has successfully assisted federal agencies with numerous RIDs since 2015. There will be two panel sessions during EM’s event: one focused on how industry decides to bid — or not bid — on an opportunity, and another about doing business with EM and the issues and perspectives across the procurement lifecycle.
For additional information about EM’s RID and to register for the event, click here. Registration for the RID requires creation of an account on the PSC website at no cost. There is also no cost to attend the RID, and it’s open to members of the public.
For questions about EM’s RID, contact Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center Acquisition Integration Lead Travis Marshall at travis.marshall@emcbc.doe.gov. For questions or issues about registration, contact PSC at events@pscouncil.org.
-Contributor: Travis Marshall
 These photos were taken inside single-shell Tank AX-101 before Hanford Site workers started removing radioactive and chemical waste from it in January. Crews have removed 35% of the tank waste.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford Site workers continue to make headway dissolving solid waste in a large underground storage tank in a campaign to remove and transfer 426,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste to a newer double-shell tank for safe storage until the waste is treated.
Meanwhile, field crews are getting several other tanks ready for future waste retrieval campaigns.
Since starting retrieval operations on single-shell Tank AX-101 in January, the team with EM Office of River Protection (ORP) contractor Washington River Protection Solutions has removed 35% of tank waste.
“Removing the waste from the single-shell tanks and upgrading the aging infrastructure in the tank farms is a top priority for the Department of Energy,” said Delmar Noyes, ORP assistant manager for Tank Farms Project. “It is a necessary step to protect the community and the Columbia River, and to advance our mission to reduce risk on the site.”
Tank AX-101 is the last of four tanks in the AX Farm to be retrieved, and when completed, AX Farm will be the second tank farm at Hanford where retrieval operations have been completed.
Crews are preparing other tanks for retrieving and receiving waste. Workers were recently trained on new tools to make it safer and more efficient to remove a contaminated pump from double-shell Tank AY-101. The training readies the workers for success as they prepare the tank to receive waste in the future.
Workers continue to set up the six tanks in the adjacent A Farm for waste retrieval operations by removing outdated equipment and installing new retrieval systems and infrastructure. To retrieve waste from one of the tanks, A-106, workers will drill a hole through the top of the underground tank to install retrieval equipment. Workers at the Cold Test Facility are building a mock-up to test the cutting system, which is designed to help protect workers from radiological exposure when they drill into the tank.
“We have talented team members who demonstrate a commitment to efficiency and innovation and approach their work with a sense of pride and accomplishment,” said Peggy Hamilton, WRPS Single-Shell Tank Retrievals manager. “They work together to safely and seamlessly transfer waste, moving us forward in the Hanford cleanup mission.”
-Contributor: Kristin M. Kraemer
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