  EM is expanding the 107-acre Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility to support at least 25 more years of risk-reduction cleanup at the Hanford Site.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) on the Hanford Site have disposed of more than 19 million tons of waste from cleanup to date.
Operated by EM Richland Operations Office contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo), the large engineered landfill is located near the center of the 580-square-mile site.
ERDF offers a safe and compliant location for the disposal of low-level radioactive, hazardous and mixed waste generated during cleanup activities on Hanford’s Central Plateau and in the nearby Columbia River Corridor. To protect the environment from contamination, ERDF has a liner with multiple layers that also capture runoff from weather and dust control, and directs it to holding tanks for treatment.
 Workers at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility at the Hanford Site have disposed of 19 million tons of debris from demolishing 800 facilities and cleaning up 1,300 waste sites since operations began in 1996.
Workers at the 107-acre facility have disposed of demolition material from more than 800 facilities and solid material and soil from 1,300 waste sites since the facility’s operations began in 1996. The facility consistently receives an average of 10,000 to 15,000 tons of waste per month.
“The disposal facility and the people who operate it continue to play a critical role in the site’s risk-reduction mission, as they have done for more than 25 years,” said Heather Dale, assistant manager for River and Plateau for EM Hanford.
ERDF can hold 21 million tons of waste distributed across 10 large disposal cells, enough to support site cleanup work for a few more years. By 2025, CPCCo will begin construction of an eleventh cell that will provide capacity for about another 20 years of disposal of cleanup debris.
“I’m proud of the role our experienced crews play in supporting cleanup progress across the Hanford Site,” said CPCCo ERDF manager Craig Larson. “Our team remains committed to safe and efficient operations and environmental protection.”
-Contributor: Dieter Bohrmann
In honor of Veterans Day this Saturday, EM is highlighting veterans who have transitioned from the military to civilian service in the cleanup program.
Kenneth Princen is one of the featured veterans at the EM Veterans webpage. He is assistant manager of the Office of the National TRU Program Waste Certification and Disposal at the Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico.
 Princen served nine years in the U.S. Marine Corps and five years in the U.S. Navy. He has traveled to Haiti and Cuba and witnessed firsthand devastation of refugees fleeing serious hardships.
He said he was drawn to EM for its meaningful mission and carries the military motto, “Mission First, People Always” at EM.
Read more about Princen in his Q&A with EM:
Name and what you do at EM?
Kenneth Princen, Assistant Manager, Office of the National TRU Program Waste Certification and Disposal, Carlsbad Field Office.
What branch did you serve in; when; where stationed? How many years of service?
I served nine years in the U.S. Marine Corps, stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I worked in infantry and reconnaissance, attaining the rank of staff sergeant.
I served five years in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington. I worked as a submarine warfare officer attaining the rank of lieutenant.
Most memorable event/moment during your service?
While serving in Cuba, I monitored the boundary between the base and Cuba. Both sides were covered by minefields, yet refugees would risk everything to defect to the United States for the chance at a better life. Later on in my tour, we experienced the Haitian refugee crisis and I also worked in the camps. As a young Marine, I saw both the hardship these refugees faced firsthand, and the ideals my country represented through their eyes. After one particular saddening moment where I helplessly watched individuals die, I knew I wanted to do even more with my life. I wanted to make a difference.
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"I feel EM is where I will finish my legacy of service and pass it on to others."
-Kenneth Princen
How has your military service helped prepare you for the job you do in EM?
The military helped me get an education at Oregon State University. They instilled core values of honor, courage and commitment in me. I learned leadership from the very beginning and adopted the motto “Mission First, People Always.” Those lessons and experiences have always been with me. These experiences prepared me for a later career in EM.
When did you begin working for EM and what got you interested in the cleanup mission?
After 14 years of military service, I wanted to continue serving my country. This led me to the Carlsbad Field Office, where I began as a facility representative. Three years later, I became an assistant manager. I was drawn to the EM cleanup mission because I saw the importance of the effort to our country, and I wanted to be involved with something meaningful. I am still here, though, largely because of the people I now work with. I am motivated by their determination and hard work. As a leader, I enjoy aiding in their development. I feel EM is where I will finish my legacy of service and pass it on to others.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officials met Nov. 6 at DOE headquarters to discuss the status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station cleanup. Through international collaboration, EM supports Japan in its cleanup and long-term strategic planning. This latest meeting continued to build EM's partnership with Japan after EM officials traveled to Japan this past summer for a forum. It provided an opportunity for EM to share information related to technical aspects and stakeholder engagement during decommissioning and remediation of nuclear legacy sites in the United States. Pictured from left are Yuichiro Inoue, manager, TEPCO; Tairo Aono, secretary to president, TEPCO; Takashi Furuya, deputy general manager, Washington, D.C., Office, TEPCO; Tatsuro Kobayashi, general manager, Washington, D.C., Office, TEPCO; Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president, TEPCO; William "Ike" White, EM senior advisor; Jeff Avery, EM principal deputy assistant secretary; Kristen Ellis, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs; Cathy Tullis, EM chief of staff; and Greg Sosson, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations.
 In this series of photos, EM crews lift the top portion of the Oak Ridge Research Reactor vessel from the reactor pool. Next, they load the 32-foot-tall vessel into a cargo container for safe transport and disposal.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Fresh on the heels of demolishing the Bulk Shielding Reactor and Low Intensity Test Reactor over the past year, EM crews at Oak Ridge are now working to remove a third reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
The Oak Ridge Research Reactor was an isotope production and irradiation facility from 1958 through 1987. It was permanently shut down in July 1987 and defueled.
The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR are preparing the reactor for demolition. This is another in a line of projects transforming ORNL’s central campus by clearing away old excess, contaminated facilities.
Using a large diamond wire saw, UCOR safely removed the top portion of the 32-foot-tall reactor vessel located in the reactor facility. Crews will remove a second portion of the reactor after eliminating the remaining reactor connections. The final portion of the reactor is embedded in cement, and workers will remove it during the facility’s demolition.
“Demolishing this structure presents unique challenges,” said Don Gagel, UCOR project manager. “The upper section is being removed in two sections based on its radiation dose. The very top section was lower dose, but the next section requiring removal is higher dose. Segmenting these two sections results in more efficient, cost-effective transportation, and safe disposal.”
This work comes nearly a decade after employees first began work in the building after discovering water seepage from the reactor pool. To address the issue, workers placed concrete shielding and containment panels over the pool, drained it and injected a fixative to keep contamination in place.
A bright green color added to the fixative helped crews confirm that the fixative covered the entire pool’s surface. However, when water was added in the pool to begin deactivation efforts, the dye leached into the water and greatly reduced visibility in the pool.
EM crews responded by developing an ultraviolet light and hydrogen peroxide treatment skid that eliminated the green dye and cleared the pool, providing visibility to conduct deactivation tasks.
“The project team continues to solve problems associated with removing the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, allowing continued safe progress with this challenging job,” UCOR Area Project Manager Larry Brede said. “The workforce’s diligent efforts are paying dividends as evidenced by this first reactor section removal.”
Other hazardous materials removed from the reactor pool are being cut into smaller pieces and placed into waste transfer baskets underwater. Once full, these waste transfer baskets will be lifted, dried and loaded into cask liners for disposal.
Crews are slated to remove the next portion of the reactor vessel in January. Its removal is the first step required prior to deactivation in the remainder of the facility to prepare it for near-term demolition.
-Contributor: Carol Hendrycks
 Sixty-four eighth grade girls across the Central Savannah River Area sparked new interests in science, technology, engineering, and math careers when they attended an event called “Introduce a Girl to Engineering-STEM Like a Girl.”
Event Helps Empower Girls to Pursue Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
AIKEN, S.C. – More than 60 eighth grade students from schools across the Central Savannah River Area participated in the Savannah River Site’s (SRS) “Introduce a Girl to Engineering-STEM Like a Girl” event held at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center.
The all-girl event, sponsored by SRS management-and-operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), connected the students with 50 volunteers from across the site. Participants explored science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career paths through industry-specific activities in celebration of Nuclear Science Week.
“The excitement seen on the faces of the girls today made it all worth it.”
-Taylor Rice, education outreach specialist, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
“At Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, females make up around 20% of our engineering workforce and 31% of our IT professionals,” said Taylor Rice, SRNS education outreach specialist. “This event is one way SRNS aims to create new perspectives and innovative ideas at our site, break gender barriers and introduce new opportunities to female students who’ve shown interest in these fields.”
The students participated in female-led activities that included coding practice, design, electrical, civil and mechanical engineering, building techniques, and robotics. Participants also watched engineering come alive during a DuPont Planetarium show.
 Two area students experiment with graphite and electrical conductivity, much like electrical engineers, during the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering-STEM Like a Girl” event held at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center in Aiken, South Carolina.
Savannah River National Laboratory Analytical Chemist Katy Broadwater volunteered to lead activities you can’t always find in a traditional classroom setting.
“My job does not stop when I clock out of work,” said Broadwater. “Volunteering gives me the opportunity to get out in the community and advocate for the Savannah River Site — an organization that supports safety, creativity, innovative ideas and job growth for all. I will always encourage girls to take the leap into a very attainable STEM career and I hope to have inspired at least one student today.”
Braelin Elmore, an eighth grade student at Scofield Middle School in Aiken, was surprised to see what the event was all about.
“I felt very special and seen to be one of the two girls invited from my school,” said Elmore. “I am considering a career in STEM after the building activity, which allowed our group to become engineers tasked with creating the strongest structure. It felt like art; bringing together our creative ideas into one.”
 Three Savannah River Site volunteers test the impact of structures built by student participants during a mechanical and civil engineering building contest.
Sinclaire Candreva, advanced engineering mechanical engineer at SRS, believes the exposure to women in the field is incredible for this age group.
“Whether they go home today enjoying this field or not, we have created a lasting positive impression on their future,” said Candreva. “When I was in middle school, I was never exposed to these types of activities, and it took me until college to realize that I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. This event was a fun and interactive opportunity for the girls to see that they can be highly successful in a male-dominated field early on.”
Rice recognized the volunteers who made the event a success.
“We couldn’t have accomplished this event without the help and dedication from the 50 volunteers who chose to spend their Saturday mentoring the next generation of our workforce and impacting the trajectory of their future,” said Rice. “The excitement seen on the faces of the girls today made it all worth it.”
Click here for more information about SRNS Education Outreach initiatives.
-Contributor: Mackenzie McNabb
 Tour participants get a bird’s eye view of ongoing work at the Portsmouth Site’s On-Site Waste Disposal Facility.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) sites in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky, recently completed another successful public-tour season boosted by an influx of visitors from across the country.
This year, the PPPO sites hosted close to 300 people over a span of eight tours. Guests from Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin joined local community members for close-up views of the cleanup sites.
The public tours provide visitors a guided windshield journey and discussion of current EM cleanup activities, combined with a unique opportunity to learn about the history of the two plants.
“The Portsmouth and Paducah sites had a historical impact on the nation’s national security and with commercial utilities, so it’s great to see today’s far-reaching interest,” PPPO Manager Joel Bradburne said. “The opportunity to share EM’s cleanup progress along with the site’s history allows participants to imagine what the future may hold.”
The Paducah tour takes visitors to the historic C-300 Central Control Building and the C-333 Process Building. In the early 1950s, numerous officials from the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor agency to DOE, and then-plant-operator, Union Carbide, had gathered at C-333 when the first equipment began enriching uranium.
Additionally, tour participants are able to see the depleted uranium hexafluoride facility that is converting over 60,000 cylinders of legacy material into a more stable chemical form that can be reused, stored or disposed of.
Tour highlights at Portsmouth include a stop to see remnants from the demolition of the X-326 Process Building that covered 56 acres under roof — the most significant cleanup milestone at the site to date — and a view of operations at the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility.
Both sites will host public tours in 2024. Register for the waiting list for the Paducah tour here, and click here for information on the Portsmouth tours.
-Contributors: Zachary Boyarski, Cindi Remy
 Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) control room operator Garrett Jarnagin works at a distributed control system console for the Defense Waste Processing Facility. SRMC has implemented software to assist control room operators with the operability and efficiency of waste transfers within the facility.
AIKEN, S.C. – A digital transformation initiative in EM’s waste vitrification plant at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is ensuring accuracy and consistency, and streamlining operations of nuclear waste transfers.
EM liquid waste contractor Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) developed and implemented computer-aided software to assist control room operators at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). That facility converts the high-level liquid waste stored in the SRS Tank Farms into a glass form within stainless steel canisters that is safe for long-term storage and disposal. A tank farm is a group of underground waste-storage tanks.
Material such as radioactive waste and other liquids are transferred throughout DWPF using the plant’s distributed control system — an automated computer system with physical control elements. Such systems are also used to make material transfers in EM’s other liquid waste facilities, including the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), Saltstone Production Facility and Tank Farms.
As a 24/7 nuclear facility, DWPF operators transfer materials in, out and through the plant over 1,500 times per year. The new software directly assists operators who are used to making those transfers manually on the distributed control system, according to Will Brown, SRMC Information Technology/Operational Technology Programs and Innovation manager.
Collaborating with SRMC employees across many disciplines, Brown’s team implemented the computer-aided software that enhances operability of DWPF transfers. Specifically, the software is programmed to follow existing transfer procedures verbatim, which automates facility equipment manipulation per procedure; provide enhanced plant monitoring, both prior to and during material transfers; predetermine the amount of material to be transferred and move exactly that much material; and complete calculations that support the transfer.
Over 130 transfers between May and September this year have been completed with the new software with a 100% success rate.
Other benefits of the software include providing real-time transfer status and aggregated transfer data on a single screen. Overall, this computerized transfer assistance provides exceptional consistency, reduced operator touch points and improvement of transfer accuracy.
Mirwaise Aurah, SRMC chief information officer and engineering director for operational technology, said with SRMC’s drive toward digital transformation, it is important to find the right balance between the risks and benefits of using technology to make lives and jobs safer and more efficient.
“Engaged and attentive operators ensure the success of the facility's critical processing system,” Aurah said. “And this computerized enhancement reduces the risk of human-performance-related errors during transfers.”
SRMC President and Program Manager Dave Olson said this innovative enhancement is an ideal example of SRMC’s core value of continuous improvement in action.
“The successful implementation of the transfer-assistant software into the Defense Waste Processing Facility paves the way for further enhancements throughout the Liquid Waste Program by adding more of these assistants to all facilities’ control systems,” Olson said.
He noted the software implementation was a multi-disciplined effort that needed a wide group of contributors to succeed.
“Thank you to all who worked together to assemble, deploy, refine and improve this important product,” Olson said. “I am proud of SRMC’s commitment to safety, reliability and continuous improvement — all of which are attributes that are critical as we advance our mission.”
-Contributor: Colleen Hart
RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford Site crews recently made project history when they started pouring the first molten glass from a 300-ton melter into a stainless steel container at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. There is no waste or chemical simulants in the glass used to test the melter and associated equipment at the plant’s Low-Activity Waste (LAW) Facility. Workers monitored the pour from a control room as a stream of glass was released from the melter, as seen in this short video. The glass is poured in batches into stainless steel containers below the melter that are about 4 feet wide by 7.5 feet high. The first pour marks another important step in commissioning the plant as the EM Office of River Protection and contractor Bechtel National Inc. gear up to immobilize millions of gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from Hanford’s large underground tanks in glass for safe disposal. Workers are scheduled to start heating up the second of the two melters in the LAW Facility in December, applying lessons learned from heating up the first melter. In 2024, cold commissioning using a simulated waste will commence, and hot commissioning using real waste is scheduled to begin in early 2025.
 Protective Force Performance Testing Manager Tamara Kissinger uses radio communication to ensure the Portsmouth Site security-related scenario’s elements stay on track.
PIKE COUNTY, Ohio – About 50 participants served in an exercise at the Portsmouth Site to test the response time and efficiency of security police officers and other personnel during a security-related incident.
Officers posed as armed assailants while observers evaluated tactics, communications and equipment usage. Employees at the site that work in security, radiation protection, emergency management, fire protection, stakeholder affairs and the plant shift superintendent’s office participated in the event.
“It is important to ensure that our workforce is safe in all aspects,” Portsmouth Site Lead Jeremy Davis said. “These exercises prepare security to respond to any potential incidents and the complications that are created when they happen in radiological areas.”
 Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth Security Section Manager Robert Fiorille, far right, discusses changing conditions of the drill scenario with participants.
Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) Security Section Manager Robert Fiorille said the exercise once again proved the site’s Protective Force is able to respond swiftly to emerging situations and confidently deal with security-related threats. FBP is EM’s decontamination and decommissioning contractor for the site.
Personnel from agencies such as the Pike County Sheriff’s Office observed the exercise to build relationships and provide additional support in the event of real security incidents.
“The exercise involved the Emergency Response Organization (ERO) and their response to a simulated hazardous materials event,” FBP Emergency Management Drill and Exercise Manager Steve Balko said. “The combination of a hazardous materials emergency with a security event provides for an excellent test of our ERO’s abilities and Emergency Management appreciates the opportunity to be a part of this exercise.”
-Contributor: Michelle Teeters
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