 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — EM marked transformative accomplishments in fiscal year 2023 (FY 2023), highlighting significant hiring and innovation advances, and a strengthened commitment to veteran employment and workforce diversity.
"As we reflect on a year of exceptional growth and innovation, EM stands at the forefront of empowering its workforce, embracing technology and honoring our nation’s veterans," said Toby Layman, deputy director of EM's Office of Workforce Management. "Our achievements are not just a measure of progress but a beacon of what dedicated public service can accomplish."
Hiring Achievements: A Leap in Growth and Opportunities
In FY 2023, EM demonstrated a robust increase in recruitment and hiring activities, with total recruitment actions exhibiting a general increased trend. Starting from 163 in October 2022, recruitment actions peaked at 247 in May 2023, showcasing a vigorous recruitment drive. This culminated in a substantial influx of new hires within EM, totaling 260 new hires and Pathways Recent Graduates Program participants in 2023, reflecting sustained hiring efforts over time. This period marks an unprecedented enhancement in staffing levels, growing from 1,120 to 1,260 employees from March to December.
EM Headquarters and Site-Specific Recruitment Trends
EM headquarters demonstrated the most substantial growth in total recruitment actions, starting from 26 in October 2022, peaking at 66 in April 2023, and moderating to 21 by this past January. The Hanford Site consistently reported high total recruitment actions, maintaining a range between 44 and 74, with a notable spike in May 2023. The Savannah River Site (SRS) showed a steady presence in recruitment actions, peaking at 38 on two occasions, in March and April 2023, and stabilizing at 25 by this past January. The Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office experienced fluctuating trends but ended with a relatively high number of 10 by January. As recruitment endeavors moderated in FY 2024, the momentum of new hires began to level off, suggesting a strategic stabilization in workforce expansion.
Hiring and Workforce Diversity: A Commitment to Equity and Inclusivity
Veterans constitute 28% of EM’s workforce, with 35 new hires. EM has played a pivotal role in DOE’s recognition as the No. 1 veteran employer by Forbes. This accolade reflects DOE's commitment to supporting veteran employment and integrating their invaluable skills into the workforce.
In a progressive shift towards a more inclusive workforce, EM has increased the representation of the 25-34 age group by 28 employees. The representation of women has also seen a notable increase, comprising 39.5% of new hires and increasing female representation by 49 employees.
EM’s inclusive hiring practices have also resulted in 15 Asian or Pacific Islanders, 23 Black Hispanic, four Hispanic, and three American Indian or Alaska Native American new hires. A substantial 46.9% of new hires were people with disabilities, enhancing EM’s representation by 70 individuals.
The Excepted Service Initiative: Shaping EM's Future
EM’s dedicated efforts in talent acquisition resulted in converting 60 employees from the general schedule to the excepted service and hiring 30 new excepted service staff members, with an additional 11 candidates in the recruitment pipeline. Excepted service is a civil service position that does not confer competitive status. Use of this hiring flexibility allowed EM the ability to hire qualified candidates outside of the traditional recruitment method. EM's excepted service positions are technical and are directly related to the safety and administration of defense nuclear facilities.
Pathways and Summer Intern Programs
EM has filled all 40 allocated positions within the Pathways Recent Graduates Program and added three site-hosted positions. The program's success also echoes through the summer intern program, which has provided invaluable experience to tomorrow's leaders.
Technological Advancements: EM Net Upgrades
In its quest to foster a connected and empowered workforce, EM successfully launched LaunchPath, EMpower People and Everyone Matters. These innovative sites, which are hosted on EM’s intranet site for employees, testify to EM's commitment to inclusivity and progressive employee engagement.
Additional Highlights of FY 2023:
- A successful relocation of EM headquarters employees to the renovated DOE Germantown Complex, along with increased space allocation.
- Contributions to developing and implementing tools such as the Candidate Status Tracker and the Position Management Dashboard, enhancing operational efficiency.
- Launching a professional mentoring program and hosting numerous lunch-and-learn training sessions, nurturing continuous professional growth.
- The completion of five significant realignments within EM headquarters, EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC), EM Los Alamos, Hanford Site, and the shifting of some contracting functions from SRS to EMCBC, streamlining the organizational structure for enhanced performance.
- The successful execution of the FY 2023 performance management process, ensuring timely recognition of EM employees.
- Introducing the Referral Bonus Program and developing the Fitness Reimbursement Program, reinforcing EM's retention initiatives.
- The fulfillment of General Services Administration requests and human capital data calls underscores EM’s commitment to responsive and responsible governance.
  The former K-770 Powerhouse provided energy for enrichment operations at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The powerhouse and oil tank farm are pictured during early operations. EM demolished the facilities in the 1990s.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The biggest land parcel transfer at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) has just been completed.
DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) has transferred a 365-acre tract where a powerhouse complex was once located to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee (CROET).
CROET is a local nonprofit that receives building and property transfers from federal ownership at ETTP, and then reuses those assets to attract new industry to the site that will benefit the community economically.
This transfer is part of OREM’s ongoing efforts to transform ETTP, the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, into a multi-use industrial center, national park and conservation area.
 An aerial view of the 365-acre tract where the Powerhouse complex was once located. It is the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s largest transfer to date at the East Tennessee Technology Park.
 A view of the Powerhouse Area at Oak Ridge’s East Tennessee Technology Park, which workers restored in 2021 to enable future reuse.
Simultaneous with cleanup, OREM’s reindustrialization efforts have enabled 25 companies to locate at the ETTP site. Transfer of this most recent parcel brings the total amount of land transferred for economic development to more than 1,600 acres.
OREM and cleanup contractor UCOR finished tearing down all former enrichment buildings and support facilities at the ETTP site in 2020. In total, OREM cleared away more than 500 structures with a combined footprint that could cover 225 football fields.
All soil remediation projects at ETTP will be completed this year, which is an EM priority for 2024.
“Transferring this land maximizes reuse potential and generates economic growth for an area that no longer has a federal DOE mission,” said Joanna Hardin, ETTP federal portfolio federal project director. “Our cleanup and reindustrialization efforts have made the site safer while also creating new economic opportunities for the region.”
The Powerhouse complex was constructed in the 1940s to supply coal-fired electrical power for gaseous diffusion operations at the site. The buildings were shut down and disassembled in the 1960s with demolition complete in the 1990s.
 Oak Ridge's Powerhouse Area was later used as a metal scrapyard. EM removed 50,000 tons of scrap metal from it in 2007.
One section was used as an oil tank farm for fuel oil used in the boilers. Another portion was used as a scrap metal yard. OREM removed 50,000 tons of scrap metal from the site in 2007, and later completed several soil cleanup actions to enable the area’s transfer.
“Approximately 100 acres of this newly transferred tract is suitable for industrial development,” said Kevin Ironside, UCOR environmental services and end state planning manager. “The property also includes a wildlife management area and hiking trail that attract nature enthusiasts.”
This site is ideal for industrial development, Ironside added. Interstate 40 is easily accessible, and a railroad spur located on the parcel could be used by future businesses in conjunction with other transportation options in the area. A nearby barge facility on the Clinch River that was refurbished by a private company in 2018 provides another asset.
Additional property transfers at ETTP are anticipated this year, including approximately 100 acres to be transferred to the City of Oak Ridge.
-Contributor: Wayne McKinney
 EM management, Integrated Waste Treatment Unit employees and others signed the first stainless steel canister prior to crews filling it with sodium-bearing waste and simulant last spring. Once filled, that canister and others were placed in a concrete vault for storage.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — The commencement of radiological operations at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) was a pivotal success for EM last year.
It also provided DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) a key to continued achievements as well.
In a 2011 agreement with the State of Idaho, once IWTU operators filled a single stainless steel canister with treated sodium-bearing waste, INL could receive research-quantities of spent nuclear fuel from the Byron Generating Station in Illinois. That shipment of spent fuel arrived in late December at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex.
During its initial radiological operations run, IWTU treated more than 68,000 gallons of liquid waste, or about 8% of the total volume of the tank waste at the INL Site. That treated waste was placed in stainless steel canisters and is being stored at IWTU.
Based on the 2011 agreement with the state — called the 2011 Memorandum of Agreement Concerning Receipt, Storage, and Handling of Research Quantities of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel at the Idaho National Laboratory — once 100 canisters of treated waste were filled, the INL could receive additional quantities of spent fuel for research.
That accomplishment — an EM 2023 priority — was recognized in a December letter from Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Attorney General Raúl Labrador to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“Congratulations to the hardworking men and women who have yet again demonstrated their commitment to process 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium bearing waste at the Idaho National Laboratory,” the letter says.
DOE Idaho Operations Office Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Manager Connie Flohr praised employees with EM's INL Site cleanup contractor, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), whose work made receipt of the additional research fuel possible.
“We’ve always said that our cleanup mission success creates important nuclear energy research opportunities at the INL, and this is proof positive,” said Flohr. “I want to thank the governor and attorney general for recognizing the achievements of our highly skilled EM employees.”
IEC President Ty Blackford agreed.
“Everyone associated with the IWTU has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the facility and its mission,” he said. “I appreciate the officials of the State of Idaho in their acknowledgement of this achievement and to them, the INL and NE for their unwavering support and trust in the ICP in this important endeavor.”
Crews are preparing to resume operations at IWTU following a maintenance outage that concluded Jan. 20. They have begun activities to prepare for system heatup, which is expected to take place this month along with system conditioning. EM currently forecasts returning to radiological sodium-bearing liquid waste processing in early March.
-Contributor: Erik Simpson
 Crews with EM contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company are demolishing a former chemical storage yard at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant. The plant is one of Hanford’s five former plutonium processing facilities.
RICHLAND, Wash. — Crews with EM Richland Operations Office (RL) contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company are demolishing a former chemical storage area near the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant (PUREX), one of the Hanford Site’s five former plutonium production facilities.
The 211-A storage area at PUREX contains about 20 tanks — most of which are above-ground — that previously stored chemicals used during the PUREX process to extract plutonium from irradiated uranium fuel rods.
“It’s encouraging to see the footprint continue to safely shrink at PUREX, with demolition of the 211-A area following the removal last fall of the adjacent 203-A Acid Storage Area, which met a Tri-Party Agreement milestone,” said Andy Wiborg, EM Projects and Facilities Division team lead for Hanford’s Central Plateau Cleanup Project.
Prior to demolition, crews removed asbestos insulation from a maze of pipelines, cement asbestos board from several tanks and a pump house. They also drained chemical lines at more than 60 locations inside the pump house to ensure no old fluids remained; and disconnected mechanical and electrical lines and equipment.
Completing demolition of 211-A will allow crews to begin cleanup activities inside the main PUREX facility.
“I’m impressed by the progress to safely and efficiently advance our risk-reduction work at the PUREX complex,” said Robert Wade, CPCCo project manager. “We’ve got a hardworking team that thinks creatively, adapts to changing conditions and demonstrates a strong commitment to safety while working in a highly hazardous environment.”
The project is expected to be completed this spring.
 EM workers at the West Valley Demonstration Project prepare a large tank for loading after removing it from a liquid waste cell of the Main Plant Process Building.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project have safely removed the largest of nine tanks from a liquid waste cell as part of the ongoing demolition of the Main Plant Process Building.
The tanks were used to collect liquid waste from past fuel reprocessing operations, and later, high-level waste vitrification processes.
The largest of the tanks that EM crews removed weighs 40,000 pounds. It was the main waste collection tank where acidic liquids were neutralized before the waste liquid was transferred through the system. The team will remove the remaining eight tanks as part of the cleanup project.
Crews with CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV) used an excavator with a hydraulic hammer to remove concrete and steel around the 40,000-pound tank for its safe removal.
Prior to the start of this work, they deactivated and stabilized all nine tanks with grout or foam to control any residual contamination at its source.
“Safety comes down to planning, preparation and robust controls,” said Stephen Bousquet, the EM West Valley assistant director of project management. “Our team understands the importance of performing work in a deliberate and methodical manner, especially when it involves challenging high-risk work while protecting our workforce, the public and the environment.”
The Main Plant is one of the last major facilities at EM’s West Valley cleanup site. Its successful demolition will further reduce environmental risks and position the site for the next cleanup phase.
“Having the right people, equipment and processes in place is how our team continues to leverage their combined knowledge and expertise to safely complete our cleanup mission,” CHBWV President and General Manager Jason Casper said. “I’m proud of the team’s accomplishment and the work they continue to do on this project.”
The Main Plant demolition is expected to be completed in the next fiscal year that starts this October.
-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere
 Calloway County High School teammates Amber Wu, left, and Connor Pile discuss a bonus question during the 2024 DOE West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl.
PADUCAH, Ky. — Calloway County High School Team #1 won this year’s West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl on Friday, culminating months of planning by volunteers and coaches for an event touted as the region’s most prominent science competition for high school students.
The five-member team will compete in DOE’s National Science Bowl finals in Washington, D.C., from April 25-29.
“Every team that competed in this year’s competition should be proud of the effort and time they put into preparing for the science bowl. This event provides an excellent opportunity for students in our region to participate in a first-class competition,” Paducah Site Lead April Ladd said. “The volunteers and coaches dedicate numerous hours to deliver a platform showcasing the gifted students in our local communities.”
 Calloway County High School Team #1 coach Erica Gray, far left, poses with, from left, Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Program Analyst Robert “Buz” Smith, Calloway County Team #1 students Aiden Hooper, Connor Pile, Amber Wu, Sean Williams, and Max Chapman, and Paducah Site Lead April Ladd.
The regional tournament is a quick-recall, fast-paced, question-and-answer contest. During the competition, high school students are quizzed on their knowledge of biology, chemistry, Earth and space, energy, mathematics, and physics.
Owensboro High School Team #1 finished second and Madisonville North Hopkins High School took third place in the regional competition.
“Calloway County High School is excited to represent western Kentucky at the National Science Bowl. We are so grateful for the local, regional and national investment in our students and the continued emphasis on science, math and engineering education. Winning the regional science bowl is an honor for our students and coaches who have worked many months preparing for the competition,” said Erica Gray, Calloway County High School team coach.
 Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Program Analyst Robert “Buz” Smith, far left, and Paducah Site Lead April Ladd, far right, pose with runner-up, Owensboro High School Team #1. Teammates include, from left, students Adrion Perez, Kaleb Horn, David Daniel, Jacob Ladwig and Landon Block.
 Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Program Analyst Robert “Buz” Smith, far left, and Paducah Site Lead April Ladd, far right, pose with second-runner-up, the Madisonville North Hopkins High School team. Pictured are, front row, from left, coach Linda Gigliette, Hope Calhoun and Albany Ray; and back row, from left, EJ Williams, Kaylee Brandon, River McDurmon and coach Jeremy Davis.
Also competing in this year’s regional match were Ballard Memorial, Christian County, Fulton County, Hopkinsville, Marshall County, McCracken County, Murray, and Paducah Tilghman high schools.
The first-place high school team in the regional tournament received $1,200 for its school.
The regional event is sponsored and organized by EM Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office employees and contractors. More than 110 volunteers serve as moderators, judges, technical advisors and scorekeepers. DOE’s Office of Science manages the National Science Bowl finals competition. More information is available here.
Each year, about 10,000 students from across the country compete in the national competition. Since the event began 33 years ago, more than 344,000 students have competed.
-Contributors: Dylan Nichols
 EM crews demolish the old guardhouse at the West Valley Demonstration Project.
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project safely demolished a former security guardhouse built in 1965, one of the first facilities constructed at the former commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility.
Originally, the facility was only 168 square feet until two additions increased its square footage to 700. A new guardhouse was constructed last year to better serve the continued needs of the site as it progresses towards the next cleanup phase.
“While not the most complex or difficult demolition we have done at West Valley, it is still a significant historic milestone in our cleanup efforts. Our crews did an excellent job in their safe execution of this demolition work,” said Jennifer Dundas, EM’s West Valley assistant director for the Office of Technical Services.
While the old guardhouse served its purpose well over the years, West Valley’s new facility boasts more space for officers, including updated offices, modern equipment, badging for site staff and storage space.
Demolition began in mid-December, and the building structure was demolished and packaged over two days. Workers used a large excavator with a bucket and hydraulic thumb attachment to take down the building and load debris into containers to ship offsite for disposal. Last month, workers also completed the teardown of old locker rooms near the old guardhouse, also replaced due to their age.
“The completion of this demolition changes the landscape of the site,” said Jason Casper, president and general manager for CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV), EM's cleanup contractor at West Valley. “It is a reminder of the hard work that’s being done to clean up the site for future generations.”
Dave Schuman, CHBWV safeguards and security manager, reiterated Casper’s sentiments.
“For me, the demolition of this building signifies an end to an era," he said. "For almost 60 years, this building served our protective force and could be seen from the road by residents and visitors alike.”
-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere
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