Hanford Completes Second Tank-Waste Processing Campaign; Energy Technology Engineering Center Enters Public Scoping Period to Evaluate Alternatives for Soil Cleanup; and much more!

Vol. 17, Issue 2  |  Jan. 14, 2025

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News on the world's largest environmental cleanup

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A worker performs maintenance inside the Hanford Site’s Tank-Side Cesium Removal System before the start of the latest processing campaign. So far, the system has processed more than 830,000 gallons of tank waste.

Hanford Completes Second Tank-Waste Processing Campaign

RICHLAND, Wash. — The Hanford Site is a step closer to immobilizing radioactive liquid tank waste in glass for safe disposal.

The Hanford Field Office and tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions recently completed the second waste processing campaign through the Tank-Side Cesium Removal (TSCR) System.

TSCR is a demonstration project that removes radioactive cesium and solids from tank waste and delivers the waste to a nearby underground storage tank. More than 830,000 gallons of TSCR-treated waste are now staged and ready to be sent to Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for treatment later this year.

“The TSCR System is accomplishing its mission as the first step in treating Hanford’s tank waste,” said Bibek Tamang, Hanford TSCR Program manager. “We’re making great progress toward the start of plant operations in 2025.”

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Hanford Site workers remove a sample of waste from a large underground tank for testing to ensure it meets the criteria for sending it to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant later this year.

The next campaign is scheduled to begin this summer. Once finished, it will bring the amount of waste available to feed to the treatment plant to more than 1 million gallons.

“During the two years we have been operating TSCR, we have reinforced our ability to run safely, efficiently and effectively,” said Wes Bryan, contractor president and project manager. “We’ve advanced operations to treat tank waste and will be ready for 24/7 operations when the plant starts treating tank waste.”

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ETEC Enters Public Scoping Period to Evaluate Alternatives for Soil Cleanup

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) published a notice of intent in the Federal Register on Dec. 27 to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The SEIS is a mechanism for the Department to evaluate additional alternatives for cleanup of soils in Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), where DOE formerly operated the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC), and the Northern Buffer Zone (NBZ).

The notice of intent kicks off a 60-day public scoping period where DOE looks forward to hearing public feedback and ideas on proposed alternatives for an SEIS.

“We are stiving to achieve an implementable soil cleanup standard that meets our previous agreement,” said Josh Mengers, federal project director at DOE’s ETEC site. “We want to partner with the community and get to final soils cleanup plans that are protective but also avoid doing more harm than good.”

The state of California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) recently shared issues with the DOE and the community on current soil remediation methodology during its Soil Smarts Workshop series, which will continue into 2025 and seeks to reduce errors in misidentifying soil samples as contaminated when they are not. These misidentified samples are referred to as false positives.

“We are focused on getting the levels right to avoid unnecessary soil removal and execute the final stretch of DOE’s mission at SSFL,” Mengers said.

The SEIS is intended to supplement the Final Environmental Impact Statement for remediation of Area IV and NBZ, and will include additional soils remediation alternatives not previously evaluated, including DTSC’s Multiple Lines of Evidence approach that the agency is currently developing with the community.

DOE will hold two public scoping meetings — a virtual meeting on Feb. 6 and an in-person meeting on Feb. 18 — to provide information to the community about the proposed alternatives and gather input from stakeholders. Feedback will help DOE with the SEIS in proposing final implementable cleanup plans at SSFL.

Comments will be accepted through Feb. 25. Submissions can be emailed to SSFL_DOE_SEIS@emcbc.doe.gov using the subject line “Scoping Comments” or mailed to Dr. Joshua Mengers, NEPA Document Manager, at Leidos 2109 Air Park Road SE, Ste 200, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

More information about the scoping period and the SEIS is available on EM’s ETEC website.

-Contributors: Stephanie Shewmon, Melissa Simon

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EMTV: Watch the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's 2024 year in review video.

WIPP Begins Planned Maintenance Period on Heels of a Successful 2024

CARLSBAD, N.M. — The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) team looked back at a successful year with the release of a 2024 year in review video this week.

Likewise, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management site’s annual planned maintenance outage is underway and is expected to run through mid-March. No transuranic waste shipments from generator sites to WIPP are scheduled during the maintenance period. Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO), WIPP’s management and operations contractor, leads the maintenance team.

WIPP, the nation’s only repository for defense-related transuranic waste, receives waste left from research and production of nuclear weapons and emplaces those materials in underground rooms mined out of an ancient salt formation.

“Keeping our WIPP infrastructure well maintained, available and ready to go is so important to our day-to-day operations,” said Mindy Toothman, director of Site Operations and Infrastructure for EM’s Carlsbad Field Office. “Some of our vital infrastructure is more than 30 years old, and planned annual maintenance outages combined with new infrastructure investments are vital to serving DOE’s defense and cleanup missions.”

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During a previous annual maintenance outage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, workers safely performed a head rope replacement at the site’s waste hoist building where transuranic waste shipments are lowered into the underground repository.

During the planned outage, several upgrade and installation projects are scheduled. Crews will install the final section of duct work to connect the new aboveground Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System to the underground repository. Workers will also continue refurbishing a key piece of infrastructure more than 2,100 feet underground known as the “salt pocket.”

Maintenance activities include inspecting the contact-handled waste bay dock, replacing the waist hoist head rope and motor, inspecting ventilation and fan systems, and performing maintenance for electrical substations and systems. There will also be continued mining upkeep of an underground drift, or passageway, used as the main haul route for waste emplacement, as well as inspections of underground bulkheads. Bulkheads are used to control airflow through air circuits in the facility’s underground.

“In addition to the new infrastructure, much of our work will focus on conducting inspections, performing maintenance, and making any necessary repairs and replacements on existing equipment, systems, and portions of the underground mine so they remain safe and ready to support waste emplacement operations,” said Mike Marksberry, a SIMCO vice president and mining and underground operations manager.

-Contributor: Roy Neese

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An Isotek employee wearing a protective suit implements lessons learned from recent training to replace equipment inside a hot cell. These upgrades support future processing operations for the Uranium-233 Disposition Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Mock-up Training Benefits High-Priority ORNL Cleanup Project

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — How can employees safely perform repairs inside highly contaminated rooms used to process nuclear waste?

That’s a question Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) contractor Isotek is answering through advanced training that is helping prepare and protect employees while also facilitating efficient operations to keep Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) highest priority cleanup project on track.

OREM and Isotek are working to eliminate the nation’s inventory of uranium-233 (U-233) from storage at ORNL.

U-233 presents risks and is costly to keep safe and secure. Originally created in the 1950s and 1960s for potential use in reactors, it proved to be an unviable fuel source.

The remaining inventory of U-233 stored onsite requires processing to convert it into a form safe for shipment and permanent disposal. That work involves Isotek employees placing the material in heavily shielded rooms, called hot cells, and handling that material using mechanical arm manipulators.

Equipment used inside the hot cells degrades over time from wear and tear and from high radiological dose. To replace the equipment, workers must occasionally enter the hot cells.

“The hot cells are heavily contaminated from the highly radioactive material we process within them,” Isotek Radiological Control Manager Rodney Bauman said. “We want to be inside hot cells as little as possible.”

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Inside a mock-up, Isotek employees practice the steps involved in replacing hot cell equipment. The mock-up features the exact dimensions of an actual hot cell.

Entries occur approximately five times a year — only when equipment inside the rooms cannot be fixed or replaced using the openings in the hot cells.

Isotek is preparing employees for those entries by providing them opportunities to dress in personal protective equipment and practice tasks before performing them in high radiation areas. Radiological control, maintenance and engineering teams fabricated a mock-up hot cell offsite so key personnel could perform and perfect hot cell entry procedures before ever entering the hazard zone.

“The idea behind the mock-up hot cell is that we can get comfortable performing our work in all the additional layers of personal protective equipment so that when we enter the real hot cell, we’re able to perform our work more efficiently,” Bauman said. “This is a great way to help keep our workers safe.”

The mock-up was constructed to the exact measurements of a hot cell so workers can adapt to the dimensions of the limited space. Staff must learn to perform tasks with minimal contact with surfaces and equipment inside, which helps them avoid areas with high levels of contamination and reduce the likelihood of spreading contamination.

This training is especially timely because these rooms are becoming more contaminated as crews process material from the inventory with increasingly higher levels of radiation.

Hot cell entries also provide an opportunity to make improvements to the processing system.

“We know a lot more about the layout needed in the hot cell now than we did when we first started,” Isotek Process Engineer Jesse Jensen said. “We were able to redesign some of the equipment to take better advantage of the space and hopefully make it last longer, while also making it easier to replace and maintain in the future.”

The hot cell mock-up practice has already paid off.

In recent weeks, Isotek workers entered one of the hot cells and replaced all the processing equipment inside. The activity involved loosening and fastening hose lines, lifting and replacing ion-exchange columns stands, and the challenging process of communicating to personnel outside the hot cell using radios in their protective suits.

The hot cell entry was safe and successful with new and improved equipment installed to support future processing operations.

Isotek is coming off a successful 2024 campaign. Employees processed more than 90 canisters of high-dose material last year, exceeding the goal of 35. They also continued extracting medical isotopes from the U-233 material to support next-generation cancer treatment research.

-Contributor: John Gray

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Workers at the Hanford Site’s Central Waste Complex are reducing risk by moving large waste containers from two outside areas behind the complex.

Crews Make Progress Cleaning Up Outside Storage Areas at Hanford

RICHLAND, Wash. — Crews with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) are making progress cleaning up the “backyard” at the Central Waste Complex (CWC) on the Hanford Site.

The backyard is two outdoor storage areas covering 12 acres behind the CWC on Hanford’s Central Plateau. For the past several years workers have been removing large waste containers from the outside areas that were moved from Hanford Site burial grounds.

“Transferring this waste to an offsite facility for treatment and repackaging or more secure storage facilities at the waste complex is a key risk-reduction effort,” said Scott Green, Hanford Field Office deputy assistant manager for River and Plateau cleanup. “Completing this project will also meet a significant Tri-Party Agreement milestone.”

In 2018, DOE and Hanford’s regulators — the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and Washington State Department of Ecology — established a milestone under the Tri-Party Agreement to remove all containers from the outside storage areas by Sept. 30, 2026. Originally, there were 132 containers. Today only 16 remain.

The containers store a variety of solid waste, such as reactor and laboratory equipment, tools, contaminated clothing, and a variety of other items used during Hanford’s plutonium production mission. The large containers are made of metal, concrete or fiberglass-reinforced plywood.

“There are always challenges that come with moving these large, heavy containers, especially when it involves crane and rigging,” said Sasa Kosjerina, CPCCo shift operations manager. “But we take pride in getting the work done safely with a highly skilled team that carefully plans and performs every job.”

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Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) employee McKay Lowder uses a manipulator to take process samples following the treatment of sodium-bearing waste at the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. IEC employee Alan Middleton, background, supports the effort.

Idaho Waste Treatment Facility Employs Successful Radiation Protection Program

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Since beginning radiological operations in April 2023, the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) has run a successful radiation protection program to control contamination and minimize personnel exposures while the plant converts liquid radioactive waste to a safer granular solid.

IWTU began operations on April 11, 2023, treating 68,000 gallons of the 900,000 gallons of sodium-bearing waste from three nearby underground tanks during the next five months.

During a subsequent outage for maintenance, team members opened IWTU’s cells to replace filters and conduct inspections and repairs. They also designed and built mock-ups, tent enclosures and one-of-a-kind tools; maximized ventilation controls; and continually decontaminated areas to keep personnel exposures to a minimum and contain contamination within the cells themselves.

IWTU Nuclear Operations Senior Director Jimmy Spells said he was pleased with everyone’s preparation and execution of work.

“Preplanning and worker input ensured that our radiological outage was executed safely and efficiently,” he said. “This is especially notable since this was also the first actual radiological work experience for much of the IWTU team.”

Bill Kirby, chief operating officer for ICP contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), agreed.

“Exceptional planning with the involvement of radiological engineering, operations, work control, and system engineering really made the difference,” he said. “Our use of mock-ups and dry runs gave people the confidence that this challenging work could be done safely, and they delivered.”

Process gas filter bundle replacement was particularly challenging because of high radiation and contamination levels. During radiological operations, gases along with light particles generated in the Denitration Mineralization Reformer — IWTU’s primary reaction vessel – are drawn to the process gas filter, which filters out fine solids. The process gas filter consists of 18 bundles containing long, cylindrical ceramic filters.

“Personnel successfully replaced all 18 process gas filter bundles and kept exposure levels an order of magnitude below allowable U.S. Department of Energy annual limits,” said Radiation Protection, Safety, Health & Fire Protection Senior Manager Allen Nellesen.

Since resuming radiological operations in August last year, IWTU has operated reliably and has treated more than 160,000 gallons of sodium-bearing waste — more than 228,000 gallons overall.

“The IWTU radiation protection monitoring program is paramount to that successful waste treatment track record,” Nellesen said.

The program continuously tracks and trends dose rates and contamination levels throughout the facility, which allows the organization to react to changing conditions before regulatory limits are reached or issues arise.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

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The “Fiat-Allis” dozer is loaded onto a flatbed trailer at the Portsmouth Site. Removing this equipment is part of the overall cleanup effort underway at the site.

Portsmouth Site Prepares Bygone Dozer for Final Resting Place

PIKETON, Ohio — An antiquated earthmover at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management Portsmouth Site, affectionately called “Fiat-Allis,” had been awaiting liberation from the woods for decades until its removal recently.

In the 1990s, Fiat-Allis, built as a joint venture by the Fiat and Allis Chalmers companies, was purchased to construct a sanitary landfill. After completion of the landfill, the machine had mechanical and electrical issues, so it was left in place in the site forest due to its size and difficulty of repairs. According to archives, the dozer stood more than 8 feet tall and weighed more than 50 tons, with its blade alone weighing 5 tons.

“We’ve talked about this legendary dozer since I started working at the site,” said Chris Lewis, waste management manager for Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP), the Portsmouth Site deactivation and demolition contractor. “Sixteen years of chatter about the disposition of ‘Allis’ and now we have the remedy in hand.”

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Ironworker Jayce Denny works to decrease the weight of the “Fiat-Allis” dozer by removing its blade at the Portsmouth Site.

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Historically, the “Fiat-Allis” model is known as a “heavily beefed-up tractor.” Weighing more than 50 tons, the dozer was purchased to construct a sanitary landfill at the Portsmouth Site.

Removing the dozer was a significant cleanup task due to it spending so many years in nature. One of the first steps involved removing trees and briars to construct a gravel road to access the equipment. Determining the best route for disposal required a concerted effort by employees. They found that the best option was to downsize the dozer to meet waste acceptance criteria for the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility.

“Stories like these make the Portsmouth Site history unique,” EM Waste Management Specialist Ryan Callihan said. “Fiat-Allis did her job and served her time before gaining the unexpected celebrity status she has today.”

The large dozer recently emerged from a location near the interim leachate treatment system for the disposal facility. It was transported to the pad of the former X-326 Process Building for resizing. The equipment will eventually claim its final resting place at the disposal facility.

-Contributor: Michelle Teeters

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Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) protégés met to share knowledge and experiences during the 2024 Mentor-Protégé Center of Excellence event. US&S Facility Services, CRC Technologies and Strativia graduated from the program, sharing best practices with newly enrolled small businesses.

Savannah River Site Adds 7 Small Businesses to DOE Mentor-Protégé Program

AIKEN, S.C. — A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) recently enrolled a record seven small businesses into DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program, further strengthening its commitment to fostering diverse and capable subcontractors across the cleanup complex.

Since the program’s launch in 2015, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) has empowered small businesses to enhance their capabilities, increasing its investment in subcontracts with suppliers in DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program from $400,000 to $41 million.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and this program helps enhance their capabilities, enabling them to successfully compete for contracts with DOE and other federal agencies,” said Staci Peters, SRNS senior vice president of Business Services.

SRNS strategically aligns the skills of small businesses with current site demands, particularly in sectors typically dominated by larger corporations. Of the newly recruited protégés, five will focus on construction, one on staffing and development, and one on supplies.

“These small businesses will bring innovative solutions and specialized skills that play a critical role in supporting our missions and expanding our supply chain capabilities,” said Dave Dietz, SRNS supply chain procurement senior director.

The DOE Mentor-Protégé Program at SRS features a Center of Excellence forum, where seasoned companies exchange best practices and valuable insights. A recent forum provided protégés with valuable information on government contracting. It was held in partnership with South Carolina APEX Accelerator, which helps small businesses navigate the federal contracting landscape.

“The Center of Excellence forum allows protégés to collaborate with their peers and exchange ideas,” said Jana Chavous, SRNS lead supply chain management specialist. “Our seasoned protégés shared both their successes and lessons learned with newcomers to the program and how to do business with SRNS.”

Three companies graduated from the program: US&S Facility Services, CRC Technologies and Strativia. Notably, CRC Technologies, a woman-owned small business, was awarded $98 million in subcontracts during its five-year tenure in the program.

"Our company culture has evolved to reflect that of SRNS, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration, which allows us to ensure mission deliverables and desired outcomes are achieved safely and promptly," said Bob Conner, founder and president of CRC Technologies. "This program has significantly benefited our business, leading to controlled growth and notable improvements in company size, stability, financial health and culture."

Typically, companies participate in the program for two years with an option for three additional one-year extensions.

The nine current protégés aim to introduce innovative solutions to support site missions in fiscal year 2025, which began in October. The program fosters shared mentoring practices complex-wide, enhancing procurement efficiency and saving federal funds. Protégés that receive mentor-protégé agreements at SRS can secure subcontracts to work at other EM sites.

-Contributor: Mackenzie McNabb