DOE Fellows gather with EM Lead Foreign Affairs Specialist Ana Han, front row, left to right, EM Acting Assistant Secretary David Huizenga, and Florida International University Applied Research Director Dr. Leonel E. Lagos at the Waste Management 2014 Conference.
PHOENIX – Florida International University (FIU) staff members and students who work with EM on research efforts took part in the Waste Management 2014 Conference on the safe management and disposition of radioactive materials and waste in Phoenix earlier this month.
The staff members and students are from FIU’s Applied Research Center (ARC), which provides technical research support to EM in environmental remediation and student workforce development for high-priority areas such as radioactive waste processing and facility deactivation and decommissioning.
Their research efforts fall under a five-year cooperative agreement between EM and FIU that has allowed the university to developed expertise and specialized facilities through its dedicated scientific and engineering work, which is aligned with EM’s mission to accelerate risk reduction and site cleanup.
At the conference, FIU participants conducted technical presentations at seven sessions. The presentations were based on applied research conducted by ARC on behalf of EM. Eighteen DOE Fellows who are pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate, graduate, and post graduate degrees took part in discussions and presentations. These fellows are part of the DOE-FIU Science and Technology Workforce Development Initiative. In addition, two FIU STEM graduates and 45 students from other U.S. and international colleges and universities attended.
At a student poster competition, participants presented 17 technical posters based on research performed at ARC and in summer internships at DOE sites and national laboratories. This year’s Best Student poster went to Alexandra Fleitas, a 2013 DOE Fellow. Fleitas’ poster was titled, “Innovative High-Level Waste Pipeline Unplugging Technologies for Hanford Site Asynchronous Pulsing System,” marking the fourth time a DOE Fellow won the Waste Management Student Poster Competition. A second DOE Fellow gave a presentation titled, “The Effect of Ca Ions on the Removal of U (VI) via In Situ Ammonia Gas Injection at the Hanford Site 200 Area.” A third participated in a panel session on “Graduating Students and New Engineers – Wants and Needs.”
The FIU staff and students hosted a conference booth with information on the EM applied research conducted at ARC and provided live demonstrations of the Deactivation & Decommissioning (D&D) Knowledge Management Information Tool (D&D KM-IT), a free web-based knowledge management information tool custom built for the D&D user community. FIU also presented a workshop on the D&D KM-IT in the Energy Facility Contractors Group Deactivation & Decommissioning and Facility Engineering Working Group meeting.
This summer, DOE Fellows will undertake 10-week internships at DOE sites. They will be paired with scientists and engineers at EM headquarters and sites and DOE national laboratories to tackle environmental challenges under the guidance of mentors. After the fellows complete the internships, they will document their summer activities in a technical report and have the opportunity to present their accomplishments during the annual DOE Fellows’ Poster Exhibition & Competition held in October at FIU and next year’s Waste Management Conference in Phoenix. Anyone interested in hosting a DOE Fellow as an intern this summer can contact EM Office of Human Capital Management Analyst Junita Turner at Junita.Turner@em.doe.gov or 202-586-8137.
The FIU workforce development program has created introductory videos presented by the FIU students. In these videos, the students provide brief introductions of their applied research conducted as part of the cooperative agreement. The videos and additional information on the DOE Fellows are available here.
DOE Fellows at the Waste Management 2014 Conference Student Poster Competition.
DOE Fellows gather in front of the student poster created by DOE Fellow Michelle Embon, center, at the Waste Management 2014 Conference.
Pictured here are DOE Fellows with Florida International University Applied Research Center staff, including Dr. Leonel E. Lagos, second from left, and Dr. Yelena Katsenovich, second from right, at the Waste Management 2014 Conference Student Poster Competition.
DOE Fellow Gabriela Vazquez, second from right, is pictured with other members of the panel session titled, "Graduating Students and New Engineers- Wants and Needs.”
EM Supports Department’s Small Business Commitment at Waste Management
PHOENIX – EM presented an exhibit and participated in a panel on the barriers small businesses face at the Waste Management 2014 Conference earlier this month, demonstrating DOE’s commitment to maximizing opportunities for those companies.
EM small business program managers were on hand at the exhibit to discuss EM contracting opportunities with small businesses, many of which attended the conference for the first time as part of the Small Business Pavilion, which was sponsored by Waste Management Symposia. The managers in attendance were Karen Bahan from the Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center in Cincinnati and Kelly Brazil from the Office of River Protection at the Hanford site in Washington state.
DOE’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) and EM continue to address barriers that impede small businesses from opportunities to compete for EM’s prime contacts.
At the conference, OSDBU and EM co-hosted a discussion to develop strategies to address those issues led by a panel of experts from DOE headquarters and leaders from small business companies. It was the first time the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) participated in the panel.
The panelists interacted with the audience. They discussed strategies for achieving small business contracting objectives and easing the barriers that may affect small business contracting opportunities.
More Than 180 People Gather for Women of Waste Management Event
More than 180 people attended the Women of Waste Management Panel and Networking Reception at the Waste Management 2014 Conference on the safe management and disposition of radioactive waste and radioactive materials in Phoenix earlier this month. At the reception, EM contractor Fluor Corporation, which sponsored the event for the fifth consecutive year, presented a check for $10,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The foundation’s Heather Story Steiness, a breast cancer researcher, said the donation will be used to support the pursuit of international research to prevent and cure breast cancer. Pictured here are the panel speakers, left to right, Malgorzata Sneve, Director for Regulatory Cooperation Programme, Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority; Roxie Schescke, President, Indian Eyes LLC; Dr. Monica Regalbuto, DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fuel Cycle Technologies; and Dr. Kathryn McCarthy, Director of NE’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Technical Integration Office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – EM was selected for five DOE 2013 Sustainability Awards that recognize individual and group efforts at the Oak Ridge, Savannah River and Portsmouth sites.
The annual awards program highlights DOE achievements that saved taxpayer money by reducing the Department’s use of energy, water, and paper while improving the energy efficiency of government buildings and vehicles.
EM Update will feature the EM winners here and the newsletter’s April issue. This issue focuses on the Oak Ridge and Savannah River Site (SRS) awards in the category of Exceptional Service/Sustainability Champion for outstanding individual efforts. Next month, EM Update covers the awards Portsmouth, Oak Ridge and SRS received in comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions management, waste reduction and pollution prevention, and fleet management categories.
All five of EM’s award winning projects cut hundreds of thousands of carbon emissions, lowered energy use, diverted thousands of metric tons of construction and demolition debris, allowed for more efficient fleets, and provided cost savings. These efforts helped EM exceed sustainability commitments and the goal of improving sustainable operations. In 2013, EM lowered energy intensity by 42 percent and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from purchased electricity and from sources owned or controlled by EM sites by more than 54 percent. That drop of over 54 percent is equivalent to annual greenhouse gas emissions from 101,053 passenger vehicles.
Chuck Oldham, IT infrastructure manager at URS | CH2M Oak Ridge
DOE Sustainability Champion David Wolfe
Recognized for providing consistent leadership in sustainability initiatives, EM’s Exceptional Service/Sustainability Champions are David Wolfe, the Sustainability Program manager at SRS, and Chuck Oldham, the IT infrastructure manager at URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, the prime contractor for the EM program at Oak Ridge.
Oldham contributed to Oak Ridge’s success by purchasing energy friendly electronics products, recycling, and reducing power and cooling needs by consolidating a datacenter. The virtualization of the datacenter resulted in significant savings for hardware and power and cooling costs and eliminated server sprawl and underutilization. Oak Ridge’s East Tennessee Technology Park estimated the savings at $612,000 in hardware costs and $119,000 in annual energy costs. This is equivalent to planting 2,824 trees, getting 160 cars off the highway, or reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.8 million pounds.
Wolfe has worked with many personnel and organizations across SRS to exceed the site’s goals to expand renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy intensity. Through various Energy Savings Performance Contracts, SRS replaced the site’s coal-fired power plants with four new energy-efficient biomass plants for steam and electricity production. These projects have reduced pollutants, including over 100,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions, which are equivalent to emissions from 20,800 passenger vehicles. The projects also lowered river water use by 1.4 billion gallons per year. EM’s extraordinary efforts helped DOE exceed pollution reduction goals set by the White House.
EM Employee to Gain Expertise in Japan Through Unique One-Year Fellowship
Cameron Salony, who will begin one-year Fellowship in Japan this summer, stands near Hanford’s D and DR Reactors.
RICHLAND, Wash. – An EM employee has been selected for a unique program established by Congress two decades ago to build a corps of federal employees with substantial Japan expertise.
Cameron Salony, a public affairs specialist for EM’s Richland Operations Office at the Hanford site since 2009, is one of 10 federal government employees awarded the Mike Mansfield Fellowships for 2014-2015. Mansfield was a U.S. ambassador to Japan and congressman from Montana.
"I'm excited to join a program that makes major contributions to understanding and cooperation in U.S.-Japan relations,” Salony said. “I hope to gain skills, contacts and expertise that facilitate DOE's work on Japan-related programs."
DOE officials congratulated Salony for being selected for the Fellowship.
"Before coming to DOE in my current position, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan each year with a delegation of senior congressional staff. Our group made a point on each trip to meet with the Mansfield Fellows. As U.S. government employees working on assignments within the Japanese government, the Fellows had a unique perspective that was of great interest to the congressional staffers as they sought to better understand the similarities and differences between our two countries.” said David Klaus, DOE Deputy Under Secretary for Management and Performance.
“The Fellows also are great ambassadors for the U.S., helping to strengthen the relationship with one of our closest allies — and in the process they have a wonderful opportunity to experience the incredible culture of Japan. I hope that Cameron has an enriching experience and is able to apply the skills and information he learns to his work at DOE," Klaus said.
In July, Salony heads to Ishikawa Prefecture for a seven-week homestay and intensive Japanese language program before moving to Tokyo for 10 months for placements in the government of Japan and nongovernmental entities.
Salony hopes to draw on his expertise in science and energy missions he has cultivated at Hanford as he works side-by-side with his Japanese counterparts on issues in their professional fields.
"I'm lucky to be around so many good people at Hanford working on a vital cleanup mission and I’m looking forward to working with the good people of Japan,” he said.
The Fellowship is considered a unique professional career development opportunity for U.S. federal government employees. The Fellows will gain an in-depth understanding of Japan’s government and policymaking process as well as a network of contacts in the government of Japan and the business, professional and academic communities.
“The world has grown in complexity since the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program was established 20 years ago, and the skills and interests of this new group of Mansfield Fellows reflect changes in the world and in the U.S.-Japan partnership in those two decades,” said David Boling, interim executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation and director of the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program. “The 10 Mansfield Fellows selected this year are committed to helping the United States and Japan work together to address critical challenges including terrorism, regional and global security, and white-collar crime.”
Boling continued, “They also are eager to exchange ideas and information that will help our countries take advantage of new opportunities, including clean energy technology development and innovative community-oriented policing. As the U.S.-Japan partnership has grown, so has the need for U.S. government officials who understand these challenges and opportunities and who are able to build their expertise and networks through the Mike Mansfield Fellowship Program.”
That’s more than four years, from November 2009 to February 2014. In that period, employees logged more than 2 million work hours without work-related, lost-time injury or illness.
“Reaching this milestone demonstrates that safety is our highest priority in completing our mission to relocate 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings away from the Colorado River,” said Federal Project Director Donald Metzler.
Remedial Action Contractor, Portage, Inc., and Technical Assistance Contractor (TAC), S&K Aerospace, LLC, hosted a celebration earlier this month to commemorate the achievement. TAC employee hours not only contributed to this safety record, but TAC workers also have never had a lost-time injury since the original contract was awarded in June 2007.
“We have a great workforce that is dedicated to the strong safety culture that has been developed on the project,” said Portage Project Manager Jeff Biagini. “This celebration belongs to the employees — they’ve earned it.”
Site employees also received American National Standards Institute-approved orange T-shirts to wear as the weather warms up. Banners highlighting the accomplishment were hung in locations around the project.
The project has relocated more than 41 percent of the mill tailings pile at Moab to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cell near Crescent Junction, Utah, 30 miles away from the river.
Schools Near EM Sites in Kentucky, Ohio Advance to DOE's National Science Bowl
Members of Lone Oak Middle School’s winning team at DOE’s 2014 West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl, left to right, David Perriello, Drew Schofield, Ethan Brown, and David Dodd, formulate their answer to a question in the middle school finals Feb. 28 in Paducah, Ky. Lone Oak, which is in Paducah, went on to finish 1-2 among the 16 teams from 11 middle schools and advance to DOE’s National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., April 24-28. Calloway County High School in Murray won the high school competition Feb. 21 and also advances to the national competition in its division.
Twenty-seven teams representing 16 southern Ohio high schools participate in DOE’s 2014 South Central Ohio Regional Science Bowl March 7 at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth. Portsmouth Notre Dame High School captured the regional title and advances to the DOE’s National Science Bowl.
Two adult bald eagles sit atop a tree on the Hanford site near the Columbia River. Hanford biologists recently counted 60 eagles on the site, the most ever at Hanford at one time.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal council recently recognized two EM sites for efforts to protect migratory birds.
At the 586-square-mile Hanford site in Richland, Wash., EM and contractor Mission Support Alliance provide compliance oversight for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act through its Public Safety and Resource Protection program. This is the second year Hanford has received this award.
While work at Hanford mainly focuses on cleanup, this award again illustrates the continued dedication to environmental stewardship by DOE and its contractors.
At Oak Ridge, DOE championed the effort through partnerships with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, the primary cleanup contractor at the site.
The Department and its partners manage wildlife on the 33,500-acre Oak Ridge Reservation by following a wildlife management plan, which includes numerous projects to protect migratory birds and their habitats. These local efforts began in 2006 with incredible results.
The decline of interior forest is one of the primary reasons for biodiversity loss, especially in migratory birds. The Oak Ridge Reservation is crucial because approximately 70 percent of the federal land is forested. It is recognized as the largest contiguous protected land ownership in the region, making it a critical reserve for interior forest and nesting habitat for neo-tropical birds.
One of the most important ecological enhancements occurred in 2009 with the major renovation of a large pond at the East Tennessee Technology Park. The project, which was led by Oak Ridge’s Office of Environmental Management, restored the pond to its natural conditions and allowed growth of native vegetation in the surrounding fields. With a return to the area’s natural settings, employees monitored vast increases in wildlife diversity. By 2013, the area attracted 28 wintering bird species, compared to seven in 2009.
An SRR employee is checked by staff from University Hospital in Augusta, Ga., a partner in a wellness program offered by SRR.
AIKEN, S.C. – Two contractors supporting the EM program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) were recognized recently as Fit-Friendly Worksites by the American Heart Association (AHA).
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the SRS management and operations contractor, received the Gold-Level recognition. Savannah River Remediation (SRR), the liquid waste contractor, received AHA’s highest recognition as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite.
Dave Moody, manager of the DOE Savannah River Operations Office, congratulated the companies and their employees.
"I'm truly proud of the emphasis our primary contractors have placed on employee health and wellness,” Moody said. “Their employees can certainly take pride in the results they've achieved in maintaining and improving their fitness. I know DOE and our missions at SRS will share in the many benefits of a healthy workplace and workforce.”
AHA recognizes companies that have initiated positive workplace changes by helping to make their employees’ health and wellness a priority.
“We recognize the value of a healthy, physically conditioned workforce and the positive impact it has on their personal life as well,” SRNS President and Chief Executive Officer Dwayne Wilson said. “We are honored and pleased to be recognized by the American Heart Association as a Fit-Friendly Worksite.”
SRR President and Project Manager Ken Rueter said the recognition benefits all employees when it comes to employee health and wellness.
“Our employees are our greatest asset,” Rueter said. “We are committed to providing employees with tools to assist in their wellness. This recognition benefits our employees’ health and will assist in producing even more positive results for the site.”
To be recognized, companies must offer employees physical activity options in the workplace, increase healthy eating options, promote a wellness culture, and demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.
This is the second consecutive year SRNS and SRR have been recognized by AHA’s Fit-Friendly Worksite program.