EM Update | Vol. 6, Issue 12 | December 2014

DOE Office of Environmental Management sent this bulletin at 12/23/2014 01:38 PM EST

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In This Issue:

Removal of Reactor Among Richland Operations Office's 2014 Accomplishments
Office of River Protection's 2014 Achievements Include Tank Retrieval Progress
EM's Year in Review at Savannah River Site
Ambitious Vision Drives Oak Ridge's Progress
EM Highlights Idaho Site's 2014 Accomplishments
EM Delivers in Deactivation, Regulatory Milestones, Shipping at Portsmouth Site
Deactivation Project Commences While Cleanup Continues at Paducah Site
Moab Project Continues Excellent Safety Record
West Valley Accomplishments: Year in Review
Nevada Site Celebrates 2014, Makes Way for 2015
SPRU Removes High-Risk Radioactive Waste
Groundwater, Legacy Soil Cleanup and Flood Recovery Top Lab's Accomplishments
EM Taps Talent of Minority Serving Institutions
EM Develops Database for Solutions to Nuclear Cleanup Challenges Across Complex
EM Hosts Successful Visit from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories at Hanford Site
EM's Cost Estimating Program Highlights 2014 Accomplishments

Removal of 1,082-Ton Reactor Among Richland Operations Office’s 2014 Accomplishments

RICHLAND, Wash. – Workers with EM’s Richland Operations Office and its contractors made progress this year in several areas of Hanford site cleanup that helped protect employees, the public, environment, and Columbia River.

Active cleanup has been completed on 479 square miles of the 586-square-mile site. More than 80 percent of cleanup along the Columbia River has been completed. The river runs through the site and is near nuclear reactors and uranium fuel fabrication and research facilities that once operated.

Work to prepare the site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) — formerly Hanford’s main plutonium production facility and today, considered the most hazardous facility on the site – for demolition is in its final, most challenging stages.

Workers demolish support buildings surrounding the Plutonium Finishing Plant to create a cleared area for heavy equipment to demolish the plant’s main processing buildings.

More than 11 billion gallons of groundwater have been treated across the site to reduce areas of contamination and the concentration of contaminants in groundwater.

The Richland Operations Office and its contractors completed the following major cleanup activities this year:

Removed the 1,082-ton core of a nuclear test reactor and a 1,153-ton vault that once held waste tanks from an area of the site where workers fabricated more than 20 million pieces of uranium fuel for reactors and operated research facilities. Known as the 300 Area, more than 200 facilities have been cleaned out and torn down. Only a former research facility with high levels of contamination under the building awaits cleanup there today;
Reached 16 million tons of cleanup debris and contaminated soil disposed of in the site’s permitted landfill for low-level radioactive waste, known as the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility. More than 15 million tons of the waste came from areas near the Columbia River, from demolition and cleanup of hundreds of contaminated buildings and sites where solid waste was buried or soil was contaminated;
Finished clearing the largest source of groundwater contamination along the Columbia River, with the removal of approximately 1 billion cubic yards of soil near two of Hanford’s former nuclear reactors — a large source of the contaminant chromium;
Began final cleanup of one of the most challenging rooms in the PFP. Removed eight support facilities around the plant’s main building where large equipment can operate in the next two years to demolish the main plant; and
Exceeded annual goals for removing contamination from groundwater across the site ahead of schedule and pumped a record volume of water through treatment facilities to remove contamination, with more than 130 tons of contaminants removed since treatment began in the mid-1990s.

Drillers install a well to support groundwater treatment operations at the Hanford site.

Much of the work assigned to the Richland Operations Office and its contractors remains to be completed in the coming decades, including finishing the last two years of cleanup in PFP so the plant can be torn down.

Nearly 2,000 capsules of highly radioactive cesium and strontium need to be removed from water-filled storage basins and placed in dry storage.

Approximately 37 cubic yards of radioactive sludge needs to be removed from a water-filled basin near the Columbia River. Hundreds of former production facilities, including former chemical reprocessing facilities and sites, where solid waste is buried or soil is contaminated, are on the list for cleanup.

Decades of treatment will be required to reduce contamination in groundwater across the site to levels considered safe.

Video footage of the cleanup activities completed in the last year is available on the Hanford Site’s YouTube channel:

Cleanup in the 300 Area: Moving the test reactor; Moving the vault
Removing largest source of groundwater contamination: Motherlode of chromium
Cleanup at the Plutonium Finishing Plant: Most challenging room; Demolition
Removing contamination from groundwater: Boosting treatment

Office of River Protection Looks Back on 2014 Achievements, Including Tank Retrieval Progress

Since its construction in the mid-1970s, the 242-A Evaporator has removed nearly 68 million gallons of water from tank waste, which reduces the volume stored in the double-shell tanks to make room for waste retrieval from single-shell tanks.

RICHLAND, Wash. – In 2014, EM’s Office of River Protection (ORP) marked several accomplishments at the Hanford site, including continuing efforts to resolve remaining technical issues with the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP); restarting operations of the 242-A Evaporator; establishing waste acceptance limits for WTP; and continuing progress in waste tank retrievals.

DOE prepared the pulse jet mixed vessel test plan as a comprehensive approach to resolve the remaining technical issues associated with the Pretreatment Facility. DOE is evaluating a design solution that is expected to decrease the testing time needed to resolve concerns with high solids waste in pulse jet mixed vessels. The test plan will evaluate the use of smaller, standardized vessels that are expected to improve operability while maintaining the same level of waste output. In addition, the solution being evaluated could have the added benefit of allowing more vessels to be placed in the same amount of space and provide increased confidence the WTP can operate safely throughout its 40-year life.

The 242-A Evaporator, operated by ORP’s tank operations contractor, Washington River Protections Solutions (WRPS), removed 791,000 gallons of excess water from Hanford’s double-shell tanks. It was the facility’s first operating campaign since 2010.

Additional waste volume reduction campaigns are scheduled in fiscal year 2015 to reduce approximately 1.4 million gallons more of liquid in double-shell tanks.

WRPS completed retrieval activities in tanks C-101, C-107, and C-112 at the tank farms. Retrieval activities have been completed in 14 single-shell tanks, including 13 in C Farm and one in S Farm.

Tank C-107, which featured the Mobile Arm Retrieval System, was retrieved to the limits of three deployed technologies. Retrieval activities were completed in tanks C-101 and C-112 after deployment of two retrieval technologies in each tank.

The Washington State Department of Ecology concurred with ORP’s request to forego a third deployed technology in tanks C-101 and C-112 when it was determined it would not substantially reduce risk from the remaining waste in either tank.

Approximately 1.5 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste from C Farm tanks have been retrieved and transferred to double-shell tanks.

EM’s Year in Review at Savannah River Site

AIKEN, S.C. – The EM program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) achieved many accomplishments in 2014:

Dissolved fuel in the Sodium Reactor Experiment Campaign in H-Canyon; the fuel in this campaign had been in storage, and following dissolution it was moved to high-level waste tanks to be vitrified, or turned into glass and salt waste; workers also began dissolution of Foreign and Domestic Research Reactor fuel for uranium recovery;

This photo shows the dissolution of fuel from the Sodium Reactor Experiment Campaign in H-Canyon.

Prepared plutonium stored in EM facilities for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility plutonium production, and began oxide production at HB-Line;
Continued receipt, safe storage, and shipment of nuclear materials, including used nuclear fuel;
Operated 39 remedial systems primarily used for groundwater cleanup, and completed sampling and analysis of more than 2,300 groundwater monitoring wells;
Began field remediation activities at a former coal-fired power plant as part of the D-Area Ash Project;
Remediated and characterized all remaining legacy transuranic waste;
Shipped 405 cubic meters of legacy transuranic waste for disposition at EM’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in fiscal year 2014; and
Expanded storage capacity of the K-Area storage vault for special nuclear materials, a project completed about $1 million under budget.

Following are other 2014 achievements at SRS:

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, EM’s management and operations contractor at SRS, continued safety excellence; DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) recertification team recommended the company retain its Star status with that program;
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) extended its influence with the laboratory taking on lead roles in scientific and technical efforts in DOE and around the world;
SRNL was selected to lead teams focused on complex-wide issues at WIPP and the Hanford Tank Farms; and
The SRS Tours Program conducted 255 tours for 3,060 visitors.

EM and its liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation (SRR), accomplished the following:

Vitrified 126 Canisters of radioactive waste in Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF);
Completed operational closure of two liquid waste tanks, Tanks 5 and 6;
Completed the Control Room Consolidation Project and controlled the first inter-area waste transfer from H-Area, the first since September 2012; the transfer line will continue to be used to execute the processing strategy for moving sludge waste through DWPF and salt solution through the Actinide Removal Process/Modular Caustic Side Solvent Extraction Unit and, when operational, the Salt Waste Processing Facility;
Provided a team of technical experts to assist with the WIPP recovery effort; SRR employees arrived days after the radiological release at WIPP and continue to provide recovery support; and
Received the 2014 VPP Innovation Award, the 2014 Safety Health Achievement Award, and was recognized again as a VPP Legacy of Stars recipient; the Legacy of Stars recognition distinguishes a company that has excelled in outreach and mentoring in VPP, and has demonstrated sustained excellence in worker safety and health; this is the fourth such award received by SRR.

SRS Employee Wins Award, Again

For the second year in a row, an employee from the Savannah River Operations Office was selected as the DOE Facility Representative of the Year. This year, Dennis Yates won the award. Yates, a federal employee with the Nuclear Material Stabilization Project, works at the HB-Line in the H-Canyon, a chemical separations facility. DOE facility representatives ensure safe operations in DOE facilities.

Ambitious Vision Drives Oak Ridge’s Progress

Oak Ridge’s EM program began the K-31 Demolition Project in 2014. It is scheduled for completion in 2015 as part of EM’s goal to remove all of the site’s uranium enrichment facilities by 2016.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Cleanup and transfer of the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) remains one of the Oak Ridge EM office’s highest priorities. This task paves the way for a cleaner environment and enables economic reuse at the site that will benefit the entire region.

In 2014, Oak Ridge’s EM program made significant advancements toward achieving its Vision 2016 by finishing the K-25 Building Demolition Project and beginning the K-31 Building Demolition Project. This vision involves removing all of the gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facilities at ETTP, one of the most complex aspects of cleanup, by 2016.

“Vision 2016 is ambitious, but our employees take pride in finding ways to achieve our goals despite the challenges that can be associated with these projects,” said Sue Cange, Oak Ridge’s acting EM manager. “I’m very proud of what we accomplished this year, and also the manner in which we accomplished it. Our partnership with our cleanup contractor, URS|CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), has allowed us to maintain momentum, complete additional cleanup work, and retain skilled workers.”

Oak Ridge completed the K-25 Demolition Project in 2014. It was the Department’s largest-ever demolition project, completed six months ahead of schedule and nearly $300 million under the revised federal baseline.

The 44-acre K-25 facility was built in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project and continued enriching uranium for defense and commercial purposes until it was shut down in 1964. Through EM’s oversight and direction, and the efficient work of UCOR, the project was completed six months ahead of schedule and nearly $300 million under the revised federal baseline.

Due to the early completion of K-25, EM was able to begin demolition on Building K-31 five months early. Completion of that project marks the removal of the fourth of five gaseous diffusion buildings at ETTP. That 17-acre facility began operations in 1951, and it was used to enrich uranium for defense and commercial purposes until it was shut down in 1985. K-31’s demolition is scheduled for completion next year. After that demolition, Building K-27 will be the only remaining gaseous diffusion building at ETTP. It is scheduled for demolition in 2016.

EM Highlights Idaho Site's 2014 Accomplishments

Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project employees close a waste shipment container.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The EM program at the Idaho site and its cleanup contractors ended 2014 with many accomplishments:

Repackaging of 6,000 Drums of Sludge

In a collaborative effort, the EM program at the Idaho site and its cleanup contractors, Idaho Treatment Group (ITG) and CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC (CWI), completed a 6,000-drum sludge repackaging project in July.

The drums — containing inorganic and organic radioactive and hazardous waste generated at the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver — were stored on a pad and covered with soil at the Idaho site for more than 30 years. Workers treated and repackaged the drums, which were opened within a secondary containment area by specially designed excavators.

Completed in just over 18 months, the project took place within a soft-sided building constructed over the waste disposal cell known as Pit 9. Using the Pit 9 treatment facility saved EM millions of dollars over the cost of constructing a new storage and treatment building.

The collaboration demonstrated EM’s capabilities to treat different waste streams safely and compliantly.

Sodium Reactor Coolant Treated Ahead of Schedule, Below Budget

Also in July, EM and CWI completed a technically challenging sodium-treatment project seven weeks ahead of schedule and nearly $1 million under budget. The sodium — a reactive liquid metal — was used as a reactor coolant 20 years ago.

Crews with CWI’s Decontamination and Demolition Program used a large storage tank as a vessel to treat 480 pounds of bulk sodium stored in drums at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC). During treatment, sodium was introduced into the tank and an aqueous solution was added to cause the metal to react in a controlled environment.

The sodium at MFC was used as coolant for the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II), which operated from 1961 to 1994 and had a power output of 62 megawatts. EBR-II was used for testing materials and design concepts to improve reactor safety, culminating in the successful, historic tests of the inherently safe Integral Fast Reactor concept in 1986.

Three trucks carry the treated Los Alamos National Laboratory waste out of Idaho.

Treatment, Shipment of Waste out of Idaho

In November, ITG completed the successful treatment and shipping of transuranic waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory's EM program. The original 25.6-cubic meter volume was compacted to 13.48 cubic meters. The waste was shipped in compliance with terms contained in the Idaho Settlement Agreement and demonstrated the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project's continuing role as DOE’s regional center for processing waste from other sites.

Workers Meet Contract Milestone 10 Months Early

Also in November, CWI completed its contractual milestone — 10 months early — of removing buried transuranic and hazardous wastes from a combined area of 0.51 acres. Targeted waste from a combined area of 5.69 acres will be removed under a 2008 record of decision between DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the state of Idaho. So far, waste from more than 3.5 acres has been removed and exhumation continues.

EM Delivers in Deactivation, Regulatory Milestones, Shipping Progress at Portsmouth Site

Workers lower a compressor from Portsmouth’s X-326 process building, where it will be staged and prepared for shipping.

PIKETON, Ohio – EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) made significant strides in the Portsmouth site’s decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) project in 2014, including deactivation progress in one of the plant’s three main uranium enrichment process buildings, the issuance of two proposed plans for the two Records of Decision (RODs) that will drive D&D work, and a rigorous shipping campaign.

“This progress is a sign that we are starting to hit stride on this project in Portsmouth,” said Portsmouth Site Director Dr. Vincent Adams. “With RODs expected on Process Building D&D and Waste Disposition, we believe 2015 is also going to be an exciting year.”

Cut & Cap

In the X-326 process building, one of three large process buildings that comprise more than 8 million square feet of floor space (equivalent to the area of about 200 football fields), efforts continue to characterize equipment for waste disposition and downgrade the facility from a Hazardous Category 2 Facility to a Radiological Facility.

As part of those deactivation efforts, process gas equipment is being removed from X-326 by EM’s D&D contractor, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth. The building contains more than 7,000 components, including compressors, converters, and coolers, within a complex system of process piping and auxiliary equipment.

More than 30 percent of the equipment was removed in 2014 with about 70 percent removed in total since deactivation began in 2011. Removal of the equipment is expected to be completed by September 2015.

Portsmouth Site Director Dr. Vincent Adams, right, is flanked by Fluor-B&W’s Dennis Carr and Marc Jewett, left, during EM’s public meeting on proposed plans related to process building D&D and waste disposition in November.

Regulatory Progress

In 2014, PPPO developed two proposed plans, one for process buildings D&D and another for waste disposition.

The proposed plans summarize the evaluation of alternatives for D&D of the majority of the buildings and the final disposition of the resulting waste. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency concurred with the final proposed plans in October.

EM’s preferred alternatives are controlled demolition of the facilities and disposition of resulting waste that includes an engineered on-site disposal facility and shipping of certain waste to appropriate licensed off-site facilities.

The public comment period commenced in November, and a public meeting was conducted near the site that month. Public comments will be accepted through March 11.

PPPO far exceeded its shipping goals in 2014.

Shipping

PPPO far exceeded its shipping goals in 2014, with nearly 660,000 cubic feet of low-level waste and mixed low-level waste compared to a goal of 353,000 cubic feet.

Deactivation Project Commences While Cleanup Continues at Paducah Site

PADUCAH, Ky. – As EM took control of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) facilities from its commercial lease in 2014, the PGDP Deactivation Project began under EM’s recently selected prime contractor.

At the same time, major ongoing groundwater cleanup and removal of inactive Cold War-era facilities continued under the site’s environmental remediation program.

Switchyards at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant will be optimized to meet future needs at the plant as part of EM’s deactivation activities.

Plant Deactivation

Oct. 21 marked the day EM officially received the PGDP from Centrus Energy, Inc. (formerly United States Enrichment Corporation), and Fluor Federal Services, Inc. (FFS) began operations under its three-year deactivation contract.

FFS’s scope includes optimizing the site’s utilities and infrastructure to support reduced operations and energy needs, facility surveillance and maintenance, deactivation, and waste management. Deactivation involves removing radioactive and hazardous materials from process equipment, shutting down facility systems, and de-energizing equipment in preparation for future decontamination and decommissioning (D&D).

The electrical distribution system at the plant was designed and built to reliably supply large amounts of power for enrichment operations. Because that capacity is no longer needed, one project is focused on minimizing power costs by ensuring the electrical system is appropriately sized.

Brad Brown takes a sample from an electrical resistance heating system that removed TCE and related chemicals from the ground near a cleaning building that is the leading source of groundwater contamination at the Paducah site.

Groundwater Remediation

As part of the ongoing cleanup of the Paducah site’s leading source of groundwater contamination, EM’s Paducah remediation contractor, LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky LLC, used an electrical resistance heating system (ERH) to remove 1,129 gallons of trichloroethene (TCE), an industrial degreaser, from the top 60 feet of soil near an equipment cleaning building. Its regulatory objectives having been met, the treatment system is being taken out of commission after operating from July 2013 to October 2014.

To date, EM has used ERH to remove nearly 3,600 gallons of TCE and related chemicals from the ground near the cleaning building. In 2015, EM plans to test the effectiveness of using steam to remove TCE from 60 to 100 feet below ground in the same area.

Also in 2014, workers completed preparation activities to remedy a major source of onsite TCE groundwater contamination through deep-soil mixing. In 2015, LATA Kentucky will use an eight-foot-diameter auger to mix soil to a depth of about 60 feet in the cleanup zone located in the southwestern part of the site’s fenced area. Steam will be injected through the auger to remove TCE which will be recovered at the surface and captured in a treatment system. Following steam treatment, iron will be injected into the treatment area to degrade any residual TCE in the soil.

“We made significant progress over the past year in our ongoing mission of cleaning up the Paducah site to protect human health and the environment,” said Jennifer Woodard, Paducah site lead for the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office.

Workers remove siding containing asbestos from a seven-story section of the Feed Plant in preparation for building demolition.

Inactive Facilities Removal

In spring and summer 2014, heavy equipment was used to demolish nearly two-thirds of an old building known as the Feed Plant, which operated from 1957 to 1977 to produce uranium hexafluoride and fluorine. The section demolished in 2014 had a footprint roughly equivalent to a football field. The rest of the building, which is seven stories high, is expected to be demolished in 2015.

Also in 2014, equipment and debris were removed by LATA Kentucky from two sections of an old warehouse on the north side of the plant. The materials included fork trucks, floor sweepers, welders, and machine shop equipment. The roughly 38,500 cubic feet of material removed would compare to a high school basketball court with debris piled about nine feet high. Waste was shipped to a commercial disposal facility.

Moab Project Continues Excellent Safety Record

MOAB, Utah – The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project has had a safe, productive year.

The project had no recordable injuries this year, and it has gone more than five years without a lost-time injury or illness — a record equating to 2.2 million work hours.

This past March, when the project reached 2 million work hours without lost-time injury or illness, the project’s remedial action contractor, Portage, Inc., and technical assistance contractor, S&K Aerospace, LLC, hosted celebrations to commemorate the achievement. Site employees received American National Standards Institute-approved orange T-shirts to wear during the summer months. Banners highlighting the accomplishment were hung in visible locations around the project sites.

S&K employees have not only contributed to this safety record, but they also have not had lost-time injury or illness since the original contract was awarded in June 2007.

“The Moab project workforce has consistently demonstrated its commitment to safely completing our mission,” said Federal Project Director Donald Metzler.

While working safely, employees prepared and shipped almost 847,000 tons of uranium mill tailings this year from the Moab site to the Crescent Junction disposal site, 30 miles to the north. That brings the total shipped to date to roughly 7.3 million, more than 45 percent of the total 16 million tons that need to be shipped for disposal. The tailings are the sandy clay process waste material from uranium mining.

Final cover materials are placed over tailings in the Crescent Junction disposal cell.

The cover on the disposal cell consists of multiple layers of soil and rock. Interim cover has been placed on the portions of the cell that have met the final grade for tailings material. In September, an additional 28,000 cubic yards of interim cover was placed. Final cover layers are placed over the interim cover and in October an additional 165,600 cubic yards were installed.

The site is located about three miles northwest of the city of Moab in Grand County. The former millsite encompasses approximately 480 acres. About 130 acres is covered by the tailings pile.

West Valley Accomplishments: Year in Review

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – EM and its contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) made significant progress in decommissioning the former nuclear fuel reprocessing center this year, with a focus on preparing for high-level waste (HLW) relocation, deactivation and demolition of site facilities and shipment of waste for off-site disposal.

Safety is the No. 1 priority at the site, and in 2014, CH2M HILL Babcock &Wilcox West Valley, LLC (CHBWV) and its subcontractors achieved a milestone of 20 months and 1 million work hours without lost-time work injury or illness.

The site earned DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star of Excellence award. DOE launched its VPP in 1994 to encourage and recognize excellence in occupational safety and health protection. The program outlines areas DOE contractors and subcontractors can exceed compliance with DOE orders and Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. It relies on cooperation between managers, employees, and DOE to continuously improve health and safety programs.

WVDP Director Bryan Bower said the VPP award is an indication of the safety-conscious culture at the site.

“The West Valley workplace culture encourages safety accountability from its employees, contractors and subcontractors. We look forward to achieving the next million safe work hours,” he said.

A waste disposition operator applies spray foam to a waste box to stabilize the contents and fill void space before the container is shipped off site for disposal.

A high-level waste (HLW) overpack container is tested at the fabrication facility to verify it meets packaging requirements for WVDP's HLW canisters. Five vitrified HLW canisters will be placed in the overpacks, which will be stored in concrete storage casks. Packaging and relocation of the canisters is scheduled to begin in 2015.

The site achieved several accomplishments in support of relocating 275 HLW canisters from the Main Plant Process Building to temporary storage on the HLW cask storage pad, which is scheduled to begin in 2015. Those accomplishments include:

Construction of the HLW cask storage pad;
Procurement of packaging and transport equipment; and
Fabrication of the first group of robust storage casks.

The HLW canisters must be removed from the Main Plant Process Building before deactivation and demolition of the building can take place.

Inside that building and the adjoining Vitrification Facility, workers continued deactivation and hazard reduction preparation for building demolition. Hazard and radiological source reduction and material and debris removal activities were conducted in many areas of the facilities. Workers also completed decontamination and radiological surveys of the Vitrification Facility this year, meeting all Performance Agreement commitments.

EM and CHBWV also continued to reduce the site’s inventory of legacy stored waste. Workers completed three campaigns to process remote-handled waste — a total of 119 contact-handled waste containers — for off-site disposal shipment. Workers completed 82 off-site disposal shipments containing 3,000 cubic feet of legacy waste and 71,228 cubic feet of newly generated waste. They also started to prepare shipments of the vitrification melter and its components for off-site disposal.

Workers made erosion repairs to the project's lake system. The Lake 1 spillway, which sustained erosion damage after extreme rainfall events, is pictured prior to repair.

The Lake 1 spillway is shown during repairs.

The Lake 1 spillway is shown following repairs when the project was completed.

In November, the WVDP team, CHBWV and its subcontractors, and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority delivered more than 125,000 pounds of food to nine local food banks. This accomplishment highlighted the annual WVDP food drive, which has gathered more than 1.5 million pounds of food in its 25-year history.

“The WVDP’s donations allowed us to serve 60 turkey dinner boxes for the holidays,” said Annie Widger, co-manager of a pantry in nearby Ellicottville. “This donation allowed us to do so much more.”

Dan Coyne, CHBWV president and general manager, said his team will continue to focus on safe, deliberate work in 2015.

“We’re proud of our safe work performance, regulatory and environmental compliance, and excellence in radiological work safety,” he said.

CHBWV’s top three goals for 2015 include:

Safe, compliant, and cost-efficient work performance;
Initiate relocation of the 275 HLW canisters to temporary storage on the HLW pad; and
Completion of Vitrification Facility deactivation.

Nevada Site Celebrates 2014, Makes Way for 2015

An NNSS firefighter gives Nye County residents a briefing at the Mercury Fire Station on the NNSS.

LAS VEGAS – It was a busy and successful 2014 for EM teams engaged in the cleanup of Cold War sites at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and Nevada Test and Training Range.

Environmental restoration crews continue to make progress at sites on the Tonopah Test Range thanks to a successful teaming with the U.S. Air Force and Sandia National Laboratories.

Field workers recently completed a surface cleanup campaign at two historical nuclear testing locations on the range after removing contaminated drums, shipping containers, debris piles, and machinery. In early December, NNSS workers transported the waste to the NNSS low-level radioactive waste management facility for permanent disposal in an engineered disposal cell.

A technician collects radiological measurements at the Tonopah Test Range cleanup site.

The NNSS groundwater program has seen significant progress in the past year as well. The Frenchman Flat Model Evaluation Report was approved in accordance with the regulatory agreement, The Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order. This approval paves the way to the formal closure phase, which involves negotiating use restrictions and regulatory boundaries, establishing institutional controls, and developing a long-term closure monitoring plan.

Following completion of an independent peer review, the Yucca Flat Flow and Transport Model is moving forward in the regulatory process to the evaluation phase, during which experts will develop a model evaluation plan to refine model forecasts and identify locations for new wells.

Additionally, groundwater specialists crafted and finalized an NNSS Integrated Sampling Plan, which pulls together components of the groundwater program, including characterization, monitoring, and compliance, into one strategy.

A groundwater specialist takes samples from a Yucca Flat characterization well.

Another proud achievement of the Nevada Field Office this year has been the expansion of stakeholder involvement with regard to environmental restoration and waste management. EM Public Involvement conducted numerous NNSS tours for interested community members.

In addition, Nevada Field Office representatives organized several tabletop exercises to strengthen emergency response integration.

“The work we’ve done this year really highlights our commitment to working with stakeholders in an open and transparent manner,” said Scott Wade, assistant manager for Environmental Management at the Nevada Field Office.

The successes of 2014 represent continued cooperation among EM collaborators, Navarro-Intera, National Security Technologies, DOE’s network of national laboratories, Desert Research Institute, and the U.S. Geological Survey, under regulatory oversight by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

“We’ve made significant headway on a number of NNSS cleanup initiatives this year,” Wade said. “And we already have our sights set on next year.”

SPRU Removes High-Risk Radioactive Waste

A truck carrying the last two solidified liners from the SPRU Disposition Project sludge campaign leaves the site in late February.

NISKAYUNA, N.Y. – EM’s Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) Disposition Project completed a significant waste-treatment campaign in February that involved the solidification of approximately 9,700 gallons of contaminated sludge and 14 shipments of the waste off-site for permanent disposal.

The shipment of this material removed the majority of radioactivity at the SPRU facilities. EM is responsible for the decontamination, demolition, and cleanup of the 65-year-old Cold War facility, with work being performed under contract with EM by the URS Corporation. SPRU is collocated with DOE’s Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, NY.

"The radioactive sludge constituted one of the highest risks at SPRU," said Steven Feinberg, the EM project manager. "The successful solidification of the sludge marks major progress in our environmental cleanup project, and enables us to put our full attention on moving ahead with the active decontamination and demolition of unused buildings at the site."

The sludge resulted from historic research into the chemical separation of plutonium, which was shut down in the early 1950s. The solidified sludge, in 28 shielded liners, was disposed at a licensed, commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Andrews, Texas, which is owned and operated by Waste Control Specialists, LLC.

Also in 2014, the project achieved more than 1.1 million work hours without a lost-time accident or injury.

"This record was accomplished while overcoming numerous obstacles associated with the high-hazard construction, decontamination and demolition work at the site," noted Bobby Smith, project manager for URS at SPRU. "That included working at heights to construct the Sludge Processing Tent, install ventilation and sludge system components, decommission the old sludge processing system, and safely operate the waste solidification system."

Groundwater, Legacy Soil Cleanup and Flood Recovery Top Lab’s Accomplishments

Los Alamos National Laboratory’s chromium remediation project is located in a canyon adjacent to pueblo lands.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – Top 2014 accomplishments of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s EM-supported Environmental Programs included remediation of chromium in groundwater, completion of a legacy contaminant soil cleanup project, and rapid recovery from a 1,000-year rain event that caused widespread flooding.

In the chromium remediation project, Los Alamos installed and used an extraction well to pump groundwater to prevent the plume from migrating off laboratory property. The pumping is an interim measure and the first step in a multi-pronged remediation approach that may include in-situ chemical applications and bioremediation. Chromium in the regional aquifer originated from its use as a corrosion inhibitor at the laboratory’s main power plant between 1956 and 1972.

The laboratory’s EM-supported Corrective Actions Program (CAP) also completed the excavation of soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, which are common in industrial sites. Located at the former Technical Area 61, the site was a utility corridor where a leaking transformer was staged in the past.

“This is another step in a larger effort to clean up sites around Los Alamos that are more accessible to the public,” said CAP Director Dave McInroy. “We hope to increase this type of work during the next two years.”

A 1,000-year rain event in September 2013 caused widespread flooding and damage that required rapid recovery.

When much higher-than-usual rainfall caused widespread flooding in the high desert in September 2013, Los Alamos moved quickly to repair $3 million in damage caused by floodwaters. Flood recovery actions included repairing watershed controls at several sites, including planting nearly 10,000 willows to stabilize stream banks and prevent further erosion in a canyon; repairing storm water control measures at more than 130 sites; and sampling sediment throughout the laboratory and at areas downstream.

EM Taps Talent of Minority Serving Institutions

A student explains an EM-supported applied research project to Mark Gilbertson, EM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration, left, at a Historically Black Colleges and Universities workshop held at Savannah River National Laboratory in April 2014.

Cleanup Program Encourages Students to Pursue Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

WASHINGTON D.C. – EM recognizes that a well-trained, technically skilled, and diverse workforce is required to complete its legacy environmental cleanup mission successfully.

EM is preparing for its future workforce needs by supporting initiatives that encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and engaging them in hands-on EM research activities.

One such initiative has been EM’s grant program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) — higher education institutions established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community — which for the past five years has enabled nine selected institutions in South Carolina and Georgia to begin new research projects, upgrade their laboratories, offer scholarships and internships, hire new faculty and post-doctoral researchers, and expand their curricula.

EM is broadening this program, now known as the Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP), to include not only HBCUs but also other qualified minority serving institutions (MSIs) in fiscal year 2015. The U.S. Department of Education defines MSIs as institutions of higher education that enroll populations with significant percentages of minority students or serve certain populations of minority students under various programs created by Congress.

“It’s critically important that we have a source of well-qualified scientists and engineers whom we can hire,” said Mark Gilbertson, who oversees MSIPP as EM’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration. “We also need innovative technical solutions for our remaining cleanup challenges. One of the best ways to address these needs is to tap into the talent of minority serving institutions and to help them collaborate with our national laboratories.”

MSIPP will foster productive scientific collaborations between MSIs and DOE national laboratories through an annual research solicitation and a student internship program. This approach will strengthen and expand the research capabilities and experience of MSIs and their students and faculty in areas relevant to EM.

In addition, MSI faculty will gain higher visibility through DOE technical engagements, and faculty and students will benefit from improved access to DOE facilities.

Internships will provide minority students who are interested in STEM with opportunities to work with mentors at DOE’s national laboratories, familiarizing them with EM’s mission and available career opportunities. This in turn will attract a new pool of diverse technical professionals to EM’s laboratories and facilities.

EM already supports a number of fruitful partnerships between MSIs and scientists from the national laboratories. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), which is EM’s national laboratory, and South Carolina State University (SCSU), a nearby HBCU, have been working together for a year under a cooperative research and development agreement. This agreement provides local HBCU students with SRNL mentors and hands-on experience in applied environmental science through the Savannah River Environmental Sciences Field Station, managed by SCSU.

One project under this partnership focuses on characterizing minerals that contribute to the natural attenuation of certain organic and inorganic contaminants at DOE sites. Another project expands the evaluation of hydrologic and geochemical conditions at the Savannah River Site (SRS) using its existing monitoring well infrastructure.

A third project involves installing atmospheric deposition monitoring stations at several regional MSIs. Students and faculty will collect information on the deposition of mercury and other contaminants of concern that contribute to background levels in the environment. They will share their data with EM and the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, a cooperative effort between federal, state, Tribal and local governmental agencies; educational institutions; private companies; and non-governmental agencies.

These three projects serve the EM program’s remediation mission at SRS and are well-suited to long-term collaboration between SRNL and MSIs.

SRNL, which manages MSIPP for EM, released a request for expressions of interest for the annual research solicitation through FedBizOpps this month. Eligible MSIs may then propose applied research that supports EM’s programs in site restoration, tank waste and nuclear materials, and waste management. Projects will be selected and contracts awarded to MSIs by late spring 2015.

Beginning in early spring of 2015, MSIPP will also recruit MSI students for summer internships at SRNL and the Pacific Northwest, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Argonne national laboratories.

Information about MSIPP and a link to program announcements will be posted on EM’s website. Information can also be obtained by contacting the EM headquarters program manager, Karen Skubal, at karen.skubal@em.doe.gov or 301-903-6524.

EM Develops Database for Efficient Solutions to Nuclear Cleanup Challenges Across Complex

Participants at the Idaho site workshop review “quick guides” of the database entries to help them learn about commercially available remote systems.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Many deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) projects across the EM complex require robotic and remote handling systems to protect workers during nuclear cleanup operations.

For example, at the Hanford site in Washington state, D&D work on Building 324 and the recovery of waste from caissons — watertight, underground chambers — require the development and application of advanced remote handling systems.

Robotic and remote systems will also likely be required for D&D of facilities at Savannah River Site in South Carolina, West Valley Demonstration Project in New York, and other EM sites.

EM’s Office of D&D and Facility Engineering (D&D/FE) commissioned a study of robotics and remote technologies available in the nuclear industry to find out how the systems are used and whether they are successful. In some cases, systems used in non-nuclear work also were assessed because they could apply to the nuclear industry. Nearly 500 remote systems were identified and cataloged according to their applications — such as manipulator arm and land- and water-based platforms — in a searchable database.

Following development of the database, EM held a meeting this year with the Idaho Cleanup Project team to demonstrate the use of the database to identify commercially available systems that could be used to meet D&D challenges at that site. In particular, the group discussed the site’s calcine retrieval project which has to retrieve dry, high-level radioactive material from large bins which are typically the size of grain silos.

The meeting illustrated how EM can use the database to identify existing technologies to solve technical challenges rather than develop new systems, which are costly and take significant time to create.

D&D/FE is working to make the database available complex-wide, and hopes to conduct workshops at other sites in 2015 to further illustrate the benefits of the database.

EM also shared the database with the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to identify remote system solutions for D&D challenges.

EM Hosts Successful Visit from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories at Hanford Site

Scott Sax, president of Washington Closure Hanford, center, describes deactivation and decommissioning activities at the 618-10 Burial Ground to CNL decommissioning specialists.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Office of D&D and Facility Engineering (D&D/FE) hosted decommissioning professionals from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) — Canada's premier nuclear technology and engineering organization — for two days at EM’s Hanford site in November this year. CNL was formerly known as Atomic Energy Canada Ltd.

Despite fog and below-zero temperatures, the visitors from the CNL sites at Chalk River, Ontario and Whiteshell, Manitoba toured Richland Operations Office’s deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) projects, such as the 618 10-11 Burial Ground and Building 324.

The burial ground contains waste generated by activities in Hanford’s 300 Area, which was used for developing and manufacturing reactor fuel and conducting laboratory research during Hanford’s plutonium production mission. The 618-10 Burial Ground operated from 1954 to 1963. It covers approximately 5.2 acres, and contains 12 trenches and 94 vertical pipe units. Remediation of trenches is scheduled for completion in 2015.

Building 324 in the 300 Area contained radiological and non-radiological laboratories, support facilities, and administrative areas. In January, work began on the engineering and design for cleanup of the waste site underneath this building. Remediation of the waste site will involve removing the highly contaminated soil using remotely operated equipment, and processing the material for packaging and disposition.

The CNL tours were supplemented with discussions on critical aspects of the D&D process, including;

Effective decommissioning planning and site walk-downs;
Selection and application of decontamination agents and fixatives;
Characterization technologies and methodologies;
Site operating practices; and
Personal protective equipment selection and application.

EM considered the visit an excellent step toward developing the relationship between DOE and CNL under the Statement of Intent between the two organizations, signed in February 2013.

EM officials said the Richland Operations Office, its River Corridor contractor, Washington Closure Hanford (WCH), and D&D/FE coordinated their efforts to develop an agenda that exceeded CNL’s expectations.

Don Howlett, section head of Decommissioning Projects with CNL, noted that the organization had already started using commercially available latex paint as a fixative for contamination after receiving guidance from WCH during the visit.

Following the visit, Brian Wilcox, director of CNL’s Project Delivery Division, sent EM a note of appreciation.

“I want to express our sincere thanks for allowing the CNL team to visit Hanford for the benchmarking trip,” he wrote. “The hospitality and cooperation from DOE and Washington Closure Hanford staff was outstanding and our team really benefited from the tours and discussions, and have brought back real best practices and advice.”

EM’s Cost Estimating Program Highlights 2014 Accomplishments

EM’s Cost Estimating & Analysis Division includes, from left, Lori Erbele, Michael Mills, Russ Donaldson, Allen Moe, Steve Olszewski, Kevin Barry, and Terry Brennan.

CINCINNATI – EM’s ability to negotiate government contracts with the best value for taxpayers is supported by the challenging work of employees who first determine the fair value of services under these contracts.

EM’s federal cost estimators are responsible for independent government cost estimates in support of EM’s acquisition and contract management activities. The estimates support decisions to reserve funds for contracts in acquisition planning. They also help EM to compare proposed costs and prices and to assess whether they are realistic and reasonable.

In 2014, the estimators prepared and published 86 estimates to support acquisition and contract management actions — up from 36 in 2013.

“In 2014, the number of independent government cost estimates prepared by this office more than doubled compared to previous years. We did this without an increase in staffing levels,” EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) Office of Cost Estimating and Project Management Support Assistant Director Terry Brennan said. “EMCBC’s cost-estimating professionals were able to keep up with the increased demand by developing new and innovative estimating approaches and practices. I’m very proud of what this team has accomplished in 2014.”

The estimators work in the Cost Estimating and Analysis Division at EMCBC, which provides technical and business services to EM.

In other notable 2014 accomplishments, EMCBC:

Published EM’s Independent Cost (Estimate) Review Guide to provide uniform guidance and best practices for reviewing cost estimates for EM cleanup programs and projects;
Hosted a workshop for 22 members of the EM Applied Cost Engineering Team to promote continuous cost-engineering improvements through the dissemination of cost engineering tools, methods, techniques, best practices, and lessons learned across the EM complex;
Increased the number of completed cleanup projects listed in EM’s Environmental Cost Analysis System from 175 in 2013 to nearly 300 this year; the repository captures cost and other information of completed cleanup projects to support future cost-estimating and benchmarking needs;
Completed 21 independent cost estimate reviews of contractor-developed cost estimates to support EM independent validation and approval requirements; and
Participated on four project peer reviews, which are focused, in-depth assessments of individual contracts that generate detailed feedback for improvements.