Demolition Underway at Hanford’s ‘McCluskey Room’
Workers demolish the historical Americium Recovery Facility.
RICHLAND, Wash. – The Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) is coming down, building by building.
EM Richland Operations Office cleanup contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) recently began tearing down the Americium Recovery Facility earlier than planned. Workers will knock it down in parallel with demolition of the Plutonium Reclamation Facility, which began Nov. 1, as the schedule allows.
“Demolition is progressing safely, deliberately and well,” said Tom
Teynor, project director of EM’s PFP Closure Division. “Starting
demolition of the Americium Recovery Facility brings another chapter of
Hanford history to an end and represents a significant hazard reduction
on the site.”
One of PFP’s four large buildings, the Americium Recovery Facility
operated during the site’s plutonium production days, separating
radioactive americium. It ceased operations in 1976 following an
explosion that severely injured Harold McCluskey, an employee who was
working inside. He survived, and the room became known as the McCluskey
Room. In 2014, CH2M began final cleanout and demolition preparations, including removal of the glove box that burst and contaminated McCluskey.
Employees continue preparing PFP’s main production building and a
ventilation fan house and stack for demolition, which is expected to
begin in late April after the teardown of the other PFP facilities.
Workers are removing highly contaminated ventilation ductwork and
process piping, and installing temporary power. Demolition of the entire
PFP complex is scheduled for completion by September 2017.
“The PFP team has done a tremendous job safely performing this
hazardous work, whether it’s cleaning out the buildings or demolishing
them,” said Tom Bratvold, vice president of CH2M’s PFP closure project.
“We are making steady progress, and we will continue to do so safely.”
Hanford Contractor Receives 88 Percent of Available Fee in First Year
A worker remotely handles tank waste samples through a hot cell in the 222-S Laboratory.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Wastren Advantage Inc. (WAI) earned 88 percent of the available fee in its first year as the operations contractor for the 222-S Laboratory at the Hanford Site, according to a recent award fee scorecard from EM’s Office of River Protection (ORP).
WAI’s obtained nearly $126,000 for the evaluation period of Nov. 21,
2015 to Sept. 30, 2016. ORP recognized the contractor for establishing
positive relationships with its customers, adapting to shifting customer
priorities and skillfully managing a changing workforce.
“Wastren Advantage made a near seamless transition from the previous
contractor,” ORP Manager Kevin Smith said. “It’s never easy
transitioning work scope between different contractors, and to do it
without any mission impact reflects well on WAI.”
Contractor award fee evaluations determine what will be paid based on
performance against stated objectives in accordance with annual award
fee plans. EM releases information relating to contractor fee payments
to further transparency.
According to ORP, WAI:
- Delivered high-quality data to customers in a timely manner;
- Achieved DOE’s Voluntary Protection Program Legacy Star status; and
- Reduced the quantity of hazardous chemicals in the lab by 11 percent through vigorous inventory standards and a new Environmental Management System procedure.
The scorecard lists seven performance incentive areas. Three are
performance-based, focusing on delivery, evaluations and proficiency
tests, and maintaining holding times. The others are special emphasis
areas, including business interfaces and efficiency; analytical
reporting and data quality; environmental stewardship and compliance;
and worker safety, health and safety culture.
WAI provides analytical services at the laboratory in Hanford’s 200
West Area. Its employees receive, handle, prepare, analyze and store
samples from projects on the site. They have expertise in nuclear
engineering and physics, organic chemistry, waste management, biology
and ecology.
View the scorecard here.
Workers Make Progress in Hanford Site Sludge Removal Effort
Workers install a booster pump for sludge removal.
RICHLAND, Wash. – EM’s Richland Operations Office
(RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) are
preparing to move highly radioactive sludge away from the Columbia
River.
Hanford Site workers shipped equipment and tools from a mock-up facility to the 100 K Reactor Area. The equipment is being installed in the K West Reactor’s former spent fuel basin, where 35 cubic yards of sludge is stored in containers, and in a nearby annex.
Employees prepared for this first-of-a-kind work in the mock-up building inside the site’s Maintenance and Storage Facility.
They developed and tested technology and tools in the non-radioactive
environment. The testing was integral to resolving issues in the
project.
“This equipment system testing at the mock-up and in the K Area will
ensure we can have a high level of confidence that the system will work
as designed,” RL Project Director Mark French said.
Workers deliver sludge removal equipment.
Workers plan to ship and install sludge removal and handling equipment
this month. They are scheduled to complete tests by mid-March to ensure
the system performs as expected.
“It’s a great feeling to see all of this coming together so well,”
said Andre LaBonty, a CH2M construction project lead. “There are many
layers of teams coordinating to make this possible: operations,
construction, engineering, the group at the mock-up facility and
others.”
The sludge is stored in six stainless steel containers under 16 feet
of water that provides shielding. The basin is 400 yards from the river.
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