Shrader highlighted ventilation and other infrastructure project advancements at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a waste repository key to cleanup at Idaho, Hanford, SRS, and Oak Ridge. He discussed the construction of a new utility shaft that will be WIPP’s largest shaft at 26 feet in diameter, reaching 2,275 feet underground when completed.
“The utility shaft itself is very important. It will aid in ventilation,” Shrader said.
Another big victory, Shrader said, will take place at Oak Ridge, which is set to complete the long-running Vision 2020 effort to finish deactivation and decommissioning activities at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP).
“Great work by the teams out there getting us to this point,” Shrader said. “It allows us to transition land to productive uses for the local community.”
He added that the highly skilled workforce at ETTP will transition to cleanup at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where workers will take down older, excess facilities in support of DOE Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration missions.
Shrader also noted progress at the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC). At ETEC, EM crews have knocked down eight of 10 buildings set for demolition.
“We continue to make progress across the complex right now, both at our large sites and our small sites,” Shrader said.
In his address, Shrader also focused on EM’s response to the global pandemic, noting that EM sites moved to an essential mission critical operations posture starting in March.
EM developed a framework to transition between the phases of operations during the pandemic, and since then, all EM sites have at least moved into Phase 1 restart activities and some sites have been able to progress to Phase 2. Shrader discussed best practices and protocols on returning to work that EM has developed, along with coordination on supply chain data, personal protective equipment, and other items needed for operations.
View Shrader's full RadWaste Summit address here.
SRS Improves Liquid Waste Facilities as SWPF Prepares for Startup
Recent facility upgrades make it possible for three trucks to simultaneously unload cold feed materials at the Saltstone Production Facility at the Savannah River Site.
AIKEN, S.C. – EM and its liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) have completed significant upgrades to accelerate treatment and dispositioning of decontaminated salt waste.
The Saltstone Production Facility (SPF) project, known as Enhanced Low Activity Waste Disposal (ELAWD), was timed to coincide with bringing the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) online to treat the majority of radioactive liquid waste at SRS.
Savannah River Remediation (SRR) operates the SPF, where decontaminated salt solution is mixed with dry materials to produce a cement-like grout. The grout is then piped to a nearby 32-million-gallon Saltstone Disposal Unit for safe, permanent disposal.
Rodney Blackmon, SRR’s Saltstone facility manager, said the facility’s biggest challenge has been ramping up to meet the future demands of SWPF, which will process greater quantities of salt waste at a much faster rate than previous interim facilities at SRS. Startup of SWPF is an EM 2020 priority.
“The Salt Waste Processing Facility will be transferring seven to nine times more decontaminated salt solution per year than we have received from previous pilot plant operations,” Blackmon said. “With the completion of ELAWD, Saltstone is ready for its enhanced role in the liquid waste mission.”
ELAWD improvements included a new air system for increased capacity and reliability to supply air to move dry feed material; a new dust collector to provide the capability to unload three trucks simultaneously; and redesigned flow equipment in the dry materials feeding system for increased throughput.
DOE-Savannah River Assistant Manager for Waste Disposition Jim Folk said these improvements to the Saltstone facilities will help process the site's remaining salt waste, which fills over 90 percent of tank space in the SRS tank farms, and are vital to advancing EM’s liquid waste mission.
“We expect these enhancements to enable our on-site legacy systems to safely keep pace with the SWPF treatment rate,” Folk said.
-Contributor: Jim Beasley
Crews Complete Key Step in Oak Ridge Biology Complex Deactivation
Crews in full protective gear have been conducting asbestos abatement inside remaining Biology Complex buildings at Oak Ridge since early 2019.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Crews recently achieved a key milestone by removing all asbestos from a building being deactivated for demolition in the former Biology Complex at Oak Ridge.
The Biology Complex facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex are categorized as high risk due to their structural condition, and their removal will provide land for new national security missions at the site.
Asbestos abatement teams with UCOR, EM’s cleanup contractor at Oak Ridge, have been working inside the six-story 256,600-square-foot Building 9207 and the three-story 64,700-square-foot Building 9210 since early 2019.
Workers have finished removing all asbestos from Building 9210, which was one of the biggest tasks to get the facility ready for demolition. The building is scheduled to be fully deactivated and condemned for demolition in early October.
Employees in full protective suits finished this effort despite several challenges, including extreme heat and humidity in the summer months and new measures to maintain a safe work environment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 868 cubic yards of the hazardous material from Building 9210 was disposed, including pipe insulation, wall panels, and transite gaskets. Workers also removed 215 large metal sheeting wall panels containing asbestos for disposal.
Workers move asbestos containing material out of Building 9210 for disposal. A total of 868 cubic yards of the hazardous material was disposed from the facility.
UCOR Project Manager Brad Adams, who recently transferred from directing cleanup projects at the East Tennessee Technology Park, praised the crews for bringing the asbestos abatement project to fruition.
“These hard working men and women dress up in full protective gear, which you know has to be especially stuffy in the Tennessee summer,” Adams said. “But they do it every day, while at the same time staying focused on observing all of the safety precautions and regulations required for this type of hazardous work.”
Building 9210 is set to be demolished by January 2021. Building 9207 is scheduled to be demolished later in 2021. With these two buildings removed, Y-12 has cited the area to be the location for its new lithium processing facility.
Originally constructed for recovering uranium from process streams, the Biology Complex was later used for DOE’s research on the genetic effects of radiation from the late 1940s. When operational, the facilities once housed more individuals with doctorates than anywhere in the world.
The Biology Complex previously consisted of 11 buildings. EM demolished four of the structures in 2010 as part of work under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and EM removed another two structures in 2018 as part of DOE’s Excess Contaminated Facilities initiative. All remaining Biology Complex structures are scheduled for demolition by 2021.
-Contributor: Susanne Dupes
INL Site to Study Cleanup Project for Completion Ahead of Schedule
One of three vapor vacuum extraction and treatment units at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. EM and cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho have initiated a study to determine if the three units achieved remediation goals earlier than projected.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – A successful EM cleanup project at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site is being studied to determine if it has met its objectives several years earlier than projected.
For the study, EM and cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho will suspend operations of three vapor vacuum extraction and treatment units within a 97-acre landfill that accepted radioactive and hazardous wastes from 1952 to 1970.
The three units have used high-pressure vacuums to draw solvent vapors from the landfill, known as the Subsurface Disposal Area (SDA), and destroy them using a technology that resembles automobile catalytic converters.
Since 1996, the units have removed and destroyed about 258,000 pounds of solvent vapors from the ground. Removing these vapors is important to protect the Snake River Plain Aquifer, which lies 585 feet below the landfill.
Based on sampling over the last few years, program engineers believe that the bulk of solvent vapors have been removed from the SDA. A separate project — called the Accelerated Retrieval Project — has removed tens of thousands of barrels and boxes containing solidified solvents and radionuclides from the SDA since 2005.
The solvents, which consist primarily of carbon tetrachloride, were used as degreasers during weapons development at the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver. Solvents were generally solidified with a clay-like material prior to being shipped to the INL Site for disposal. As barrels and boxes that were buried deteriorated, the solvents escaped into the adjacent soil as vapors.
“Early on, the vapor vacuum extraction units removed 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of solvent vapors each year,” said Rich Abitz, acting director of the Fluor Idaho environmental restoration program. “The units now are removing less than 2,000 pounds each year because most of the source term has been excavated and removed by the Accelerated Retrieval Project.”
Once the vapor vacuum extraction and treatment units are turned off, scientists and engineers will sample nearby wells weekly until the solvent vapors stay at the same concentration. After the concentration is steady, quarterly sampling and analysis will continue for a year. Based on the quarterly results, a decision will be made whether to turn the units back on or leave them off permanently.
“The vapor vacuum extraction project has been extremely successful and beneficial,” said Abitz. “If the quarterly data results indicate we can end the project earlier than anticipated, it will be a huge win for the Idaho Cleanup Project because we can direct resources to other cleanup projects onsite.”
-Contributor: Erik Simpson
SRS Donates Structures for Regional Economic, Workforce Development
Defense Waste Processing Facility operator Stephen Potter assembles a double-stack plug grapple adapter before a feasibility demonstration.
AIKEN, S.C. – EM and its liquid waste contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) are advancing a project to double-stack canisters containing high-level radioactive sludge waste.
Savannah River Remediation (SRR) employees successfully demonstrated a newly designed adapter that will be used on the proposed plugs for double-stacking canisters in the Glass Waste Storage Building (GWSB) 2.
The canisters hold waste transferred from the SRS waste tanks and vitrified at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF). The filled stainless-steel canisters are safely stored in slots within a concrete and steel-reinforced underground vault inside the storage buildings adjacent to DWPF.
The canister double-stack project has been ongoing in the first storage building onsite, GWSB 1. Just over 1,000 canisters have been double stacked in GWSB 1 to date. The project will double the first building’s capacity from 2,262 to 4,524 positions.
Modifying the slots to store two canisters, one on top of the other, saves space and defers building an additional storage area, which could cost more than $100 million.
The demonstration of the grapple adapter is part of a feasibility study to determine if canisters can be double stacked in the second interim storage building, GWSB 2. The adapter is needed for the proposed GWSB 2 cast iron shield plugs due to the reduced height between the top of the shield plug and the upper canister in a GWSB 2 double-stack arrangement. The space normally occupied by the grapple cavity in the plug, below floor level, is needed for shielding; therefore, the grapple adapter was designed to be attached temporarily above the floor level of the shield plug before the plug is to be moved by the shielded canister transporter.
A drawing of the newly designed Glass Waste Storage Building 2 double-stack plug grapple adapter.
The one-of-a-kind transporter moves and double-stacks the canisters, and maneuvers the shield plugs. Using the transporter, operators successfully completed two cycles of simulated shield plug movement using the grapple adapter, proving it viable for use.
Jim Folk, DOE-Savannah River assistant manager for waste disposition, said the adapter demonstration is key to making progress in the canister double-stacking project.
“Optimizing canister storage space at the Savannah River Site is necessary to keep the liquid waste mission moving forward,” Folk said. “Processing will be accelerated with the Salt Waste Processing Facility coming online this year, so it’s important now more than ever to ensure we are adequately prepared for on-site interim storage solutions.”
SRR President and Project Manager Phil Breidenbach said advancing double-stacking capabilities inside GWSB 2 will improve the interim storage efficiency.
“I am proud of the DWPF teams who pulled their efforts together to prove the success of the new grapple adapter,” Breidenbach said.
The feasibility study for double-stacking canisters in GWSB 2 has also included safety basis, radiological, fire protection, structural, environment, and other technical evaluations. The next step will be to conduct a demonstration of double-stacking two canisters in GWSB 2, which is anticipated for summer 2021.
Additional storage areas will not have to be built if the canisters in GWSB 2 are double stacked. The canisters will be safely stored in the GWSBs until a federal repository for high-level waste is established.
-Contributor: Colleen Hart
Protecting Cultural and Ecological Resources at the Hanford Site
Archaeologist Lindsay Kiel with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Mission Support Alliance takes field notes during an archaeological survey on Hanford’s Central Plateau.
RICHLAND, Wash. – The Hanford Site’s distinct history and ecosystem are positioned to stand the test of time thanks to the preservation and conservation efforts of the EM Richland Operations Office (RL) site stewardship division and contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA).
Beneath the vast shrub-steppe that encompasses the 580-square-mile site, one can find remnants of old farmsteads and hunting grounds, along with homes of black-tailed jackrabbits and sagebrush sparrows. The site’s cultural and ecological teams work to ensure site cleanup work and wildfires do not damage or threaten to remove natural resources and historical archeological data.
“Mitigating impacts to cultural and ecological resources of the site is a critical part of cleanup efforts,” said Karen Lutz, director of RL’s site stewardship division. “This work is important to ensure future generations are able to gain insight into the site’s rich history and enjoy the native plants and animals of our area.”
In addition to revegetation efforts and archaeological surveys of cleanup areas, site stewardship in remote areas affected by wildfires is also important. These areas are home to some of the most mature natural resources and provide surprising insight into prehistoric life on the site.
“We have found that the first Native Americans on this landscape could survive in an area we would not expect, using available natural resources,” said Keith Mendez, archaeologist with MSA’s cultural and historic resources program.
Maintaining compliance with federal and state regulations during cleanup is essential to efforts to assure cleanup work has minimal impact to Hanford’s unique ecosystem and historical artifacts.
–Contributors: Keith Mendez, Emily Norris, Melissa Ver Steeg
Hanford Water Plant Receives Statewide Recognition
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EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 26 | Sept. 15, 2020 |
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EM Set to Tackle Tank Waste in Mission Advancement, Shrader Says at ConferenceWASHINGTON, D.C. – The EM complex is in a transformational period as long-term construction projects will soon shift to operations to tackle the Department’s most challenging environmental risk — radioactive waste stored in underground tanks, EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader said during a conference address last week. “What we’re seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work from a lot of people over the last decade or longer, bringing these facilities online,” Shrader said. “This coming decade, we should see a significant amount of tank waste treated around the complex.” Held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the three-day RadWaste Summit is a forum to discuss the management and disposition of radioactive waste. Shrader said the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site should begin operations in the near future. By 2030, it is expected that nearly all salt waste inventory at SRS will be processed and nearly half of the site’s underground waste tanks — 22 of 51 — will be closed. “It will be an exciting decade at Savannah River,” Shrader said. The Hanford Site is making strides with the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach for treating tank waste. Central to the effort is the Low-Activity Waste Facility, which is nearing completion of construction, Shrader said. He added that a number of support facilities have already been commissioned. “We’re really happy about the progress we’re making out there,” Shrader said. “This is a high priority for the Department.” Shrader also noted that the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit at the Idaho Site is progressing toward commissioning. “Once that’s up and online, another facility will treat a very significant portion of waste at Idaho,” he said.
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EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Todd Shrader |
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Subcontractor employees managed by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions dismantle one of six Savannah River Site buildings for donation to the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization. AIKEN, S.C. – EM and the management and operations contractor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) have been working with a local community reuse organization to dismantle six buildings for resale, with proceeds supporting regional economic and workforce development activities. Built in the early 1990s, the metal buildings at SRS were no longer needed for DOE missions. They had been used to store materials for a coal-fired powerhouse shut down in 2012. Under an agreement with the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), DOE-Savannah River disassembled the buildings and donated them to SRSCRO, which will sell them to be reassembled elsewhere. DOE-Savannah River expects to avoid a nearly $2 million cost to decommission and demolish the structures. “From a reuse perspective, businesses can purchase and reassemble these buildings for a fraction of what a new building would cost and use that savings to purchase machinery and tools and hire employees,” Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Manager Andrew Albenesius said. Albenesius noted that the partnership between DOE-Savannah River and SRSCRO has resulted in a cost avoidance of approximately $12 million dollars over the past six to seven years while they reduce the site footprint and support economic development in communities surrounding SRS. “It’s a win for everyone involved,” Albenesius said. Rick McLeod, SRSCRO president and CEO, said SRSCRO has invested more than $4.5 million in regional programs in the past five years. Those programs include career forums, regional industrial park expenditures, SRS economic impact and regional workforce studies, and support for local economic recruitment efforts. “A large percentage of these funds come from the sale of SRS surplus items. In addition, as fiscal agent and manager for a DOE workforce grant, the SRSCRO has secured and provided over $6 million dollars to our five local colleges and university partners.” SRSCRO’s region includes Richmond and Columbia counties in Georgia, and Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties in South Carolina. –Contributor: DT Townsend |
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Project to Double-Stack SRS Waste Canisters Gains Ground | ||
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Archaeologists Keith Mendez, at left, and Mary Petrich-Guy with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Mission Support Alliance’s cultural and historic resources program document an archaeological site on the Hanford Reach national monument, with an additional survey crew in the background. This photo was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Emily Norris, an environmental scientist with EM Richland Operations Office contractor Mission Support Alliance’s ecological monitoring and compliance program, surveys wildlife in some of Hanford’s mature sagebrush habitat that make up the site’s distinct ecosystem. This photo was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Employees for the Hanford Site’s 283 West Water Treatment Plant — from left, Vinni Dragoo, Richard Herrera, Ed Lerma, Burke Neuman, and Bob Ward — display the Silver Certificate of Achievement presented by the Washington State Department of Health. The award recognized the superb quality of drinking water at Hanford and the team’s high performance in removing even the smallest particles from water during treatment. RICHLAND, Wash. – The Washington State Department of Health presented its distinguished Silver Certificate of Achievement to water treatment plant staff at the Hanford Site for five consecutive years of high performance on removing particles from water to help protect workers at the site. “Workforce safety is critical to the success of any cleanup site,” said Jeff Frey, EM Richland Operations Office (RL) assistant manager for mission support. “At Hanford, we take pride in providing the highest quality drinking water possible.” Hanford’s water treatment plant was one of only eight in the state recognized with the Silver Certificate of Achievement. “Receiving this award during these challenging times and being recognized as one of the few receiving this award in Washington says a lot about our team,” said Bob Wilkinson, president of RL contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA). “This award validates their hard work, dedication, and emphasis on procedural compliance.” MSA, which operates Hanford’s water treatment plant, received the award as part of the state Office of Drinking Water Treatment Optimization Program. The voluntary program compares public water systems and presents awards based on relative performance. To receive the silver certificate, water plant operators submitted 60 consecutive monthly reports showing their expertise on removing particles, or turbidity, from the water and meeting or exceeding other stringent regulatory criteria. Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of particles generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Contaminants like viruses or bacteria can become attached to the particles, and the higher the turbidity level, the higher the risk that people may develop gastrointestinal diseases. “Achieving consistently high drinking water quality like this is the mark of a highly dedicated and skilled water department staff,” the Office of Drinking Water said in an email to MSA. -Contributor: Robin Wojtanik |
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