Tuesday, November 17, 2020

EM Update November 17, 2020

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EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 35 | Nov. 17, 2020

EM crews begin knocking down the three-story 65,000-square-foot Building 9210 at Oak Ridge on Nov. 16.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – EM crews on Nov. 16 began taking down the remaining facilities located in the former Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge.

Those vacant, deteriorated buildings are categorized as high risk due to their structural condition, and their removal will provide land for national security missions at the site.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its cleanup contractor, UCOR, are starting by demolishing the three-story 65,000-square-foot Building 9210. Once that work is completed early next year, crews will begin tearing down the six-story 255,000-square-foot Building 9207.

“After completing the Department of Energy’s largest environmental cleanup project to date at the East Tennessee Technology Park, we are shifting our focus to the next phase of cleanup in Oak Ridge,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said.

That next phase of cleanup involves addressing hundreds of excess, contaminated, and deteriorating facilities scattered throughout Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory that present hazards and occupy land that can be used for future research and national security missions. Removal of the Biology Complex will be the most significant skyline change at Oak Ridge to date, and it will be the first of many projects to clear away former Manhattan Project and Cold War buildings.

“Our program brings an incredible impact by eliminating hazards, enabling modernization, and creating opportunities by clearing away old facilities for the Department of Energy to construct new infrastructure to meet the needs of this nation,” Mullis said.

EM workers begin tearing down Building 9210 at Oak Ridge on Nov. 16.

A view of one of the remaining Biology Complex facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex prior to demolition. An EM project is clearing away high-risk hazards spanning 320,000 square feet and opening land for national security missions.

A view of the conditions inside one of the remaining Biology Complex facilities, which date back to the 1940s. These buildings are part of Oak Ridge’s inventory of excess contaminated facilities to be addressed by cleanup workers.

Preparing the Biology Complex buildings for demolition was a major undertaking and required workers in full protective suits to remove asbestos material found in areas such as pipe insulation and wall panels.

“I’m extremely proud of our team for this accomplishment,” UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter said. “Our UCOR workforce is highly trained to remove the kinds of hazards that were in this building, which made it possible for us to conduct this work safely and efficiently.”

Rueter noted that UCOR implemented special workforce development programs, such as its East Tennessee Apprenticeship Readiness Program and asbestos removal training geared to apprentices using a mock-up of a worksite.

“Those programs ensured our workforce had the skills necessary to achieve this next major cleanup milestone even as we continue to manage the impacts of the pandemic,” Rueter said. “It’s also important to note that this focus as well as our strong partnerships with Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) and the National Nuclear Security Administration allowed us to start the Biology Complex demolition within a month of celebrating Vision 2020.”

CNS is the Y-12 management and operations contractor.

Originally constructed for recovering uranium from process streams in the 1940s, the Biology Complex was later used for research that led to strides in understanding genetics and the effects of radiation. When operational, the facilities once housed more individuals with doctorates than anywhere in the world.

The Biology Complex previously consisted of 11 buildings. OREM demolished four of the structures in 2010 and removed another two structures in 2018. All remaining Biology Complex structures are scheduled for removal by 2021.

-Contributor: Ben Williams

Paducah Marks 25 Years of Successful Pump-and-Treat Operations

Since pump-and-treat operations began at the Paducah Site, EM has been successful in reducing the concentration levels of trichloroethene in groundwater.

PADUCAH, Ky. – For the last quarter century, a cornerstone of the cleanup program at EM’s Paducah Site has been the safe operation of the system to treat and reduce groundwater contamination.

After the discovery in the late 1980s of contamination in nearby groundwater wells, EM’s immediate response was to supply clean drinking water to those affected. EM then initiated the design and construction of a pump-and-treat system, which reduces groundwater contaminant concentration as well as mitigates the spread of contamination.

For a quarter century, the pump-and-treat system has been successfully removing groundwater contaminants. The primary contaminant is trichloroethene (TCE), a common industrial degreaser that was used at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) to clean equipment.

Since operation of the pump-and-treat system in the northwest area of the site began in August 1995, followed by an additional system in the northeast area of the site, EM has made great progress in remediating groundwater contamination. To date, a total of approximately 4.4 billion gallons of water have been treated — enough to fill 6,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Paducah Site workers Joe Tarantino and Denver Parman discuss the operation and maintenance of the pump-and-treat equipment used at the site.

A concrete pad that will be the future interim storage area for 1,936 highly radioactive capsules of cesium and strontium is now in place at the Hanford Site. Moving the capsules from underwater pools to safer dry storage will save more than $6 million in annual operating costs.

RICHLAND, Wash. – After years of planning, the future interim storage area for nearly 2,000 highly radioactive capsules is taking shape at the Hanford Site.

EM Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) recently finished pouring two large concrete pads for a dry cask storage area where 1,936 capsules of radioactive cesium and strontium will be moved from an underwater basin at the nearby Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF).

Check out this video, including a time-lapse of the concrete pour, to learn more about the capsule transfer project.

The capsules have been stored at WESF since the mid-1970s. Cesium and strontium were removed from waste tanks at Hanford to reduce the temperature of the waste inside the tanks.

“While the capsules are currently in a safe and compliant configuration in underwater pool cells, WESF is an aging facility,” said Gary Pyles, RL project director for the WESF project. “Transferring the capsules to dry storage in stainless steel and concrete casks reduces the risk of a radioactive release in the unlikely loss of water from the basin.”

Workers with contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company got an early morning start pouring concrete for the pads that will be used to safely store large, dry casks containing radioactive cesium and strontium capsules.

One 90-square-foot, 18-inch-thick concrete slab will hold the dry casks. A second, even larger slab provides space for workers to safely maneuver the casks onto the storage pad, as well as provide additional storage and a testing area.

The dry cask storage system is designed for passive cooling by the airflow within the cask. This same passive cooling approach is used for dry storage of used nuclear fuel at other locations. The concrete and steel casks also provide radiation shielding to protect workers and eliminate the possibility of a release of radioactive material. Storing the capsules this way will also save more than $6 million in annual operating costs.

“It’s exciting to see the cask storage and operating pads going from a drawing on paper to physical concrete pads,” said Karen Sanders, CHPRC lead engineer for the capsule storage area. “I’m proud of the safe progress our team has made this year on this critical risk reduction project.”

-Contributor: Joan Lucas

Innovation Key to Closure of Coal Yard at SRS

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions project manager Kelsey Holcomb discusses the cleanup of the D-Area Coal Storage Yard with DOE-Savannah River Federal Project Director Karen Adams at the project site.

AIKEN, S.C. – The final dump truck delivering limestone gravel came and went, setting the stage for the closure of a 12-acre legacy coal yard at EM’s Savannah River Site (SRS) recently.

Until 2012, the storage yard held huge piles of coal used to feed an enormous powerhouse built in the late 1950s that provided steam and electricity for SRS missions. The facility was shut down and replaced with an innovative, environmentally sustainable technology that burns forest debris, agricultural waste, and scrap lumber to generate steam and power. The powerhouse is set to be demolished in the future.

EM and contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) restored the land impacted by the powerhouse.

“Any large pile of coal that sits for nearly six decades will interact with rainwater and the atmosphere,” said Kelsey Holcomb, project manager with the SRNS Environmental Compliance and Area Completion Projects organization. “Coal contains iron sulfide, also known as pyrite or fool’s gold, and when it mixes with rainwater, it creates sulfuric acid. The acidity could potentially leach into the soil and draw out toxic metals such as beryllium and chromium if left untreated.”

Cleanup of the coal storage yard prevents those metals from migrating into the groundwater and surface waters onsite, creating a less acidic environment, according to Holcomb.

“We take ownership in catching potential issues as early as possible to alleviate concerns to human health or an ecological threat condition,” Holcomb said. “Completing this action to remedy the acidic condition of the soil in the coal storage yard is an important step towards the long-term protection of the environment at SRS.”

Before the coal-tainted soil had been removed from the yard, it had the approximate pH of a cola-based soft drink, at 3.0 to 3.2. After crews thoroughly mixed 1,000 tons of fine-grade limestone throughout the 12 acres, down to a depth of four feet, the pH returned to around 5.5, a normal level for the region.

Throughout the six-month project, SRNS construction personnel worked on only one acre at a time to control erosion and ensure no sediment entered nearby creeks and streams as a result of soil excavation. To accomplish this task, they operated an excavator, dump trucks, a road scraper, and a large industrial mixer to treat each section of the coal yard.

The sprawling coal storage yard slowly changed colors from red to gray, as the fine-grade limestone was mixed with the soil and capped with gravel.

The innovative cleanup approach expedited the project timeline and significantly reduced costs associated with traditional cleanup methods for projects of this size and scale.

“This project is typical of the creative, cost-effective, and responsible cleanup activities we continually strive for at Savannah River,” DOE-Savannah River Federal Project Director Brian Hennessey said. “Working closely with our EM contractor and regulators in a core team environment of collaboration has been key to the series of successful cleanup projects at SRS over the decades.”

-Contributor: DT Townsend

Effluent Treatment Facility Gets Ready for Hanford Tank Waste Treatment

The Effluent Treatment Facility is one of several facilities and projects critical to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste system that will transform the Hanford Site by enabling a shift to tank waste treatment operations.

RICHLAND, Wash. – EM is implementing a series of robust upgrades to increase the capacity and reliability of a critical effluent treatment facility to ensure it is ready to carry out its mission when 24/7 operations to treat tank waste begin at the Hanford Site.

“The facility is essential to the success of Hanford’s tank waste treatment mission,” said Richard Valle, EM program representative for the facility. “The upgrades ensure the Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) is capable of maintaining the needed pace of operations.”

The ETF is one of several facilities and projects critical to the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste system that will transform the site by enabling a shift to tank waste treatment operations. The approach is a system of interdependent projects and infrastructure improvements that will operate together to send pretreated waste from Hanford’s tank farms directly to the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, where it will be vitrified, or immobilized in glass. The effluent facility will treat an estimated 5 million gallons of wastewater per year from the Low-Activity Waste Facility during treatment operations.

As part of the upgrades, the EM Office of River Protection and its contractor Washington River Protection Solutions are replacing an aging monitoring and control system with one that will communicate more efficiently with other site facility systems. Crews are also replacing equipment that treats contaminants. Later this fiscal year, workers will also begin construction of a new retention basin to increase the storage capacity for wastewater that will be processed through the effluent facility.

The facility and its retention basins are also important to ensuring there is enough space in Hanford’s double-shell tanks to store waste throughout the storage and treatment mission. As tank waste is concentrated to make more space in the existing tank system, the process condensate from the evaporative process is sent to ETF for treatment. Since 1995, the facility has processed more than 330 million gallons of contaminated wastewater to remove radioactive and chemical waste.

-Contributor: Mike Butler

Oak Ridge Wins Government Team Project of the Year

Oak Ridge crews took down numerous facilities to complete the historic first-ever removal of a uranium enrichment complex this year. Pictured is the Centrifuge Complex, which towered 180 feet tall in some sections.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its environmental cleanup contractor UCOR were honored Nov. 12 with the Government Team Project of the Year Award.

The recognition was part of the national 2020 Washington Exec Pinnacle Awards, which go to top businesses and organizations that are saving money and fostering innovation.

Oak Ridge received the award for the significant effort involved in completing major cleanup earlier this year at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), a former uranium enrichment complex. This accomplishment, two decades in the making, removed more than 500 dilapidated and contaminated structures and opened land for economic development for the community.

The award highlighted the effectiveness and efficiency of the work by OREM and UCOR. They ultimately finished the project $80 million under budget and four years ahead of schedule, avoiding $500 million in costs to taxpayers.

“I’m very proud to be part of this federal team and to be partnered with an outstanding contractor like UCOR,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said. “Together, we’ve completed DOE’s largest cleanup project to date and established a well-deserved reputation of conducting our work safely, on time, and cost effectively.”

A view of the East Tennessee Technology Park after cleanup was completed at the former uranium enrichment complex this year. The work was completed four years ahead of schedule, saving taxpayers $500 million.

The award cited numerous innovative approaches taken to achieve the accomplishment that resulted in a historic first-ever removal of a uranium enrichment complex. Those innovations included reducing or eliminating the need for human entry into potentially hazardous environments, implementing a dispose-as-you-go waste approach, and creating a secure onsite disposal facility connected to ETTP by a private road exclusively used for waste shipments.

UCOR President and CEO Ken Rueter said that a strong partnership with the client and a workforce dedicated to safety were key to success.

“Our shared governance approach brought all of the players to the table and everyone had a voice — our client, our workforce, labor, regulators, and various stakeholders within the community,” Rueter said. “This strong collaborative approach enabled this very successful outcome.”

-Contributor: Susanne Dupes

Crews Prep for Final Major Teardown at West Valley

Students, SRS Experts Engage in ‘STEMulating' Conversations

EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 35 | Nov. 17, 2020

Oak Ridge Launches Demolition Project at Former Biology Complex

This is what the equipment used at the C-612 northwest pump-and-treat facility looks like today. While the equipment has been updated, the process to remove trichloroethene remains the same.

“For 25 years, operation of the pump-and-treat systems has been essential to EM’s mission at the Paducah Site,” said Jennifer Woodard, the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office’s Paducah Site lead. “We have been very successful at reducing groundwater contamination offsite.”

Starting in 2010, the northwest pump-and-treat system was upgraded to further improve efficiency and to ensure the continued treatment of groundwater contamination. In 2017, the northeast pump-and-treat system was upgraded. As of early 2020, the pump-and-treat systems had removed more than 4,100 gallons of TCE from local groundwater and continue to reduce contamination.

“The continued operations of these systems for 25 years not only represents a milestone in the effectiveness and reliability of the systems and those who maintain them, it’s a demonstration of the commitment that we all have to the cleanup of this site,” said Myrna Redfield, program manager with Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership, the prime cleanup contractor at the PGDP. “I remember when this system went online, and I am proud to see the effect it has had on the mission of the site and the impact it has had on site cleanup overall.”

-Contributors: Dylan Nichols

Safer Dry Storage Area for Radioactive Capsules Takes Shape at Hanford

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – Crews prepared a large demolition excavator for the installation of a long-reach arm as they readied for the future teardown of the last remaining major facility at the West Valley Demonstration Project, an EM 2020 priority. Built in the 1960s, the Main Plant Process Building was used as a commercial reprocessing facility to recover reusable plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear reactor fuel. The five-story facility operated from 1966 to 1972, processing about 640 metric tons of irradiated nuclear fuel. EM and cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley also recently began grouting a large underground cell at the site to provide structural stability for when heavy demolition equipment operates aboveground to tear down the Main Plant Process Building. The cell, which is nearly 30 feet below ground, will remain in place until the underground portion of the Main Plant Process Building is removed in the future.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere

Savannah River Operations Office Engineer Joel Maul talks with students at Diamond Lakes Elementary School in Hephzibah, Georgia during a visit after several weeks of correspondence with the students.

AIKEN, S.C. – Students are becoming pen pals with Savannah River Site (SRS) employees whose degrees and careers involve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a new program called “STEMulating Conversations with SRS Experts.”

To date, 74 teachers and academic officials from local schools have enrolled in the pilot program in which K-12 grade students send letters via email to the SRS experts to learn about a range of STEM careers.

Managed by EM contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), STEMulating Conversations offers students the opportunity to develop career aspirations and interests in STEM by communicating with scientists, engineers, IT, and other STEM professionals from SRS. Through this program, they can ask SRS experts questions about STEM and their careers.

Students in the STEM Lab at Diamond Lakes Elementary in Hephzibah, Georgia have been exchanging information with chemical engineer Joel Maul and electrical engineer Pamela Finklin at SRS. Their different engineering focuses give students a variety of perspectives on careers.

“There’s little doubt that the ongoing correspondence is already creating a mentoring relationship between the students at Diamond Lakes and our SRS engineers,” said STEMulating Conversations Program Coordinator Taylor Rice, who works with the SRNS education outreach division. “It’s been exciting for me to read the letters as well and see the enthusiasm they are generating. Each message from Pamela and Joel benefits 160 students from Diamond Lakes and exposes them to two different engineering fields.”

Diamond Lakes Principal Lashantel Pinckney expressed her appreciation for the partnership between SRS engineers and the Richmond County School System.

“Our district is truly appreciative of the efforts made by SRNS Education Outreach to think outside the box during the pandemic and to remain engaged in the business of educating and preparing students for their future,” Pinckney said.

Rice uses a database of more than 90 SRS volunteers to determine the best match for questions that come in from students.

“This program is already proving to be a great way for students to begin thinking about what engineers, scientists, or other STEM professionals do within their chosen profession,” Rice said. “One of our beliefs is that you can’t wait until college to reach students with this type of information. You have to reach them early, at the elementary grade level and then continue the dialogue as they advance into middle and high school.”

STEMulating Conversations with SRS Experts will soon move from a pilot program to an annual one offered by SRNS.

“Students need this kind of connection and the acknowledgement that people care about them and their career goals,” Rice said. “We have so much talent and knowledge in different areas to share throughout the Savannah River Site.”