Salt Mining to Resume at WIPP; Oak Ridge Site Barge Area Presents Private-Sector Opportunity; Idaho Site Considers New Robotic Snake Arm; and Much More!

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. EM Update | Vol. 9, Issue 20 | Oct. 17, 2017 Salt Mining to Resume at WIPP Hanford Site Celebrates Completion of WTP Low-Activity Waste Melters Oak Ridge Site's Barge Area Presents Opportunities for Industry EM Completes Soil Cleanup at Los Alamos Townsite Idaho Site Could Arm Calcine Retrieval Project With Robotic Snake Paducah Cleanup Contractor Surpasses 5 Million Safe Hours Grouting Underway at Hanford Waste Storage Tunnel Record Number of Students Attend Portsmouth Science Alliance Event Grant Program Connects Students With SRS Careers Salt Mining to Resume at WIPP This continuous miner, located underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, is capable of cutting out salt and depositing it into a vehicle for transport to the surface. CARLSBAD, N.M. – Mining operations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) are expected to resume this fall for the first time in more than three years, helping EM fulfill its mission of emplacing transuranic waste from generator sites around the country.    Mining for Panel 8 is expected to restart later this month or in early November, with completion of the partially-mined panel scheduled for 2020, according to Dave Sjomeling, undergound deputy operations manager with WIPP management and operations contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership. Miners have completed testing of the mining equipment to be used in Panel 8.    More than 112,000 tons of salt will be removed from the underground to complete the panel, which will contain seven disposal rooms for waste emplacement. Each disposal room is 300 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 13 feet high. Rooms generally hold about 10,395 55-gallon drum equivalents. A finished disposal room ready to receive waste drums. Each room can hold more than 10,000, 55-gallon drums. There are seven rooms per panel.      "The resumption of mining represents an important step for WIPP and our workforce," Carlsbad Field Office Manager Todd Shrader said. "Panel 8 will provide additional space for the emplacement of transuranic waste as our waste handler crews continue to emplace waste in Panel 7."    Panel 8 mining began in late 2013, but was halted following separate fire and radiological events that suspended emplacement operations. Workers will re-mine the current roof (called the back) at the panel's entrance and install rock bolts to provide stability.    Miners use a continuous miner — a machine designed to remove salt rock from the WIPP underground. They load the mined salt into a haul truck, which deposits it into a hoist that carries the material 2,150 feet to the surface for removal. WIPP uses a room and pillar system, where the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating arrays of rooms and pillars. - Contributor: Khushroo Ghadiali Back to Top Hanford Site Celebrates Completion of WTP Low-Activity Waste Melters Alex Smith, nuclear waste program manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology, speaks at the event last week marking the melters milestone for the Hanford Site Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project. Also pictured are Bill Hamel, EM's Office of River Protection federal project director for WTP, and Peggy McCullough, Bechtel National Inc. project director. WTP on pace to deliver first major processing facility in 2018 RICHLAND, Wash. – Marking a major milestone, EM's Office of River Protection and contractor Bechtel National Inc. (BNI) recently announced the completion of assembly of two 300-ton melters to vitrify Hanford's low-activity waste.     Assembly of Melter 1 in the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant's Low-Activity Waste Facility was completed last May; Melter 2 was finished in August. The work was completed ahead of schedule.    "The scale and complexity of these radioactive waste melters are unparalleled. In fact, each of these melters is the largest of its kind ever built in the U.S.; and when we begin making glass, will be the largest in operation in the world," said Bill Hamel, ORP's federal project director for the WTP.    Measuring about 20 feet by 30 feet and 16 feet high, each melter is composed of a base and walls, off-gas barrier and radiation shield lids, a refractory interior made of high-heat resistant bricks, and other components to feed, mix, and monitor the glass mixture.    "With the melters assembled and all major process equipment already installed, our workforce remains on pace toward the construction complete contract milestone of June 2018 for the LAW Facility," said Peggy McCullough, BNI project director.    The melters will heat Hanford's low-activity tank waste and glass-forming materials to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit — a process called vitrification — before the mixture is poured into stainless steel containers for permanent storage. Each melter has a glass production capacity of 15 metric tons per day, and together they can fill about 1,100 containers per year.    The LAW Facility is integral to the Direct Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach, intended to begin treatment of Hanford tank waste as soon as 2022. This approach uses the LAW Facility, support facilities, and the Analytical Laboratory, which are slated to be finished in advance of completion of the entire WTP. This allows waste vitrification as soon as possible, and provides valuable experience for WTP operations when the plant is complete. The lab is 98 percent complete, and the more than 20 support facilities are largely complete. Some portions of the support facilities and laboratory are undergoing systems testing and startup activities.    "It is key to vitrify the tank waste here at Hanford," said Smith. "The completion of these melters is a huge milestone on the path to doing that." - Contributors: Greg Atencio, George Rangel  Back to Top Oak Ridge Site's Barge Area Presents Opportunities for Industry UniTech equipment transported from Michigan is unloaded at the barge access area at the East Tennessee Technology Park. OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Reindustrialization efforts at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) have brought new life to an old barge access area out of service for decades.    As DOE's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleans and converts the former uranium enrichment complex into a private sector industrial park, companies are seeing significant signs of progress and potential.     In September, UniTech Services Group, a private business at ETTP, needed to transport large industrial equipment from Michigan, and noted the site's neglected barge area. The company worked with DOE and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee to use this area, and successfully shipped the equipment to ETTP using the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee navigable river systems.      Before the shipment arrived, Unitech contracted with the company Barnhart Crane to prepare the barge area for its first use by the private sector. Workers cleared overgrown brush, stabilized the shore, and reinforced the retaining wall in the Clinch River.  The Clinch River, which connects to the Tennessee River, runs along the west side of the East Tennessee Technology Park.    "This project, which was led by a private business, to refurbish and use ETTP's barge area, highlights our vision and ultimate goal for the site," said OREM Acting Manager Jay Mullis. "We are seeing industry utilize the offerings at the site and use them to benefit their business. In time, we believe the infrastructure, land, and features at the site will attract more industry to locate at ETTP."    Although the barge area is owned by DOE, no taxpayer dollars were used to refurbish it. It will be available for use by businesses as ETTP transitions to private ownership.    OREM is working to complete major cleanup and facility and land transfers at ETTP by 2020. This will provide the community an asset to attract major industry, build the tax base, and supplement employment declines resulting from the site's changing missions.   - Contributors: Mike Butler, Ben Williams Back to Top EM Completes Soil Cleanup at Los Alamos Townsite A crane was used to place a spider excavator on the canyonside during the 2017 cleanup work. LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – EM and contractor Los Alamos National Security (LANS) have safely and successfully completed cleanup of the Los Alamos townsite.    Since 2005, EM and LANS have investigated and cleaned up, when required, 115 legacy sites in compliance with the 2005 Compliance Order on Consent (Consent Order) with the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) and the 2016 Consent Order. Those sites were located on properties owned by private entities, Los Alamos County, and DOE.    LANS subcontractor TerranearPMC completed cleanup of the last two remaining legacy sites in the Los Alamos townsite in July. Their relatively inaccessible location along Los Alamos Canyon, combined with the canyon's steep, uneven topography, required use of a crane to enable the safe movement of a spider excavator, fieldwork personnel, waste bags, and restoration materials.  Workers place contaminated soil in special bags and seal them prior to transportation.  Workers load bags of contaminated soil on trucks for shipment offsite.     In summer 2016, TerranearPMC competed remediation of four legacy sites within or next to DOE property on the south-facing slopes of the canyon. The location and topography required temporary site infrastructure for equipment and materials staging to ensure safe and effective site access, soil cleanup, site restoration, and waste management operations.     In late spring 2015, TerranearPMC cleaned up contaminated soil on DOE property just south of Smith's Marketplace, a local grocery store. Working with experts from LANS subcontractor TerranearPMC, DOE and Los Alamos National Laboratory used a specialized telescoping crane and spider excavator to remove mercury-contaminated soil at former Technical Area 32.      Three sites in the Los Alamos townsite located on adjacent DOE property are not expected to require cleanup. In coordination with the NMED, DOE will address these sites administratively through regulatory processes under the 2016 Consent Order.    The laboratory conducted Manhattan Project and Cold War work at the former Technical Area 01 (TA-01). Perched on a plateau near a canyon edge, TA-01 is part of the Los Alamos townsite. A spider excavator cleans up contaminated soil on a canyonside with Smith's Marketplace in the background. By the late 1980s, the landscape in and around Technical Area 01 had changed significantly. When this photo was taken in 1950, Technical Area 01 was the heart of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.    TA-01 was home to several chemical and physics research laboratories. Operations there and at nearby technical areas resulted in legacy soil contamination. Since the early 1950s, these sites have undergone decommissioning, demolition, investigation, remediation, and construction. By the late 1950s, much of the land was turned over to non-DOE entities for commercial, recreational, and residential uses.    Before cleaning up legacy sites, DOE and the laboratory analyzed the nature and extent of contamination, which included chemicals such as solvents, metals such as lead and mercury, and radionuclides such as uranium and plutonium.    Most of the original infrastructure from legacy operations has been removed over the past several decades. DOE and the laboratory evaluated the soil surrounding previously building sites, waste lines, underground storage tanks, septic tanks, waste storage areas, outfalls, and additional infrastructures.    If soil samples indicated contaminant levels above regulatory standards, DOE and the laboratory removed the soil until the site met acceptable risk-based cleanup levels of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The risk-based cleanup levels are based on the projected land use, such as commercial or residential development. Workers removed and packaged soil in compliance with waste management regulations, and sent it to licensed disposal facilities.  - Contributor: Steven Horak Back to Top Idaho Site Could Arm Calcine Retrieval Project With Robotic Snake The robotic snake arm enters the mockup of a calcined waste storage bin.  IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM's Idaho Site is considering the use of a new robotic arm to help transfer more than 220 cubic meters of radioactive calcined waste to newer bins, ultimately closing the location where the material has been stored for more than 50 years.      The calcine material is a granular byproduct of a process used from 1963 to 2000 to convert radioactive liquid waste from spent nuclear fuel reprocessing to a more stable solid. The material is stored in long stainless steel storage bins within six concrete bin sets at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.     EM is working to design a system to retrieve the 220 cubic meters of calcine material from the older bins and transfer it to the newer storage location. Eventually, workers will close the emptied bins under numerous regulatory authorities. The Idaho Site hopes to begin calcine retrieval and transfer by fiscal year 2020 and complete closure of the old bin set by fiscal year 2022.    Working with subcontractor Diversified Products of Idaho Falls, the Calcine Retrieval Project fabricated a full-scale mockup of a waste storage bin to assess technologies for the transfer of the calcined waste. The project enlisted the help of United Kingdom firm OC Robotics to test the robotic snake arm. Through the use of lasers, the robotic snake arm closely followed the cylindrical shape of the bin and used compressed air to move simulated calcine to a collection point to vacuum it up.  The robotic snake arm uses compressed air to move simulated high-level waste called calcine during a mockup demonstration. Fluor Idaho Calcine Retrieval Project Manager Howard Forsythe observes the robotic snake arm during a recent demonstration inside a mockup of a calcine bin.    Program engineers expect some calcine to remain in the old bins following the transfer. But before the bin set can close under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, workers must vacuum remaining excess material, according to Howard Forsythe, Calcine Retrieval Project manager with EM cleanup contractor Fluor Idaho. That's where the robotic snake arm comes into play.    "We're dealing with tight quarters in the bin set as well as obstacles associated with the original piping," Forsythe said. "The robotic snake arm was able to maneuver very well inside the vessel and complete its demonstration effectively.    "Obviously, we're in the early stages of testing," he added. "So far, this snake arm has performed well. We may go with this design or another, but it's good to be making progress on this important cleanup project." - Contributor: Erik Simpson Back to Top Paducah Cleanup Contractor Surpasses 5 Million Safe Hours Personnel load a flat-bed truck for an off-site shipment. PADUCAH, Ky. – EM's prime cleanup contractor at the Paducah Site has recorded more than 5 million hours without a lost-time work injury since they began preparing the former gaseous diffusion plant for deactivation and demolition in July 2014.      Fluor Federal Services, Inc., and teaming partners LATA-Sharp Remediation Services and Chicago Bridge and Iron, earned a National Safety Council award and the Kentucky Governor's Safety and Health Award for the July 22, 2014 through August 13, 2017 period.    "DOE's top priority is to keep every site worker safe on the job," said Jennifer Woodard, the site lead for EM's Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. "I appreciate the contractor implementing safe working habits to achieve this safety milestone." An electrician installs new wiring as part of a site electrical reconfiguration project.    During the three-year period, EM and its Paducah Site contractors consolidated four outdated electrical switchyards into one, improving the efficiency of the site electricity distribution system. All process building roofs were resurfaced, improving worker safety while protecting equipment from the elements. These projects and many others successfully minimized potential hazards to workers.    "The workers did this by incorporating a 'safety comes first' attitude in everything we do," said Fluor Program Manager Bob Smith. Workers install new roof surfacing on a site building. Crews demolished the C-212 office building.    Fluor's three-year contract is due to expire this week. Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership LLC (FRNP), a CH2M-led company with partners Fluor Corporation and BWX Technologies, will assume responsibility for the Paducah cleanup under a new five-year contract with options for up to 10 years total.    Since 2014, EM has demolished 11 inactive facilities at Paducah, bringing the total to 43. - Contributors: Steve Christmas, Dylan Nichols Back to Top Grouting Underway at Hanford Waste Storage Tunnel Trucks deliver engineered grout for placement inside a partially collapsed waste storage tunnel at the Hanford Site. RICHLAND, Wash. – A nighttime crew of about 50 workers is busy placing engineered grout in Tunnel 1 near the Hanford Site's Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant after its partial collapse earlier this year.     To ensure a steady supply of grout, the work takes place at night when trucks hauling the material avoid the site's daytime traffic congestion. Watch a video on the project here.     Grouting eliminates a potential threat of further tunnel collapse and increases the protection of workers, the public, and the environment from radiological hazards. It does not preclude future remedial actions or final closure decisions.  A grout pumping truck places grout into a partially-collapsed storage tunnel to stabilize that tunnel and help ensure employee, public, and environmental safety.    Using video cameras to monitor progress, workers layer the grout. As the injected grout displaces air inside the tunnel, that air is filtered as it exits the tunnel as a precaution. To ensure worker safety, air monitoring stations around the tunnel alert workers of changing conditions.     As of Oct. 10, crews with EM Richland Operations Office contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) placed about 30 percent of the estimated 6,000 cubic yards of grout needed to fill the 358-foot-long tunnel that holds eight railcars containing legacy plutonium processing equipment. CH2M plans to fill the tunnel by the end of December. - Contributor: Destry Henderson Back to Top Record Number of Students Attend Portsmouth Science Alliance Event More than 1,700 students participated in the Portsmouth Site's Science Alliance event. PIKETON, Ohio – More than 1,700 high school students from 31 southern Ohio high schools attended DOE's Science Alliance event at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant earlier this month.    The annual program consists of demonstrations related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to educate students about the Portsmouth Site and STEM careers.    "We had an opportunity to expand the amount of students who got the opportunity to come here because it's been such a successful event and because of the great feedback we've received from our students," said Alissa Putnam, Chillicothe High School's director of curriculum and instruction. "It really gets our students exposure to multiple fields of science and STEM-related careers."    The demonstrations focused on the nuclear fuel cycle, plant history, and environmental stewardship with interactive activities. Students also learned about regional universities and EM contractors working at the site. EM's Jud Lilly directs a demonstration on the nuclear fuel cycle as part of Science Alliance.    Universities represented include Ohio University, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Ohio Christian University, Ohio State University, Rio Grande University, Shawnee State University, Southern States Community College, and Wilberforce University.    EM prime contractors (Fluor-BWXT, Restoration Services, Portsmouth Mission Alliance, Mid-America Conversion Services, and Wastren Advantage) helped execute the event. Representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board and the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative participated.      "We started working on this project in 2010, and we're proud of how it has grown thanks to the hard work of a lot of plant personnel and partners in local education," said EM program analyst Greg Simonton of the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. "We believe we are providing opportunities for young people and changing lives." - Contributors: Rick Greene, Donnie Locke Back to Top Grant Program Connects Students With SRS Careers Craig Newman is training to be a tank operator at the two tank farms at SRS. AIKEN, S.C. – Craig Newman became a Savannah River Site (SRS) contractor employee thanks to a DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Workforce Opportunities in Regional Careers (WORC) grant.    A graduate of the University of South Carolina (USC) with a degree in English, Newman had struggled to find a career using his skillset in technical writing and publishing. That changed when he joined the WORC grant program at Aiken Technical College (ATC) and landed a job with the SRS liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation (SRR).       "My journey to attending the Nuclear Fundamentals program at Aiken Tech began after I had difficulty breaking into the nuclear industry," Newman said. "I dubbed it a risky move quitting my job at the time to start the program, but a necessary decision to finally make it to the Savannah River Site. Little did I know at the time that the WORC grant would ease the financial strain of being out of work."    The Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization awarded the $5 million WORC grant to colleges and universities in the region in 2016. The grant connects residents with educational opportunities to obtain skills needed by DOE and NNSA in the SRS nuclear missions.    The WORC grant program benefits SRR, the schools, and the students looking for SRS careers, according to SRR President and Project Manager Tom Foster.    "The WORC grant program will help SRR maintain a high level of performance by supplying a pipeline of workers from local programs that train workers in the skillsets we need," Foster said. "We will continue looking for opportunities to leverage our customer's support in preparing students for careers in the nuclear industry."    Newman is training to be a tank operator at the two tank farms containing 43 operational underground high-level radioactive waste tanks.     "The program courses at Aiken Tech allowed me to bypass the fundamental training so I was able to quickly gain field experience at SRS alongside my coworkers," Newman said. "Now I am in systems training, learning the inner workings of the liquid waste process in the classroom, while also gaining practical experience in the field."    Newman said he feels fortunate for the opportunity at SRS.    "I have a new sense of purpose in my new career with SRR, whose mission is to protect the surrounding public and environment from by-products of the past," he said.  - Contributor: Maddie Blair Back to Top Like EM on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DOEEnvironmentalManagement                    STAY CONNECTED WITH EM:   QUESTIONS? Contact Us This email was sent using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy - 1000 Independence Ave., SW Washington, DC 20585