CH2MConnection
West Valley vitrification melter and equipment loaded on trucks for relocation and disposal........Page 6
In this issue... 1 Safety First 2 Listen In - Waste Management 3 Future of Cleanup Decisions at Hanford 5 What’s Next? Major Milestones 5 C(H2M)ommunity
Leadership Perspective As this edition of CH2MConnection hits the streets, many in our industry will be coming together at the annual Waste Management Symposia, one of the largest conferences on radioactive waste management and disposal, decommissioning, packaging and transportation, facility siting and site remediation. These are all issues we are closely familiar with on a daily basis throughout the Department of Energy Environmental Management Complex, UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited sites. Not only is the Waste Management Symposia a place for us to connect with our peers and colleagues, it is an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest technology and trends from industry leaders around the world and share lessons learned as we make progress reducing risk and environmental liabilities. The partnership between government and private industry has made significant progress in addressing the environmental legacy left behind from decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. This year, we are proud to share some of our latest accomplishments at the Hanford and West Valley featured sites. CEOs Ty Blackford and Jeff Bradford and their teams have lots of exciting news to share on the progress we’ve made since we last met. I am honored to be a part of this community, and look forward to connecting with our clients and partners to continue to deliver safe and sustainable solutions for nuclear clean-up and waste management that will benefit taxpayers, stakeholders and future generations.
Dyan Foss Global Managing Director CH2M Nuclear Sector
Safety First
Hanford and West Valley Receive VPP Star of Excellence Award CH2M puts an incredibly strong emphasis on Safety 24/7, focusing on efficient and compliant project performance on every task, all year round and it pays off. Congratulations to CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley for receiving the Voluntary Protection Program Star of Excellence Award in January 2017. Due to the workforces’ diligent and conscious behavior and proactive safety on both sites, the teams have earned this prestigious award from the DOE. Contributing to the achievement was their outstanding performances on the on-site reviews, which validate that the sites’ processes and programs meet the requirements in the safety and health programs. To earn the award, the sties had to achieve recordable incident injury rating 75 percent better than the national industry average. VPP selfassessments are also vital to the site remaining safe and efficient. Each project performs an annual self-assessment to evaluate their goals and objectives in order to identify any changes or improvements to be implemented. Volume 3 Issue 1 1 March 2017
Listen in.
Waste Management 2017 Speakers Time
Name
Session # - Topic
Monday, March 6 10:00 – 11:45
Kevin Daniels
5 - Managing Safety Culture During Transitions
1:25 – 3:10
Bill Badger
15 - Procurement and Contracting Opportunities with DOE, DOE Prime Contractors, and USACE FUSRAP Projects
1:25 – 3:10
John Wrapp
27 - Experience in Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials - The Waste Factory at the East Tennessee Technology Park
Tuesday, March 7 8:25 – 10:10
Mark Lesinski
38 - Creating Sustainable Client - Contractor Partnerships to Improve Project Performance
10:15 – 12:00
Mark Lesinski, Kurt Kehler
39 - Canadian GOCO Transition
8:25 – 12:00
Ella Feist
49 - Environmental Remediation Progress Toward Closure of Contaminated Sites Around the World - Dounreay Site’s Interim End State- Environmental Safety Strategy
1:50 – 5:00
Ty Blackford
56 - Tuesday US DOE Featured Site: Richland Operation Office, Hanford, Washington
Wednesday, March 8 10:15 – 12:00
Scott Anderson, John Wrapp, Connie Simiele
77 - Dealing with Problematic US DOE Mixed Waste Streams and Policy Changes
10:15 – 12:00
Bill Barrett
92 - Removal of Technetium-99 on Ion Exchange Resin – A Case Study at 200 West Pump and Treat
10:15 – 12:00
Sarah Springer
92 - High-Resolution Characterization of Commingled Contaminants in the Deep Vadose Zone, Hanford Site
1:25 – 5:00
Jeff Bradford, Scott Anderson, Peggy Loop
95 - US DOE Featured Site: West Valley, New York
1:25 – 5:00
Lynette Bennett
109 - Dose Cave: Determining Shielding Requirements for RH-TRU Using Gamma Transmission through Fixed Shields
Thursday, March 9 8:25 – 12:00
John Wrapp, Connie Simiele
116 - Waste Management Energy Facilities Contractor Operating Group (EFCOG)
8:25 – 12:00
Sonya Johnson
118 - Best Practices in Project Communications
8:25 – 12:00
Patrick Baynes
124 - Technical Innovations in Environmental Remediation and Site Closure - Uranium Sequestration – Field Test to Remedial Action
1:25 -5:00
Tom Bratvold
131 - Update on Demolition Strategy and Progress at Hanford’s Plutonium Finishing Plant
1:25 – 5:00
Bill Kirby
131 - Remediation of 130 mSv/hr. Soil Contamination Under a Hot Cell
1:25 – 5:00
Jeanne Poling
136 - Global Management of Spent Radioactive Sealed Sources, HEU, and Orphan Materials and Controls - Burnt Mountain Alaska RTG Extraction, Transport and Disposal Project
CH2M Environmental Team Provides Foundation for the Future of Cleanup Decisions at Hanford Site
CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M) supported the Department of Energy Richland Office (DOE-RL) in developing a set of cleanup principles and parameters for future decisions about cleanup of the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state. These principles were recently agreed to by the site’s regulators, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CH2M Environmental team worked with DOE to provide documents that were approved and signed by Ecology in the fall and just recently approved and signed by EPA. The principles and parameters will help guide the evaluation of waste sites and groundwater on Hanford’s Central Plateau. “Our team has supported this effort since 2014, and through much hard work and coordination we helped DOE reach a major
accomplishment,” said Moses Jaraysi, CH2M Environmental Program and Strategic Planning vice president. The substantive components of these principles will provide a consistent approach for assessing risks to human health and the environment, land use and the evaluation of remedial alternatives. They will also identify and implement regulatory strategies that will optimize assessment resources, streamline documentation requirements and promote consistency in decisions. “Although the greatest benefits realized will occur during future remedial actions on the Central Plateau post-2022,” said Jaraysi, “the Environmental team provided our customer major support that reflects CH2M’s commitment to cleanup beyond the current contract end date of September 2018. This will support DOE’s cleanup mission for years to come.”
“The Environmental team provided our customer major support that reflects CH2M’s commitment to cleanup beyond the current contract end date of September 2018. This will support DOE’s cleanup mission for years to come.” - Moses Jaraysi, CH2M Environmental Program & Strategic Planning VP
What’s next? Major Milestones Unique and Complex Disposition Work Underway at Hanford’s Building 324 Just a stone’s throw away from the Columbia River sits a hazardous remnant of the Cold War. Building 324 served as a development facility where employees conducted studies on highly-radioactive materials. Today, workers are preparing to remove highly-contaminated soil from under Building 324. In late 2010, workers on the River Corridor Closure (RCC) Project were on a path for demolition of the building when they discovered a spill beneath the B-Cell resulting in discontinuation of the demolition. It was discovered that the soil is so highly-contaminated that exposure for just 2 short minutes would deliver a lethal dose of radiation. This project came to CH2M this fall when the remainder of the RCC contract work migrated to the Plateau Remediation Contract. Over the past decade, over 170 buildings have been demolished in the 300 Area - just a few remain, including Building 324. Soil Removal Preparations Due to hazards and radioactivity, many precautions have been implemented, including a mock-up building allowing workers to practice and train for the actual cleanup work, ensuring equipment functionality and the maximization of worker efficiency and safety in delivering project goals in this unique and complex environment. Workers wearing multiple layers of personal protective equipment prepared the building for soil removal by cleaning out debris from the airlock and hot cells. Additionally, the ventilation and heating system, along with fire and other systems were inspected. Soil Removal Process Remotely operated equipment will be used for the soil removal because of the significant level of contamination. A remote arm and saw will cut and remove the floor to expose the soil, to allow the removal of 10 feet of soil, followed by refilling the area with grout. The highly-contaminated soil will be placed in nearby hot cells until eventual disposal at Hanford’s regulated landfill. The less radioactive waste will be immediately delivered to that landfill.
In the C(H2M)ommunity UCOR Education Mini-Grant Program Supports STEM Programs for 6th Year Since 2012, our team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC. (UCOR), has run the Education Mini-Grant Program. UCOR recently announced the sixth year of accepting proposals from area schools for educational mini-grants to enable new instructional methods for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in the classroom. These grants will be awarded directly to the teachers and schools for specific projects in the STEM field. By offering these grants, our project team is helping to provide creative and innovative school activities, which not only encourage learning, but gives students a greater insight into today’s science and technology in fun and interactive ways. By giving students opportunities they may not otherwise have, the program contributes significantly to educational programs and community organizations around Oak Ridge, Tennessee, developing our future workforce. Learn more and apply here.
5 March 2016
Equipment Used in Vitrification Mission at West Valley is Successfully Relocated Another large milestone was met for CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC. Three oversized vessels that previously held equipment involved in the vitrification process have been safely relocated and disposed of off-site at an approved disposal facility in Andrews, Texas. Among the three packages, was the 195-ton melter which converted liquid waste into a glass substance during the vitrification process from 1996 to 2002. The melter converted 600,000 gallons of liquid high-level waste which was moved into 275 stainless steel canisters. The other two containers were the 167-ton Concentrator Feed Make-Up Tank which was used to mix the high-level waste with glass forming chemicals and the Melter Feed Hold Tank used in storing and transferring the waste mixture to the melter.
“I am proud of the workers who undertook the vital task of preparing these large components to be relocated and disposed, and then carried out the job successfully and, more important, safely,”
After all the high-level waste was vitrified, the large vessels - Bryan Bower, Federal Director of WVDP were flushed of residual waste and placed in durable steel boxes stabilized with grout. Although the vessels once held HLW, this preparation allowed the equipment to be classified as low-level radioactive waste and disposed of in a federal lowlevel waste landfill in Texas after a DOE conducted waste classification process. The waste was determined to meet the definition of “waste incidental to reprocessing” (WIR) allowing it to be shipped for disposal as low-level radioactive waste. This marks the first time DOE has shipped for disposal a waste package that has undergone the “waste incidental to reprocessing” evaluation and determination process.
Vessels transferred from heavy-haul trucks to rail for shipment
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