42 DOE
A Question and Answer (Q&A) session is an interactive exchange where participants ask questions and receive responses from an expert, speaker, or panel. It fosters engagement, clarifies doubts, and provides deeper insights into a topic. Q&A sessions are commonly used in conferences, webinars, meetings, and educational settings to encourage discussion and knowledge sharing. They can be structured with pre-submitted or live audience questions, allowing for dynamic interaction. A well-managed Q&A session ensures relevance, efficiency, and value for both the audience and the speaker.
Q: What recent milestone has the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) achieved at the Savannah River Site (SRS)?
A: The DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) has achieved its third radioactive waste removal milestone within one calendar year at the Savannah River Site. Three waste tanks have been staged ahead of schedule for the next steps in the closure process.
Q: Which agencies have concurred on this milestone?
A: The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have both agreed that waste has been successfully removed from Tank 4, and the next phase, waste sampling and analysis, can now begin.
Q: What is the significance of the Preliminary Cease Waste Removal (PCWR) milestone?
A: The PCWR milestone signifies that, based on preliminary information, there is reasonable assurance that the performance objectives for tank closure will be met. It allows work to proceed on the sampling and analysis phase of the tank closure process, which will verify conclusions from the initial removal phase.
Q: What role does the Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC) contractor play?
A: SRMC, EM's liquid waste contractor, is responsible for treating and disposing of the millions of gallons of waste in SRS's underground tanks and for closing those tanks in a safe and efficient manner.
Q: Has SRMC previously completed any PCWR milestones ahead of schedule?
A: Yes, SRMC completed PCWR for Tank 10 in May, seven months ahead of the deadline, and for Tank 9 in October, more than a year ahead of its deadline. Tank 4's PCWR was also completed a year ahead of schedule.
Q: What happens during the next phase of the tank closure process?
A: The next phase involves sampling and analysis, where laboratory analysis of any remaining material will be conducted to confirm the final residual volume and ensure all performance objectives are met before the tank is stabilized and closed.
Q: How does EM view the progress at SRS?
A: Jim Folk, DOESavannah River assistant manager for waste disposition, emphasized that these milestones demonstrate EM's commitment to completing the SRS liquid waste mission through tank waste cleanup. He highlighted the team’s dedication to removing the highest risk from the tank waste at SRS.
Q: What did James Harris of SRMC say about achieving PCWR?
A: James Harris, Waste Retrieval and Tank Closure director for SRMC, acknowledged that achieving PCWR is a complex task, but it is made possible by the highly integrated efforts of the SRMC team, including skilled craftspeople, engineers, project managers, and other key staff members.
Q: What is Tank 4, and why is it significant?
A: Tank 4 is an underground storage tank placed into service in 1961. It has a capacity of 750,000 gallons, with a diameter of 75 feet and a height of 24.5 feet. This tank is a critical part of the ongoing waste removal and tank closure efforts at SRS.
Q: What project has the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)?
A: The DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EMLA) has begun a project to deactivate, decommission, and remove the Ion Beam Facility at LANL. This project is part of the broader mission to address excess facilities from nuclear weapons production and research, which stemmed from the Manhattan Project and Cold War era.
Q: What is the role of Aptim Federal Services in this project?
A: Aptim Federal Services (APTIM) is managing the deactivation, decommissioning, and removal project at LANL. They are responsible for overseeing the process, ensuring safety, and carrying out various tasks, including contamination removal and worker protection.
Q: What actions have been taken so far in the project?
A: APTIM has mobilized onsite, set up work trailers, displayed safety signage, and constructed protective fencing. The initial work involves facility sampling to assess potential contamination and conducting verification surveys to ensure proper safety measures are in place before material removal begins. Air monitoring will also take place to confirm the effectiveness of the safety controls.
Q: What significance did the Ion Beam Facility hold historically?
A: The Ion Beam Facility housed two Van de Graaff accelerators, which were among the largest in the world at the time of their construction. These accelerators played a crucial role in nuclear experiments and research that helped develop America’s nuclear arsenal during the 1950s and 1960s.
Q: How long is the deactivation, decommissioning, and removal project expected to take?
A: The project is expected to span over five years, with demolition of the facility's administrative wing anticipated to begin in the fall.
Q: What other cleanup and demolition efforts are ongoing in the DOE complex?
A: One notable example is the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP), where officials met with the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) to share lessons learned. WVDP is working on the demolition of the Main Plant Process Building, having removed 52 of its 56 cells since demolition began in September 2022. These efforts help reduce risks and open land for future research and national security missions.
Q: What innovative tools have been used in the demolition efforts at West Valley?
Q: What’s the significance of the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) at the Hanford Site?
A: The IDF is an engineered landfill designed to safely dispose of vitrified (immobilized in glass) lowactivity waste from Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The facility will support the DirectFeed LowActivity Waste (DFLAW) Program, which is a major priority for the Hanford Site’s cleanup mission.
Q: What safety measures are in place at the Integrated Disposal Facility?
A: The IDF has doublelined disposal cells and a leachate collection system to prevent groundwater contamination. Leachate, which is contaminated liquid from water percolating through waste, is collected and stored in two 400,000gallon tanks before being sent for treatment.
Q: How is the Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center contributing to cleanup efforts?
A: The Oak Ridge Transuranic Waste Processing Center has successfully reestablished full production capacity after replacing a broken wastedrum crusher. The facility processes and repackages waste for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico for permanent disposal.
Q: What challenges did the Oak Ridge team face with the wastedrum crusher?
A: The wastedrum crusher, a crucial piece of equipment, had broken down, causing delays and requiring workers to manually reduce drum sizes. This process was more timeconsuming, laborintensive, and riskier. After replacing the crusher, the facility has resumed normal operations.
Q: What is the significance of Oak Ridge’s ongoing cellulosic waste campaign?
A: Oak Ridge is processing a unique type of waste, called cellulosic material, which poses a combustion risk if left untreated. OREM and UCOR developed one of the first approved processes to treat this waste, which is helping to eliminate Oak Ridge’s remaining inventory of transuranic waste.
Q: What progress has Oak Ridge made in shipping waste to WIPP?
A: To date, Oak Ridge has shipped 94% of its contacthandled transuranic waste and 78% of its remotehandled waste to WIPP for permanent disposal. The ongoing cellulosic waste campaign is expected to be completed this year.