U.S. Department of Energy Volume 2, Issue No. 11 June 10, 2010

Transcription

1 safety performance cleanup closure U.S. Department of Energy Volume 2, Issue No. 11 June 10, 2010 In This Issue ETTP Cleanup Procurement...1 DUF6 Readiness...1 In Brief...1 EM Major Procurements...3 SES Managers Earn MIT Leadership Certificates...4 Triay Receives Key to Los Alamos County In recognition of her commitment to environmental cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Los Alamos County Council presented EM Assistant Secretary Inés Triay its first-ever Key to the County last week. I am honored to be recognized on behalf of the Department of Energy s Environmental Management program for the great work being done here, Triay said during a June 3 ceremony at the county s community building. She added, Thanks to the tireless efforts of Los Alamos officials, continued on page 5 ETTP Cleanup Procurement Reflects New Course The draft request for proposals (RFP) to complete cleanup on the East Tennessee Technology Park part of the Oak Ridge Reservation reflects fresh approaches that draw on industry and government ideas to simplify and bolster the transition to a new contractor for the cleanup effort, program officials say. Current plans are for DOE to complete the transition to a new contractor for the ETTP cleanup work by July of In seeking to streamline and improve the procurement process, Department of Energy officials sought to use clauses and provisions in the draft RFP which are consistent with recent RFPs. This will provide a more common framework for companies seeking to bid on the work, said Mike Howard, director of the Office of Procurement Planning. As a result of these changes, potential bidders who set about to prepare their proposals can now do it more efficiently and will be able to utilize work from preparing proposals responding to previous RFPs, for areas such as past performance and corporate experience, Howard added. continued on page 2 DUF6 Readiness Review Paves Way for Hot Operations Department of Energy officials are in the final stages of preparing the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facility in Portsmouth, Ohio, for the introduction of nuclear and hazardous materials into the conversion facilities. Portsmouth DUF6 project officials received DOE authorization late last month to begin testing that Jack Zimmerman expects initial cylinders of DUF6 will be brought into the facility to start process testing by late June. includes the introduction of hydrogen and uranium hexafluoride, key elements of the conversion process, into the conversion facilities. DOE officials expect that the hot operations test period will last about six months. continued on page 2

2 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 2 ETTP... continued from page 1 In formulating the draft RFP for the ETTP cleanup work, DOE officials are achieving greater consistency by adopting provisions used in two recent Environmental Management (EM) procurements of similar scope, size and complexity, according to Howard. Program officials also applied a continuous improvement approach by assessing procedures used in the Hanford Plateau Remediation contract and the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) procurement at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at DOE s Portsmouth Site in Pinkerton, Ohio. Another focus of program officials was to reduce the amount of detail that is required from potential bidders in their cost proposals, Howard said. During separate workshop sessions in March and May, industry officials suggested that the cost proposal area be streamlined for the vast ETTP effort that is expected to last five years with an option for another four years. The total value of the procurement is estimated to be worth between $2.1 billion and $2.7 billion, assuming a nine year period. Generally, industry has said we ve been requesting too much cost detail so we ve identified a Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) that will result in a specified format and cost proposal detail to ensure consistency among proposals, Howard said. Another aspect of the procurement process that DOE officials are expanding are communications with industry, Howard said. For example, a workshop was held to provide a technical exchange of information to industry about the treatment, removal and characteristics of particular types of hazardous waste. In addition, extensive site tours were conducted by DOE s Oak Ridge office that enabled company officials to get a close-up view of the actual buildings that will be involved in the cleanup work, Howard said. Videos were also taken of the inside of the major facilities and placed on the procurement website. Program officials are meeting to review the comments submitted in response to the recently released draft RFP. A cross functional team is reviewing the comments and we re using their feedback to improve and revise the RFP, Howard said. The draft ETTP RFP also reflects a different contract line item number (CLIN) structure, according to Howard. This step is designed to improve the overall knowledge of scope, cost and schedule associated with the effort which, in turn, reduces the uncertainty of risk to DOE and the contractors, Howard said. Another aspect of the draft RFP issued for this procurement is aimed at ensuring there is plenty of opportunity for a broad level of industry participation, Howard said. The draft RFP envisions a split whereby prime contractors will be limited to 40 percent of the total contract value; the other 60 percent must be subcontracted to other companies. And of the 60 percent to be subcontracted, half is to be subcontracted to small businesses. The subcontracting strategy is to develop work scopes after award of the ETTP contract on a timely basis, considering when the work will be executed. This will permit the work scope to be competed, with an emphasis on fixed priced contracts. This will assist with containing costs. In addition, there is a partnering provision in the draft RFP designed to nurture team building and foster better communication between the Government and the successful contractor. The draft ETTP RFP also includes provisions encouraging a community commitment from the cleanup contractor, Howard said. It focuses on three key areas: regional educational outreach, regional purchasing programs, and community support. Finally, the draft RFP includes award fee and performance based incentives. The ETTP procurement has been structured so that there are both objective and subjective measures for rewarding the contractor both performance based incentives and award fees, Howard said. These incentives will serve as a measure of progress toward completion of the work and provide for greater discipline in cost and schedule oversight of the contractor. DUF6... continued from page 1 Program officials anticipate initial cylinders of DUF6 will be brought into the facility to start the testing that would convert the uranium hexafluoride by late June, according to Jack Zimmerman, DUF6 Federal Project Director of the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office. After the requisite testing, the DOE contractor will begin operations at the conversion facility to convert depleted uranium hexafluoride, generated during earlier uranium enrichment activities supporting nuclear reactors and national security applications, to uranium oxide, a more stable chemical form suitable for future use or disposal. The processing of the Portsmouth inventory of DUF6 is expected to take about 18 years to complete. An informal gathering was held recently among the key parties that assisted the project in achieving the milestone of authorizing nuclear conversion of the materials, according to Zimmerman. This week, DOE officials planned to meet to review the process for the continued on page 8

3 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 3 Site All EM Sites Portsmouth & Paducah Portsmouth All EM Sites All EM Sites Oak Ridge & Paducah Oak Ridge Moab West Valley Acquisition Description/ Category Multiple Award/Low Level Waste/Mixed Low Level Waste/Waste Treatment Depleted Uranium Hexafl ouride Operations Portsmouth, OH and Paducah, KY Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant/D&D Multiple Award IDIQ Set-aside Contracts for Nationwide Environmental Services/ Environmental Cleanup Multiple Award IDIQ Unrestricted Contracts for Nationwide Environmental Services/Environmental Cleanup Disposition of Nickel Closure for Reindustrialization, D&D, Clean-up and Remediation Moab Remedial Action Contract/Environmental Cleanup West Valley Contract/ Environmental Cleanup Contracting Office Solicitation Method Full & Open Competition Full & Open Competition Full & Open Competition Small Business Set-aside Full & Open Competition Sales Agreement EM Major Procurements Contract Type Cost and Fixed Price IDIQ Cost Plus Award Fee Cost Plus Award Fee Cost and Fixed Price IDIQ Cost and Fixed Price IDIQ N/A Estimated Dollar Range $10M-$25M Pre-Solicitation Conference/ Industry Meetings 3/23/2009-3/24/2009 Draft Solicitation Synopsis Solicitation Receipt of Proposal Anticipated Evaluations Complete/ Award 1/10/2009 2/3/2009 7/28/2009 9/30/2009 Apr-Jun 2010 $50M-$1B 1/14/ /19/ /9/2008 6/17/2009 8/17/2009 Jul-Sept 2010 $2.5-$3.2B 3/31/2008 1/13/2009 6/24/2009 6/24/ /13/2009 Oct-Dec 2010 $50M-$1B 8/20/2009 N/A 6/25/2009 8/6/ /16/2009 Oct-Dec 2010 $50M-$1B 11/3/2009 N/A 6/25/ /15/2009 1/8/2010 Apr-Jun 2011 TBD ORO TBD TBD TBD 8/26/2009 & 8/27/2009 5/7/2010-5/10/2010 7/21/2009 4/29/2010 5/14/2010 7/28/ /7/ TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD N/A N/A Carlsbad Carlsbad M&O TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD Idaho Idaho Cleanup Contract/ Environmental Cleanup TBD TBD TBD TBD Major procurements are those with an anticipated value of $25 million dollars or more M&O (Management and Operating Contract) D&D (Decommissioning and Decontamination) IDIQ (Indefi nite Delivery/Indefi nite Quantity) (Offi ce of Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center) ETTP (East Tennessee Technology Park)

4 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 4 SES Managers Earn MIT Leadership Certificates Thirty two Senior Executive Service (SES) managers or 65 percent of the executives and four senior supervisors from the Department of Energy s Office of Environmental Management (EM) have received certificates in management and leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology s (MIT) Sloan School of Management. Sandra Waisley, EM's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Capital and Corporate Services. EM Assistant Secretary Inés Triay, who has made improving workplace culture a key element of her drive to create a high-performing organization, is among the group of EM officials to receive an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the prestigious research and business institution in Cambridge, Mass. The purpose of this training is to enhance the leadership competencies of EM executives to achieve high performance within their organization, said Sandra Waisley, EM s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Capital and Corporate Services. Waisley added, EM recognizes that leadership enhancement is vital to the program and commits to the development and strengthening of leadership skills for all EM employees throughout their careers. We have offered corporate leadership training at MIT for the past two years. The most recent course completed by SES managers at the Sloan School of Management s Executive Education program occurred in May, said Ben Rivera, manager of EM s Leadership Excellence Program. The management and leadership certificates cover core business skills in marketing, finance, organizational processes, change management, and systems thinking. These certificates are awarded to participants who have completed four or more open enrollment programs within a four-year period. For example, the EM managers successfully completed education programs in such areas as: Transforming Your Leadership Strategy; Understanding and Solving Complex Business Problems; Leading Change in Complex Organizations, and Managing Technical Professionals and Organizations. EM has also conducted 360 degree leadership assessments on its SES managers and a large group of senior supervisors to determine the leadership challenges of the EM leaders and develop corporate training to address leadership development needs that have been identified in the 360 degree reviews. MIT leadership courses and the 360 reviews are part of EM s efforts to develop its leaders. In addition to Triay, other executives to receive certificates include EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Dae Chung; Jeffrey Allison, Robert Carosino, Yvette Collazo, Ray Corey, Jack Craig, Desi Crouther, Edgardo DeLeon, Jonathan Dowell, Lowell Ely, John Eschenberg, Jose Franco, Mark Gilbertson, Karl Goodwin, Karen Guevara, Timothy Harms, Douglas Hintz, Michael Howard, James Hutton, Gregory Jones, Steve Krahn, William Levitan, Patrick McGuire, David Moody, Michael Moore, William Murphie, Stephen O Connor, Jay Rhoderick, Doug Shoop, Thomas Smith, Terrel Spears, John Surash, Merle Sykes, Sandra Waisley, and Angela Watmore. The site breakdown of those receiving certificates is as follows: EM Headquarters (16), Savannah River Site (6), Consolidated Business Center (1), Carlsbad Field Office (1), Portsmouth and Paducah Project Office (1), Oak Ridge Office (1), and Hanford (10). The Hanford Site includes employees from both the Office of River Protection and the Richland Operations Office. EM Update Published twice monthly by the Office of Environmental Management U.S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC Contributors: Tony Chiri, James Giusti, Danielle Miller, Tifany Nguyen Web site: EMUpdateNewsletter@ hq.doe.gov U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

5 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 5 buildings at Technical Area 21 (TA- 21), which once housed plutonium and historic non-weapons research. The program also manages the activities associated with the disposal of transuranic waste, which is transported to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant disposal facility near Carlsbad, N.M. EM Assistant Secretary Inés Triay and members of the Los Alamos County Council are shown following the award of the key to the county. Cleanup began recently at TA-21 s Material Disposal Area B. That area is an inactive subsurface disposal site that stored processed radioactive laboratory wastes and debris and some liquid chemical waste from operations within TA-21. In addition to the progress made at TA-21, county officials cited Triay s many years of environmental cleanup work associated with lab activities. Among her accomplishments, they said, were the first shipment ever made to WIPP from Los Alamos in Following the key ceremony, Triay toured the cleanup sites at TA-21 and met workers at Material Disposal Area B and the former Tritium Systems Test Assembly building. FBI Expands Facilities at SRNL Al Chaloupka, Demolition Manager for Technical Area 21, describes cleanup activities to EM Assistant Secretary Inés Triay and National Nuclear Security Agency Los Alamos Site Office Manager Don Winchell.... continued from page 1 DOE s commitment to environmental cleanup, and Recovery Act funding, we have been able to continue cleanup activities in Los Alamos. I look forward to working together with Los Alamos officials on our continued progress. During the ceremony, Los Alamos County Council Chairman Mike Wismer said that Triay ensures that protection of human health and the environment are first and foremost in every decision. The Environmental Management program supports and oversees the cleanup of the legacy waste projects at LANL. Under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, DOE provided funds in 2009 to commence the decommissioning and demolition of Cold War-era On June 3, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Energy s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) announced the opening of a major expansion of the FBI s facilities for the forensic examination of radiological material and related evidence. The expanded Radiological Evidence Examination Facility (REEF), located at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, S.C., will enhance the FBI s ability to protect the nation from crimes involving radiological material. continued on page 6

6 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 6 Savannah River Site (SRS). SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in areas such as environmental management, national and homeland security, and energy security. The management and operating contractor for SRS and SRNL is Aiken-based Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC. Hanford Beryllium Program Improves But Challenges Remain, Inspectors Say (Left to right) Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.); FBI Executive Assistant Director, Science & Technology, Louis Grever; FBI Laboratory Director Chris Hassell; Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), House Majority Whip; DOE-Savannah River Acting Manager Jack Craig (hidden); Savannah River National Laboratory Acting Director Paul Deason; and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions President Garry Flowers, cut the ribbon to open the FBI's newly expanded Radiological Evidence Examination Facility.... continued from page 5 The first phase of the REEF opened at SRNL in 2006, providing facilities where trained FBI personnel can safely perform forensic examination on radiologically contaminated evidence. The facility, now roughly six times its original size, offers the FBI the ability to conduct the full spectrum of traditional forensic analysis on contaminated evidence. FBI and SRNL personnel have developed innovative solutions to adapt existing DNA, latent fingerprints, trace hairs and fiber, document exams and forensic photography techniques for safe use in a radiation-controlled environment. For example, new microscope slide holders, as well as digital photography and x-ray capabilities have been developed. Digital fingerprint comparisons can now be conducted using secure computer terminals linked to the FBI s national fingerprint database. The REEF includes a fully functional FBI satellite office, where forensic examiners can securely share information via voice, data or video with any other FBI office. The facility has a dedicated Evidence Storage room, where radiological evidence can be safely and securely stored to maintain its integrity for judicial proceedings. We at SRNL are particularly proud of our partnership with the FBI, putting science to work to give the FBI the ability to conduct investigations that help keep our nation safe from nuclear terrorism, said SRNL Acting Director Paul Deason. As host to the FBI s radiological evidence laboratory, SRNL conducted several years of research and development to adapt existing FBI forensic methods for application to radiological evidence, using their expertise in the safe handling of radiological materials. SRNL is DOE s applied research and development national laboratory at the On June 2, the findings of an independent inspection of the Hanford Site Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program were discussed at an open Department of Energy forum in Richland, Wash. DOE s Office of Health, Safety and Security completed the inspection of the Hanford Site at the request of Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Inés Triay. The review team, which evaluated current practices for protecting workers against beryllium hazards and beryllium medical surveillance programs, found that Hanford s new, coordinated site-wide program has improved. However, the team said the program could have been executed more quickly. The Secretary of Energy and I are committed to taking care of the issues, taking care of the fixes in the report, and to keep an open communication with everyone, said Triay. She added, We are not walking away from our responsibilities and this report will be used for lessons learned and shared throughout the Environmental Management complex. continued on page 7

7 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 7 Glenn Podonsky, left, chief of the Offi ce of Health, Safety and Security shakes hands with EM Assistant Secretary Inés Triay after providing an out brief to Hanford offi cials and workers regarding their report on the Hanford beryllium protection program.... continued from page 6 The new Hanford Site Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program (CBDPP) provides a common set of safety requirements for the four contractors at Hanford and the site s medical contractor. Previously, each contractor had addressed beryllium risks independently. Tim Takaro, who performed one of the independent inspections of the Hanford Site Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program, noted that at least 160 workers have been diagnosed with sensitivity to beryllium or with the disabling and potentially fatal disease, which gradually robs victims of lung capacity. The open meeting drew former and present employees as well as representatives of the local media. Many participants that made comments or asked questions commended the board members for their support throughout the investigation. Other participants said they appreciated invitations to attend meetings regarding the investigation. Idaho Site Joins in Emergency Exercise An emergency exercise involving an imaginary plane crash at Fort St. Vrain s spent nuclear fuel storage facility in northern Colorado last month got the attention of many people, including a group at the Department of Energy s Idaho site. The emergency exercise even saw some Idaho Cleanup Project contractor CH2M-WG, Idaho (CWI) employees mobilize into emergency response mode. Kyra Lee has simulated wounds applied. Why did an exercise so far away impact the Idaho site and involve emergency management personnel there? DOE s Idaho Operations Office holds the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license for the Fort St. Vrain spent fuel storage facility in Weld County, Colo., and is responsible for managing it. The May exercise involved a number of personnel in Idaho as well as local responders in Colorado. CWI employees Michael Casteel and Frank Jaggar staffed the Emergency Control Center (ECC) at the Idaho Site s Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC), and the emergency exercise was developed by the Idaho National Laboratory contractor Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), Idaho Falls, Idaho. BEA and emergency exercise organizers sought to make the event as continued on page 8

8 June 10, 2010 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 8... continued from page 7 realistic as possible, including the appearance of wounds, and photo mock-ups of tornado damage and the plane crash. I was very impressed with the response of the local agencies. They did great, said CWI s Ted Borst. The ambulance and helicopter teams, plus medical staff, were all put to the test. Other participants included the Weld County Sheriff s Office, Platteville-Gilcrest Fire Department and Milliken police, which responded as planned. Fort St. Vrain operated as a nuclear power plant from 1979 to Spent fuel is now stored there. It was Colorado s first and only commercial reactor. Among CWI Emergency Management personnel involved in the Fort St. Vrain mock disaster were, from left to right, Jessica Schiers, Jeri Harwood, Frank Jaggar (front), Chris Schoonmaker (back) and James Colson. DUF6... continued from page 2 introduction of hydrogen into the facility, he said. Upon completion of this week s review, a series of tests will get underway to demonstrate operation of a complete conversion line. Initial tests will consist of a series of short tests to identify any changes that may be required to optimize the process, according to Zimmerman. Such tests will be used to verify nozzle flows and temperatures, and to define the range of stable operation of the heating and cooling systems, Zimmerman said. Once initial line testing is successfully completed for all lines, they will be run simultaneously to demonstrate plant production capacity. We must go through these tests to make sure the plant is responding properly, said Zimmerman. The DUF6 readiness review was a culmination of a long and difficult process to ensure the plant is ready to safely deal with the types of materials that will be introduced from an equipment, process and procedures standpoint as well as from a personnel and qualification perspective, according to Zimmerman. All the pre-start findings have been verified closed by DOE and there are a few post-start findings that have a corrective action plan, Zimmerman said. A big challenge in the conversion project has been in raising the expectations for all parties to be able to execute safely in a nuclear safety culture. One key lesson learned has been to focus on the preparation of procedures and formal conduct of operations, according to Zimmerman. As far as procedures goes, it s practice, practice, practice, Zimmerman said. Workers need to be familiar enough with the procedures and equipment to execute as if it was second nature.