 on the D&D focus area About the focus areas The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management has established an integrated approach for addressing waste issues based on problem, or focus areas. The focus areas are: subsurface contaminants; mixed waste characterization, treatment, and disposal; radioactive tank waste remediation; decontamination and decommissioning; and plutonium stabilization. Three crosscutting technology areas support the focus areas: characterization, monitoring, and sensor technology; efficient separations and processing; and robotics. In fiscal year 1996, the decontamination and decommissioning focus area embarked upon a new implementation strategy designed to reduce the risk and liability associated with the first-time use of a technology. The large-scale demonstration projects are the cornerstone of this new strategy. The intent of the LSDPs is to show, at a scale convincing to the end user, that using a combination of innovative and commercial D&D technologies has substantial cost and other benefits compared to using only commercial technologies. This approach provides a unique opportunity to test innovative technologies beside commercial technologies in an ongoing D&D project. Each LSDP is managed and conducted by an integrating contractor team. These teams coordinate and oversee the work of subcontractors who own the innovative and commercial D&D technologies. Typically, three or more experienced D&D firms compose the IC team. Management of the LSDP by multiple firms ensures a balanced approach since different firms may use different commercial and innovative technologies and may have diverse perspectives on the risks associated with the use of innovative technologies. The IC team and its subcontractors will be able to use the technologies in performing future D&D work at other DOE sites and commercial nuclear facilities. In July 1995, DDFA issued a competitive Request for Letter Proposals to all DOE Operations Offices, requesting they offer facilities to host an LSDP. In October 1995, DDFA selected three DOE facilities to host the LSDPs. Each of these projects was initiated in FY96 and is scheduled to last approximately 18 months. DDFA expects to demonstrate more than 60 technologies by the completion of these first three LSDPs. The LSDPs highlighted in this article are the Chicago Pile 5 research reactor at Argonne National Laboratory-East near Chicago and the Plant 1 uranium processing facility at the Fernald Environmental Management Project Site near Cincinnati. In April, Initiatives will provide an update of these projects as well as highlight the third ongoing demonstration project at the 105-C production reactor at the Hanford Reservation near Richland, Washington. In addition, the follow-on article will provide information on the results of the second Request for Letter Proposals (issued May 30, 1996) to identify additional DOE facilities to conduct large-scale D&D demonstration projects. Argonne's CP-5 The first of the LSDPs to receive funding in FY96 was the Chicago Pile 5, or CP-5, research reactor, a thermal reactor designed to supply neutrons for research. It was moderated and cooled by heavy water and fueled by highly enriched uranium. The reactor was operated almost continuously for 25 years until its final shutdown in 1979 when the fuel rods were removed and the heavy water drained from the system. The major work to be accomplished during the CP-5 LSDP includes removal of the reactor internals and biological shield and decontamination of the fuel rod storage area, hot cell, fuel pool water and structure, and material storage and handling areas. The CP-5 LSDP is being conducted by the Strategic Alliance, a collaborative effort between Duke Engineering and Services, 3M Corporation, Commonwealth Edison, ICF Kaiser, and Florida International University. In January 1996, the Strategic Alliance began a campaign to screen and evaluate potential technologies for demonstration in four problem areas: characterization, decontamination, dismantlement, and worker health and safety. The demonstration schedule includes six demonstration sets. By July 15, the first of four validation demonstration set technologies was in place. This initial demonstration set was labeled the validation set because project planning, execution, assessment, and reporting processes were fine-tuned during this period. During July 1996, the PipeExplorer system (see Initiatives, February 1996), developed by Science & Engineering Associates, was demonstrated. The demonstration was the first field use of the alpha-detection capabilities of the PipeExplorer system for the characterization of 3-inch-diameter buried drain lines and 5-inch-diameter vertical fuel rod storage pipes embedded in the building's floor. Elevated levels of alpha activity were found at one location in one of the three rod storage pipes surveyed. A video inspection and a beta/gamma survey of the buried drain lines were also successfully completed. Demonstration of the Mobile Automated Characterization System, developed jointly by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Savannah River Technology Center, was also completed in July. In the first demonstration of MACS in a nuclear facility, it characterized a portion of the CP-5 service area where the floor contained fixed contamination. MACS recorded radiation levels consistent with manual surveys where beta emissions ranged from less than free-release standards to greater than 500,000 disintegrations (beta) per minute per 100 square centimeters. In addition to radiation levels, the MACS user interface provided position data as color-coded maps. In September 1996, testing of the Spectrace 9000 X-ray Fluorescence Analyzer in the CP-5 reactor mezzanine area was completed. The XRF, tested in conjunction with the Accelerated Facility Characterization Process, identified 25 elements quantitatively as well as elevated levels of lead-based paint on a number of doors in the demonstration area. The Empore Membrane filtration technology (see Initiatives, June 1996) was also tested during September. The system worked exceptionally well for cesium-137; however, it was less effective for cobalt-60 removal. Cobalt levels were low initially and were not easily filtered even at the micron level. The data are being reviewed. Additional testing may be recommended to determine Empore's affinity for cobalt. In addition to the validation set, five more demonstration sets comprising about 25 separate technologies will be completed before the project's end in mid-1997. The centerpiece of these demonstrations will be the dismantlement of the biological shield and reactor core (demonstration set #5), which began in December 1996 and is scheduled to be completed in February 1997. During this period, three remote technologies will be showcased: the Mobile Work System (Rosie) developed by Redzone Robotics and Carnegie Mellon University, and two technologies developed by the Robotics Technology Development Program: the Dual-Arm Work Module and the Swing-Reduced Crane Control System. For more information about the Chicago Pile 5 Reactor demonstration project, contact: Dick Baker - DOE/Chicago Steve Bossart - DOE/FETC Fernald's Plant 1 The second LSDP is taking place at the Fernald Environmental Management Project Site and is focused on the decontamination and dismantlement of the Plant 1 complex of the former Uranium Feed Materials Production Facility. The major feature in the Plant 1 project is Building 1A, a large, radioactively contaminated, multistory process facility containing asbestos insulation, transite wall paneling, large process equipment, and utilities. Building 1A, which is currently in a safe-shutdown condition, was used to receive all enriched-uranium materials that were processed at Fernald. Additionally, nonenriched ore concentrates and recycled materials were weighed, sampled, and milled in this plant before distribution to other process facilities. The Plant 1 IC team comprises representatives from Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation, Fluor Daniel Technologies, Jacobs Engineering, and Halliburton-NUS. Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Environmental Services is under contract to Fluor Daniel Fernald, the management contractor for FEMP, to perform the baseline Plant 1 D&D project and will also participate in the LSDP. The baseline D&D project being performed by B&W-NESI began in October 1995 and is scheduled for completion in March 1997. To date, the IC team has evaluated a total of 184 candidate technologies for inclusion in the LSDP and has accepted 13 for demonstration. The first Plant 1 demonstration, which took place in August 1996, was an off-the-shelf vacuum truck technology to remove and package uranium-contaminated mineral wool insulation from interior building walls. The vacuum truck and hose system, provided by VecLoader Technologies, was adapted from asbestos and industrial boiler cleaning applications. This insulation removal system was so effective in minimizing airborne contamination and packaging the waste without manual handling and bagging of the contaminated material that B&W-NESI adopted the system to complete the remaining insulation removal before the data analysis was completed. In October 1996, the Fernald Plant 1 LSDP completed a demonstration of the Oxy-Gasoline Torch developed by Petrogen International. While both the oxy-gasoline and oxy-acetylene torches are effective on thin metal, the oxy-gasoline torch cut thick metal faster than the baseline technology. In addition, the oxy-gasoline torch cut was cleaner with less slag generated and no occurrences of the melt material reconnecting after the pass. The oxy-gasoline torch was also superior while cutting tanks and other components that had significant quantities of rust on the interior surface. The improved performance of the oxy-gasoline torch compared to the oxy-acetylene torch is attributed to the higher cutting temperature (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit compared to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit). The oxy-gasoline torch system costs about $800 more than an acetylene torch but requires only about $3 of gasoline to cut the same amount of material that requires a $50 tank of acetylene. The Field Raman Spectroscopy system, developed by EIC Laboratories, was demonstrated in November 1996 for the analysis of swipe samples for uranium and thorium contamination in the field. Typically, analysis of swipe samples for isotope-specific contamination information requires complex laboratory analyses, which can take several weeks. With the Field Raman Spectroscopy system, results were obtained within minutes by comparison with a calibration curve determined from prepared standards. Data from the field demonstration will be compared with the analysis of the swipe samples by a laboratory to determine accuracy and analytical limitations for the field technology. The Laser-Induced Fluorescence detection system, developed by Special Technologies Laboratory, was also demonstrated in November for the measurement of uranium contamination on Plant 1 walls. Use of the in situ detection system has the potential to accelerate the D&D effort by eliminating the 24-hour waiting period for the results of verification swipe samples. LIF was demonstrated to accurately measure uranium contamination below 3,000 disintegrations (beta and gamma) per minute per 100 square centimeters, which is adequate to meet free-release standards. Additionally, the LIF was operated at distances of eight to 14 feet from the wall surface, which eliminated the need for scaffolding. The valuable feedback received from this demonstration will allow the developer to fully engineer the system for commercial application. In addition to those technologies already mentioned, two off-the-shelf visual inspection technologies and two commercially available decontamination technologies were demonstrated at Fernald Plant 1. The visual inspection technologies were used to inspect the internals of contaminated process piping. By determining that no visible residue existed, the process piping could be disposed of in the on-site disposal cell rather than at the Nevada Test Site, at a cost savings of about $68 per ten-foot pipe section. Approximately 60 percent of the 1,000 linear feet of pipe that was inspected was reclassified for disposal in the on-site cell, which led to a cost savings that nearly covered the cost of the demonstration. The two decontamination technologies demonstrated were a high-temperature steam cleaning system with vacuum capture of the exhaust and an abrasive, cellulose sponge blasting system. Both technologies have the potential for wide application in the DOE complex if the data suggest they are superior to the baseline technology--high-pressure water washing. For more information about the Fernald Plant 1 demonstration project, contact: Rod Warner - DOE/Fernald Steve Bossart - DOE/FETC For more information about DDFA, contact: Jerry Hyde - DOE/HQ |
     |