Chris Schneidmiller
WC Monitor
1/8/2016
The company carrying out the decontamination and decommissioning of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in Ohio is largely meeting Department of Energy rules for management of radioactive waste, according to the DOE Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA). The office also found that the department’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office provides “generally effective” oversight of those operations by contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP).
The review released in late December, though, cites a number of issues of concern, including hazard analysis and controls, compliance with established procedures, and storage of accumulated wastes beyond the mandatory 12-month limit.
The Office of Enterprise Assessments concentrated solely on the one-time uranium enrichment facilities at Portsmouth, which are being prepared for demolition, leaving out the nearby Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility and the American Centrifuge Plant, which are managed by separate contractors. It addressed handling, staging, packaging, shipping, and additional operations involving contaminated equipment, stored waste, and other material from several PORTS buildings.
Fluor-BWXT’s “waste management program at the PORTS site in most cases meets the requirements of DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management,” according to the report. “Waste management policies and procedures are generally comprehensive and well-written, and the appropriate FBP and DOE staff members have a good understanding of the requirements for tracking and documenting information on radioactive waste packages throughout the cycle, from generation of the waste to shipment off site for disposal. With some exceptions, the program is effective in controlling and managing radioactive wastes as they are generated, accumulated, staged, characterized, packaged, stored, monitored, and shipped off site for disposal.”
EA specifically determined that Fluor-BWXT has prepared a waste management plan and integrated safety management system to guide waste operations and safeguard its employees, the public, and the environment from the radioactive material. The company also has a broad program to train and certify company and subcontractor employees for waste management operations, EA said.
Fluor-BWXT’s “work planning and control (WP&C) processes for identifying and controlling hazards associated with [low-level radioactive waste] activities were generally effective, including the existence of governing work packages and procedures that contain appropriate work scope definition, hazard identification, and specification of required controls,” the office said.
However, EA found that the contractor’s waste management plan and associated procedures have at times failed to ensure timely shipment of waste to other locations for disposal, “indicating some weaknesses in the overall waste management planning and procedures for compliance” with the DOE Radioactive Waste Management Manual. There have also been issues with container integrity and faded labeling of waste in storage, the report indicates.
Fluor-BWXT also failed to ensure that all low-level radioactive waste intended to undergo disposal at the Portsmouth site is dealt with in an expedited fashion or kept in “appropriate facilities protected from the elements,” in line with DOE rules, the report says. The finding requires development and implementation of a corrective action plan.
EA also offered several non-mandatory suggestions for improving radioactive waste management operations at the Portsmouth facility, including strengthening conduct of operations on waste management procedure compliance, studying the causes and possible responses to turnover of trained personnel, and reconciling waste packaging practices with the DOE manual.
A key issue with the DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office has been staffing. A PPPO report for 2014 said the office had 26 technical staff full-time equivalents but needed 37. The majority of the vacancies were at Paducah. “PPPO has been working to fill these vacancies, and because upcoming retirements at both sites may compound the shortage of technical staff, PPPO is appropriately and proactively taking steps to address the staffing issue,” EA said.
A DOE spokesperson said by email Thursday that "The Department has received the Office of Enterprise Assessments report on radioactive waste management at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and is giving it a thorough review." Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth said it could not comment on the report.
The review is the first of a number of corresponding assessments EA intends to conduct at DOE nuclear facilities. “These targeted reviews will evaluate the implementation of program requirements and the adequacy of controls for managing radioactive wastes that are generated, sorted, accumulated, shipped, or disposed of at the selected facilities,” the office said. It was not immediately known which other sites are being or will be reviewed.
