Weapons Complex Vol. 27 No. 1
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Weapons Complex Monitor
Article 13 of 15
January 08, 2016

UCOR Gets a Good Report Card

By Chris Schneidmiller

Staff Reports
WC Monitor
1/8/2016

The Department of Energy lauded URS-CH2M Oak Ridge’s (UCOR) work as cleanup manager for the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee for the final half of fiscal 2015 and awarded the contractor fees totaling about $4.5 million.

The fees represent almost 96 percent of what was available in the maximum fee pool ($4,661,658).

DOE Environmental Manager Sue Cange informed UCOR of the fees and provided a summary evaluation to the contractor in a Dec. 15 letter, which was released this week in response to questions.

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge has generally received high performance marks since replacing Bechtel Jacobs as DOE’s Oak Ridge cleanup manager in 2011. The latest evaluation, for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, featured mostly positive feedback, but also included areas where improvements are needed.

UCOR received a grade of “excellent” for project management and business systems and got the same grade for environmental management. The contractor was rated “very good” for worker safety, health, and quality programs.

UCOR’s demolition work at the East Tennessee Technology Park – the former home to the nation’s largest uranium-enrichment complex – continued to meet DOE’s approval. Cange praised the contractor for its demolition of the K-31 building, as well as preparations for the K-27 demolition.

“UCOR has performed approximately 74 percent of its contract baseline with a cumulative Schedule Performance Index of 1.03, a Cost Performance Index of 1.12, and a favorable Variance at Completion against the Performance Management Baseline of $150 million,” the DOE letter states. “The To Complete Performance Index based upon an Estimate at Completion of 1.05 also continues to reflect a contract that is performing well against the cost and schedule plan.”

The demolition work and cleanup activities at the East Tennessee Technology Park are “enhancing opportunities” for reindustralization of the sprawling site, DOE said.

Besides that, Cange also noted UCOR had safely completed a project to resolve a leaking reactor pool at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and make the reactor complex stable until further work is scheduled sometimes after 2030.

UCOR also drew kind words for a metal recycling initiative and other projects that reduced the amount of waste sent to Oak Ridge landfills, where space is rapidly disappearing.

Cange said UCOR is ahead of schedule in preparing the K-27 building for demolition. K-27 is last of the former uranium-enrichment plants at the Oak Ridge site.

UCOR was complimented for its preliminary design work on a new mercury-treatment facility at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.

Although UCOR is not directly involved in processing Oak Ridge’s stockpile of transuranic wastes for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, DOE cited UCOR’s support work in enabling the wastes to be brought out of storage for processing and then put back into storage until shipments are approved for disposal in New Mexico.

Among the negatives, Cange said UCOR experienced “deficiencies” in its transportation program during the latter part of 2015. The most serious of the problems led to a temporary suspension of waste shipments to the Nevada National Security Site, she said. She also cited downside incidents involving radiation protection of workers and vulnerabilities on some projects with hydrogen fluoride.

In a statement released by UCOR, President Ken Rueter said the high rating from DOE reflects the hard work of UCOR employees, and he said the contractor will continue to make safety its No. 1 priority.

“Overall, this is an excellent rating – one that reflects the hard work and determination of the UCOR workforce to safely and effectively clean up the East Tennessee Technology Park, thus meeting DOE-EM’s Federal Facility Agreement and Site Transition Plan commitments and obligations,” Rueter said.

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