URS ANNOUNCES NEW MGMT. CHANGES IN ITS GMOS UNIT

Mike Nartker
NS&D Monitor
2/17/2014

URS officially announced this week a set of top-level management changes in its Global Management & Operations Services Business Group, which is responsible for URS’ work in the Department of Energy and U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority marketplaces. As NW&M Monitor first reported, James Taylor has been named as GMOS General Manager, replacing David Pethick who retired from URS last month. Taylor previously held the position of Senior Vice President of Business Development for the group. “James is a dynamic leader with intimate knowledge of the needs and requirements of this important market,” George Nash, President of Energy and Construction for URS Corporation, said in a release. “He has a history of delivering superior results for our DOE and NDA clients.”

Todd Wright has been named to the newly created position of GMOS Executive Vice President of Operations, where he will “oversee GMOS business operations, working closely with the Group’s Strategic Business Unit leads in the DOE and NDA markets to ensure safe operations for our clients,” according to a company announcement. Wright last served as Chairman of the Board for Sellafield Ltd., and his previous positions include Sellafield Ltd. Managing Director and Director of the Savannah River National Laboratory. John Hayfield has been named to replace Taylor as GMOS Senior Vice President for Business Development. Hayfield previously served as Vice President and Deputy Manager for Business Development for the Group.

In This Issue









Hanford turns 250K gallons of liquid waste into glass

The Department of Energy Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site in Richland, Wash., has now converted 250,000 gallons of less radioactive tank waste into solid glass form.

In September, over 39,000 gallons were vitrified into glass form at the WTP’s Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Facility, Bechtel National, which built the plant, said in a press release emailed to Exchange Monitor.

“Our team continues to optimize the vitrification process as we progress through the hot commissioning phase,” Brian Hartman, WTP project director and senior vice president with Bechtel, said in the release. “They processed over 110,000 gallons of waste in the last quarter. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and expertise that is advancing the Hanford cleanup mission.”

The long-awaited multi-billion-dollar vitrification plant started solidifying waste into glass last October. DOE Hanford Field Office Manager Ray Geimer briefed the Hanford Advisory Board on the plant during August.

During vitrification, tank waste is blended “with glass-forming materials in the Low-Activity Waste Facility’s two 300-ton melters and heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit,” according to the press release. “The glass is then sealed in stainless steel containers, each of which is 4 feet wide and 7.5 feet tall and weighs approximately seven metric tons when filled.” The then go to Hanford’s Integrated Disposal Facility for long-term disposal.

There is a long way to go in tank waste cleanup at Hanford. Decades of Cold War plutonium production left Hanford with about 56 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste held in underground tanks.

DOE is in the process of seeking approval from the Washington state Department of Ecology for solidifying some of the less-radioactive Hanford waste into a concrete-like grout. The grouted waste would be disposed of in Utah or Texas.

High-level waste solidification at Hanford is scheduled to start in the 2030s.

 

In This Issue

More on This Topic