High Level Waste Remediation: Technical Excellence Delivers Successful Solutions

Radioactive waste is the Department of Energy’s (DOE) most visible, costly, and complex cleanup challenge. More than 90 million gallons of radioactive liquid, saltcake, and sludge wastes are stored in hundreds of tanks at numerous sites across the country. To improve ongoing tank cleanup efforts, DOE in 1994 began to ransition from a site-based to a national science and technology development program—the Tanks Focus Area (TFA).

In response to DOE’s new approach, seven contractors and national laboratories formed the TFA Technical Team, responsible for developing, proposing, and implementing a comprehensive technical program spanning basic research through commercialization. From 1995-2002, staff at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a Battelle-operated DOE facility, led the TFA Technical Team and delivered scientific and technical solutions for DOE’s radioactive tank waste sites in Washington, Idaho, Tennessee, South Carolina, and New York by providing technical program management, business operations, and communications processes and products.

The TFA used technology integration managers as part of a highly effective partnering concept for the seven contractors and national laboratories. These subject-matter experts in the six functional areas of tank waste remediation—Safety, Characterization and Monitoring, Waste Retrieval, Waste Pretreatment, Waste Immobilization, and Tank Closure—played a major role in the success of the TFA. By leveraging work across the sites and among program partners, they ensured the use of sound technical approaches, adherence to users’ schedules, multi-site/multi-technology application, and integral involvement of users throughout the process.

PNNL staff involved key site users during all phases of project development and delivery. The User Steering Group, consisting of senior-level managers from the tank site contractor organizations and other national laboratory partners, helped guide and maintain program relevancy and technical excellence, and ensured that results of DOE’s investments in science and technology would be used. While overseeing the routine technical integration activities of the technical integration managers, PNNL staff also managed the involvement of numerous senior subject-matter experts from industry, universities, and national laboratories across the country. The Technical Advisory Group is a national resource base of expertise that allows quick access to an independent review body for technical reviews and assistance.

PNNL’s technical leadership and partnership with its DOE program management team served as the backbone of the TFA. In addition to user involvement and technical expertise, careful attention to fiscal management, operational excellence, program integrity, and timely communications resulted in continued delivery of useful data and technical solutions to the user community, and enhanced PNNL’s reputation for outstanding quality and technical competency.

For more information, contact Tom Brouns at (509) 372-6265, tom.brouns@pnl.gov.