DOE OSTI2016
On August 1, 2011, URS - CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) began its $2.6 billion cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, located on the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Tennessee. Under the contract, the scope of work to be completed includes demolition of all gaseous diffusion buildings, namely K-25, K-31 and K-27, as well as other facilities such as the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Incinerator, the K-1200 Centrifuge Complex and the K-1037 Barrier Plant. Additionally, UCOR will remove contaminated soils and treat contaminated groundwater. Waste generated by these cleanup activities will be disposed at onsite as well as offsite facilities. UCOR will also continue to manage hundreds of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM)-owned facilities across the ORR. Due largely to funding challenges early in the project, the DOE estimated in their October 2013 Program Plan 2014-2024 that ETTP cleanup would not be achieved until 2024, four years later than originally scheduled in UCOR's contract with the DOE. In November 2014, the DOE Manager for OREM, Susan Cange, publicly shared her 'vision' for ETTP cleanup by 2020, four years earlier than the DOE's current plan. As part of Vision 2020, all gaseous diffusion buildings would be demolished by the end of 2016. In response to Ms. Cange's vision, UCOR published a Strategic Plan describing how ETTP could be cleaned up by 2020, provided that a number of funding and programmatic and technical challenges could be overcome. UCOR is in the midst of implementing its Strategic Plan, and progress is being made to that end. Since assuming its responsibilities as the ETTP cleanup contractor, UCOR has completed its life-cycle Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB); received its Earned Value Management System (EVMS) certification; completed the D and D of the 44-acre K-25 and 17-acre K-31 gaseous diffusion buildings; completed the K-1070- B Burial Ground remediation project; completed RCRA closure of the TSCA Incinerator; and disposed of more than 541,411 cubic yards of cleanup waste while managing the on-site Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF). In 2015, UCOR achieved safety 'Star Status' under the DOE's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP); completed the demolition of the K-31 gaseous diffusion building; advanced the characterization and deactivation of the K-27 gaseous diffusion building, readying the building for the start of demolition in 2016; and began characterization activities in the K-1037 Barrier Plant as well as a number of facilities in the Poplar Creek Area of the ETTP Site. Project performance through December 31, 2015, is as follows: Cost Performance Index - 1.12, Schedule Performance Index - 1.02. Since safety is the foundation of all cleanup work, UCOR's safety record goes hand-in-hand with its project performance. Through calendar year 2015, UCOR's recordable injury rate was 0.94 occurrences per 200,000 work hours, and the day away case rate was 0.31. These rates are both below the DOE and UCOR goals. (authors)
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗