Removal of the Three Mile Island (TMI) Spent Nuclear Fuel from the Test Area North (TAN) facility on the INEEL Site in Idaho was the last step in the recovery from the TMI disaster that occurred nearly 20 years earlier. The project to remove the fuel canisters and place them into dry storage was nearing its June 1, 2001 deadline and was three months behind schedule when GForce staff support was requested.

In response to our client’s highest priority project, the GForce staff was asked to join the TAN Operations team to recover schedule and get the TMI project back on track. GForce staff joined the project on November 6, 2000, with on-shift production coordinators who were responsible for supporting their shifts in planning ahead and coordinating logistics and technical support for an aggressive production schedule recovery. Their primary focus was:

• Pre-plan activities among operations, maintenance, engineering, and scheduling to meet production goals, including document preparation, staging of materials and equipment, and notifying personnel of upcoming critical path activities.
• Identify root causes of deviations and implement the solutions through the client’s change control processes.
• Review operating procedures and provide changes as required to improve production within the boundaries of safety, quality assurance, and procedure compliance.
• Actively communicate issues, solutions, and corrective actions affecting production.
• On April 18, 2001, GForce production coordinators prepared documentation for and witnessed the final shipment of TMI fuel canisters, as the project was completed 39 days ahead of schedule. This effort resulted in significant cost savings and earned a sizable award-fee for our clients by completing the project ahead of schedule.

GForce designed and fabricated 10 airlock doors and three airlock door enclosures for the AMWTP. Under GForce project management, this equipment was designed, built, and delivered to our client in less than 14 weeks to support a critical milestone due date.

These doors provide both airlock functions and contamination control for transuranic waste processed in the facility. In addition, the doors are synchronized with specific closure rates to integrate with waste packaging and handling operations. Some of the features include:

• Personnel entry airlocks
• Material handling airlocks for transferring waste drums into and out of the enclosure
• Drum transfer airlock for accommodating conveyor systems Seismically qualified walls, structure and doors Airlock doors and seals integrated into facility control systems.

GForce was contracted to provide Chemists to British Nuclear Fuels Limited, Inc. (BNFL) TRU Waste Program at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP). The responsibilities of the GForce staff supporting the BNFL TRU Waste Program included, but were not limited to, the following:

• Analysis and quality control and assurance of radioactive transuranic (TRU) waste drums for volatile organic and inorganic headspace gases for permanent storage at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
•  Use of gas-phase ion trap GC/MS, utilizing US EPA SW-846 8260 methodology and Central Characterization Project approved procedures
•  Independent Technical reviewer duties, including review of analytical work and results compiled in Batch Data Reports
• Technical Supervisor duties to address technical and operational issues
• Facility Quality Assurance Officer duties to ensure that quality assurance objectives of the sampling analyses have been met prior to submission for project-level review Contract Chemists were recruited, selected, and placed into BNFL contract positions, where GForce managed their work scope, responsibilities and rotating shift assignments to successfully complete startup and initial operation of the TRU Waste Program.

GForce was contracted to provide Industrial Safety and Industrial Hygiene (IS/IH) personnel to support the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) Program at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP). GForce staff supported the ES&H Program by performing the following:

• IS/IH technical monitoring, process monitoring, and data analysis to facilitate safe operations
• Teamed with project personnel to provide technical advice and problem resolution
• Assisted in the maintenance and administration of project safety programs
• Evaluated work place conditions and behaviors and made recommendations for improvement and injury/illness prevention
• Investigated safety incidents and made recommendations for improvement
• Analyzed historical safety data to chart trends and potential safety issues
• Conducted employee training in IS/IH programs, as directed by the client.

Contract IS/IH personnel were recruited, selected, and placed into BNFL contract positions, where GForce managed their work scope, responsibilities and rotating shift assignments to successfully support the AWMTP ES&H Program.

GForce was contracted to provide Electrical, Instrumentation, and Controls (EI&C) Project Engineering Support for Phase III projects at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Plant (AMWTP).

GForce staff supported the AMWTP Phase III projects, which included all electrical design and technical overview of subcontracted design and support for the project manager on projects related to WMF-634 building retrieval and characterization. GForce Staff were asked to use the existing staff to support operations with the following objectives:

• Establish and maintain the technical baseline of identified projects including selection of appropriate codes, standards, and design basis. Upon completion of the project, perform a formal turnover of project documentation to plant engineering for integration into plants design baseline

• Ensure contracted designs meet specified codes, standards, and design basis

• Prepare engineering documentation, including document change request (for existing designs), calculations, and specifications supporting identified projects in accordance with approved procedures

• Identify and report to project manager any technical challenges associated with a project as early as possible to establish corrective actions.

Installation and startup of the Drum Core Sample Retrieval System (DCSRS) was a major milestone for operational startup of the Sampling and Characterization facility at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility (AMWTF) on the INEEL Site in Idaho. The scheduled startup date of March 31, 2002, was fast approaching when operational testing of the DCSRS Glovebox was declared a failure by BNFL due to insurmountable design, operability, and maintainability issues. The DCSRS Glovebox at the time was being designed and manufactured by another organization. GForce staff and their manufacturing partners were requested to assist BNFL with this major problem. The scope of work required for resolution of all DCSRS issues included the following:

•  Prepare a recovery plan, estimated cost and schedule
•  Assemble a dedicated team of engineering, operations, and manufacturing professionals
•  Conduct a one-week Value Engineering session with client representatives to identify all DCSRS problems and issues, validate preliminary cost and schedule estimates, establish client interfaces, and prepare a mockup design concept
•  Construct a mockup DCSRS Glovebox
•  Fabricate and assemble prototype drum and core sample handling tools
•  Perform walk down with client representatives, including Operators and Crafts, to review all proposed glovebox modifications and equipment features to establish the DCSRS redesign basis

GForce staff was requested to provide engineering and management support to the BNFL Design Engineering Group for the AMWTP as a result of experience gained and performance on the Box Line Project. The scope of design engineering support includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Manage the Design Engineering staff responsible for all engineering efforts associated with the AMWTP treatment facility

• Manage to closure all sub-contract technical activities

• Manage and provide engineering support necessary to complete equipment installation, construction acceptance testing, and facility commissioning testing

• Manage and provide technical support necessary to complete BNFL corporate and DOE Operational Readiness Reviews (ORR)

• Act as the AMWTP treatment facility Design Authority responsible for maintaining design technical configuration

• Responsible to ensure that design activities are performed in accordance with design control necessary to meet 10CFR830.120 requirements.

GForce had a staff of engineering professionals supporting the above efforts for BNFL, including one senior engineering manager and 8 to 10 engineering professionals in various assignments and positions. In addition, GForce also provided design and build support to BNFL under a separate GSA contract for which GForce was the A/E subcontractor

GForce senior project management staff was requested to provide project management support to BNFL for the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP). GForce established a project management infrastructure for AMWTP operations, including management of the project organization, development of project management procedures, and established project management systems for project identification, estimating, scheduling, planning, subcontractor management, project execution, and change control.

Under this infrastructure, GForce was also assigned the task of initiating several of the most urgent projects, including planning, execution, and delivery, in accordance with the project management infrastructure developed for the client. These initial projects are estimated at about $20 million in work scope. Projects include:

• Upgrade of Drum Venting System, which provides on-line analysis of transuranic waste drums to ensure compliance with Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) regulations for shipping drums for final disposal
• Upgrade of normal and emergency lighting systems to meet OSHA standards
• Re-alignment of backup power system to ensure continuity of AMWTP retrieval and characterization operations
• Upgrade of system control room to improve operational efficiency and ergonomics
• Design and fabrication of contamination control barriers to minimize plutonium contamination spread during upset conditions
• Upgrade of radioactive waste drum radio assay system to increase accuracy of measurements which will allow optimization of waste storage.

The project infrastructure established under this task is currently used for projects associated with retrieval and characterization operations (about 10% of the plant). Expansion to projects associated with the remainder of waste processing will occur in the near future.

GForce performed the detailed design and provided project management support for the W-314 Portable Exhausters project. The first of four exhausters was delivered, following successful completion of acceptance testing. These HEPA filtered exhauster skids are used to ventilate underground liquid waste storage tanks in the 241-AN, 241-AP, and 241-AW Tank Farms at the Hanford Site during processing activities.

The scope of work for this project included the design, procurement, fabrication, testing, and delivery of four portable exhauster skids. The exhausters are designed to meet the requirements associated with high temperatures (up to 75°C), which will result from mixing and preparations for transfers. The waste will be transferred to the Waste Treatment Plant for vitrification in the future. The exhauster skids have been designed and tested.

GForce staff completed the design and managed the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) Box Line project for MK/BNFL. This versatile system remotely retrieves, sorts, sizes, and packages waste into drums from over 25 different highly radioactive waste box configurations, accommodating boxes weighing up to 10,000 lbs.

The scope of work for this project included the design, procurement, fabrication, testing, and delivery of 31 different equipment items, including large waste sort troughs, box clamping and tipping carriages with hydraulic motorized tippers, a filter crusher, port doors and hatch covers, portable vacuum cleaners and sump pumps, and numerous equipment lifting and transfer devices for use in the Hot Maintenance Workshop. Ancillary equipment items were added to the scope of this contract as a result of client satisfaction with the Box Line project. Added scope included 20 equipment items used in the Box Opening and Box Size Reduction areas of the AMWTP.