URS | CH2MHill LLC (UCOR)

Waste management services including characterization, profiling, treatment, transportation, and disposal within the UCOR sites with disposal including Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).

Project Details

Labpacks

The project consisted of several miscellaneous lab packs containing both solid and liquid waste. M&EC received, decommissioned and pretreated the labpacks; pretreatment included as required, solubilization, neutralization, deactivation, bulking and fuels blending. Post pretreatment the resultant fuels blended liquid was shipped to DSSI for combustion.

Debris Washing

We processed 13 boxes of previously packaged debris from the cleanup of Building 8110 D&D. The outer packages had deteriorated and were not DOT compliant and the customer was concerned that mercury and other disposal site prohibited items might be present. Each container was bagged prior to shipment. M&EC's scope included receiving, sorting, segregating, repackaging for NNSS disposal and providing a treatment option for any NNSS prohibited items removed during the sorting/segregation process. Items found included light bulbs, aerosol cans, cutting fluid and mercury contaminated concrete. M&EC with the support of DSSI successfully disposal both the debris and prohibited item populations associated with this project, no waste was returned to the generator.

Sand Filters

This scope of work included receiving, sampling, processing, packaging and shipping to disposal three vessels 6 feet in diameter 8 feet in length and weighing ~16,000 pounds each. These vessels contained sand, gravel and anthracite. The vessel were removed from the Central Neutralization Facility (CNF) at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) during the decommissioning phase of the site. Each vessel was packaged in a DOT IP-I flexible packaging system once removed from the CNF. The work was conducted at the M&EC facility located on the ETTP Site to avoid long-distance hauling of the bagged vessels; the M&EC facility is a wholly owned subsidiary of Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. (Perma-Fix). M&EC removed each vessel from its bag and then removed the sand, gravel and anthracite from the vessels using an existing access port. The sand, gravel and anthracite were sampled to confirm LDR and disposal facility WAC compliance. The vessels were size reduced prior to packaging and shipment for disposal at Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). M&EC utilized its own NNSS Waste Certification program and NNSS profiles for disposal of the vessel content, size reduced vessels, secondary waste generated during processing and the original containers used for transport to M&EC.

Air Stripper

This scope of work included receiving, processing, packaging and shipping an air-stripper unit 4 feet in diameter 22 feet in length and weighing ~15,000 pounds for disposal. The unit contained thousands of tellerettes. The unit was removed from the Central Neutralization Facility (CNF) at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) during the decommissioning phase of the site. The unit was packaged in a DOT IP-I flexible packaging system once removed from the CNF. The work was conducted at the M&EC facility located on the ETTP Site to avoid long-distance hauling of the bagged unit. M&EC removed the unit from its bag and then removed the tellerettes from the unit using an existing access port. The tellerettes met the definition of debris under RCRA and were repacked and macroencapsulated prior to disposal. The fiberglass unit was size reduced prior to packaging and shipment for disposal at Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). M&EC utilized its own NNSS Waste Certification program and NNSS profiles for disposal of the macroencapsulated tellerettes, size reduced vessels, secondary waste generated during processing and the original container used for transport to M&EC.

Carbon Vessels

This scope of work included receiving, processing, packaging and shipping two carbon filtration vessels 7 feet in diameter 12 feet in length and weighing ~26,000 pounds for disposal. The vessels each contained granular activated carbon (GAC). The vessels were removed from the Central Neutralization Facility (CNF) at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) during the decommissioning phase of the site. The vessels were packaged in a DOT IP-I flexible packaging system once removed from the CNF. The work was conducted at the M&EC facility located on the ETTP Site to avoid long-distance hauling of the bagged unit. M&EC removed the vessels from their bags and then removed the GAC from the unit using an existing access port. The GAC was vacuumed into 55-gallon drums and shipped to DSSI for liquefaction followed by combustion; residual ash as a result of the combustion process was shipped to the EnergySolutions, Clive, UT facility for disposal. The vessels were size reduced prior to packaging and shipment for disposal at Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). M&EC utilized its own NNSS Waste Certification program and NNSS profiles for disposal of the size reduced vessels, secondary waste generated during processing and the original container used for transport to M&EC.

Yard Equipment

This project consisted of three very large pieces of radioactively contaminated D&D equipment. The equipment included a material processor (jaw set/shear head), hydraulic hammer, and a tool attachment. The shear head and the hammer both were determined to contain hydraulic fluid and/or lubricant/grease based upon the process knowledge. Neither the hydraulic fluid nor the lubricant/grease were considered a hazardous waste. The total quantity of hydraulic fluid was estimated to be no more than 55 gallons and the total quantity of lubricant/grease was one gallon. The hydraulic hammer also contained a nitrogen gas reservoir which was pressurized at approximately 2600 psi. M&EC received the equipment as packaged, relieved the nitrogen pressure, removed the lubricant, repackaged the equipment for final disposal and shipped the lubricant to DSSI for combustion.