Oak Ridge Today

Almost two miles of pipes replaced at waste treatment systems

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Oak Ridge crews installed approximately 5,500 feet of new piping as part of a project at the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations system. The work required 5,000 hours of welding to complete the nearly two miles of welded lines. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management/UCOR)

Close to two miles of pipes were replaced at waste treatment systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The two-year, $18 million project was completed three months ahead of schedule and $900,000 under budget, according to federal officials. The project replaced above-ground pipes and valves at the 3608 Process Waste Treatment Complex, “making the system more efficient and reliable and helping avoid the possibility of disrupting ongoing ORNL operations,” federal officials said.

The piping replacement was a project of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR. The goal was to extend the life of the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations (LGWO) system at ORNL. DOE said the LGWO system is critical to ORNL’s ongoing missions, and an outage would result in immediate impacts at the site.

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Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures

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From DOE Office of Environmental Management’s “EM Update” newsletter

UCOR employees Andy Rodgers, left, and Alex Johnson install heat tracing to protect systems at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility during the holiday 2022 cold snap in Oak Ridge. Temperatures did not reach above freezing for more than four consecutive days. (Photo courtesy UCOR/DOE EM)

UCOR employees Andy Rodgers, left, and Alex Johnson install heat tracing to protect systems at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility during the cold snap in Oak Ridge. Temperatures did not reach above freezing for more than four consecutive days.

Much of the nation experienced an extreme cold snap over the recent holidays, and Tennessee was no exception with temperatures dipping to nearly zero degrees in Oak Ridge. Despite the bitter weather, preparations and recent upgrades helped prevent infrastructure failures during that time.

Many employees with EM cleanup contractor UCOR reported to work over the holidays to ensure issues were resolved at several essential facilities. (EM stands for environmental management.)

At the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, advanced planning and preparation protected critical water management systems during the deep freeze over the nearly weeklong cold snap, including a 6.5-hour unplanned power outage.

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Vacuum helps crews remove contaminated sludge, debris at ORNL

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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

 

Federal site cleanup workers reported in August that they had begun removing contaminated sludge and debris from tanks, sumps, and valve boxes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s liquid and gaseous waste operations using a powerful, new trailer-mounted vacuum.

The equipment has already enhanced safety and operational efficiency, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

“Without the vacuum, personnel would be required to fully dress in personal protective equipment and remove the sludge and debris with shovels and buckets,” DOE said. “In addition to being closer to contaminated materials in confined spaces, workers would face an increased chance of slips and falls while climbing in and out of slippery areas in the protective suits.”

Using the vacuum technology has eliminated the risk of heat stress for employees, who would otherwise perform manual labor in protective suits during the hot Tennessee summer, DOE said. [Read more…]

UCOR awards three small business contracts worth close to $1 million

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UCOR has awarded three contracts worth nearly $1 million to small businesses for services associated with the cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

One contract was awarded to ESG Construction LLC of Knoxville, and two were awarded to Construction Technology Specialists Inc., or CTSI, which is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

ESG was awarded a contract for $450,000 to replace the heat-trace controls at the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A general and electrical contractor, ESG is an Small Business Administration-certified Historically Underutilized Business, or HUBZone, firm. Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. [Read more…]