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New contractor operating Transuranic Waste Processing Center

Posted at 1:36 pm December 30, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Transuranic Waste Processing Center

The Transuranic Waste Processing Center in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road on Highway 95, is pictured above. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge Office)

 

Information from Oak Ridge Today and the January 2016 issue of “Advocate,” a publication of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board

North Wind Solutions took over the operation of the Transuranic Waste Processing Center in west Oak Ridge in December. The Idaho-based company was awarded the $123 million contract to operate the facility in June.

North Wind replaces Wastren Advantage Inc., which had operated the center since 2010. The Transuranic Waste Processing Center, or TRU Waste Processing Center, is off State Route 95 in southwest Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road and west of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

North Wind will continue to process and store transuranic waste at the site until the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, reopens in New Mexico. WIPP is the only facility in the U.S. that permanently disposes of transuranic waste, or TRU waste. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: DOE, legacy transuranic waste, North Wind Solutions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORNL, transuranic waste, Transuranic Waste Processing Center, TRU waste, TRU Waste Processing Center, U.S. Department of Energy, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Wastren Advantage Inc., WIPP

DOE works with transuranic waste while NM facility shut down

Posted at 2:13 pm December 27, 2014
By Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Leave a Comment

TRU Waste Processing Center

The TRU Waste Processing Center southwest of Oak Ridge National Laboratory off State Route 95 is pictured above. (Photo courtesy TWPC/WAI)

 

Worker Handles Remote TRU Waste

A worker manipulates RH waste at the TRU Waste Processing Center. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board)

In February 2014, two incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, in New Mexico caused the shutdown of the only facility in the U.S. that permanently disposes of transuranic waste, or TRU waste. That waste is disposed in shafts, or drifts, about a half-mile below ground in an ancient salt bed. Some of that waste has come from Oak Ridge.

After months of investigations into the cause of a truck fire and a radiological release two weeks later, the U.S. Department of Energy released a recovery plan at the end of September that outlines the steps necessary to resume limited waste operations in the first quarter of 2016.

“Key elements of the recovery plan include strengthening safety programs, regulatory compliance, decontamination of the underground, increasing ventilation, mine stability and underground habitability, and additional workforce retraining,” according to a statement on WIPP’s website. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE EM, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: CH waste, contact-handled, DOE, environmental management, Laura Wilkerson, Nevada National Security Site, New Mexico, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, recovery plan, remote-handled, RH waste, transuranic, transuranic waste, TRU, TRU waste, TRU Waste Processing Center, TWPC, U.S. Department of Energy, waste, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, WIPP, WIPP shutdown

DOE prepares to ‘recompete’ TRU Waste Processing Center contract

Posted at 8:48 pm July 29, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Transuranic Waste Processing Center

The Transuranic Waste Processing Center is in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road off Highway 95. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge Office)

The U.S. Department of Energy is preparing to “recompete” the contract to manage the Transuranic Waste Processing Center off Highway 95 in west Oak Ridge.

The facility is currently managed by a contractor, Wastren Advantage Inc., and the work is overseen by officials at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office.

DOE has issued a “sources sought notice” to begin performing market research to gauge whether there are small businesses capable of performing the work, the Oak Ridge Office said in the August issue of “Public Involvement News.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: contract, DOE, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge Office, Public Involvement News, sources sought notice, transuranic waste, Transuranic Waste Processing Center, TRU Waste Processing Center, U.S. Department of Energy, Wastren Advantage Inc.

Sunday alarm at waste processing center triggered by smoke from heater

Posted at 9:13 am June 27, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Transuranic Waste Processing Center

A Sunday night alarm at the TRU Waste Processing Center in west Oak Ridge was triggered by smoke from a heater when the power went out during a thunderstorm and a ventilation system shut off. (Photo courtesy DOE Oak Ridge Office)

It was initially believed to be triggered by a small fire, but federal officials now say the Sunday night alarm at a waste processing center in west Oak Ridge was set off by smoke.

A ventilation system shut off when the power went out during a thunderstorm between 5 and 6 p.m. Sunday, and that caused a heater at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center to overheat, said Laura Wilkerson, federal project director in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: alarm, Building 7880, DOE, fire, heater, Highway 95, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Fire Department, Oak Ridge Office, ORNL, Room 327, smoke, transuranic waste, Transuranic Waste Processing Center, TRU Waste Processing Center, U.S. Department of Energy, ventilation system, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, waste processing center, Wastren Advantage Inc.

No contamination, no injuries in small fire at waste processing center

Posted at 7:31 am June 24, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 9:03 a.m.

No radiological or hazardous materials were released and no one was injured in a small fire at a waste processing center late Sunday night, federal officials said.

An alert was declared at about 11:45 p.m. Sunday after a fire alarm and sprinkler system activated in Room 327 at Building 7880, which is part of the TRU Waste Processing Center, the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office reported on its Facebook page. An “alert” is an event that has occurred at a building on a DOE site in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: alert, Building 7880, DOE, fire, hazardous materials, Oak Ridge Emergency Management Site Office, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, ORNL, ORNL Fire Department, radiological materials, Room 327, TRU Waste Processing Center, U.S. Department of Energy, Wastren Advantage Inc.

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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