EM, Industry Partners Share Key Successes at National Cleanup Workshop

Participants of the “Highlighting the Next Phase of EM Success” panel session included moderator Alicia Stetin, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management chief of staff; Edwin Deshong, Savannah River Operations Office manager; Johney Green, Savannah River National Laboratory director; Mark Bollinger, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant manager; and Jack Zimmerman, Consolidated Business Center director.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Senior leadership from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) joined executives from Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Salado Isolation Mining Contractors (SIMCO) and West Valley Cleanup Alliance (WVCA) at the 11th Annual National Cleanup Workshop to highlight key successes from the past several months and look ahead to future work.

“Together we are writing the next chapter of EM, one that not only benefits all the Department of Energy but the entire nation,” said Alicia Stetin, EM chief of staff, as she kicked off the panel session. Stetin shared her deep appreciation for the EM mission and the cleanup program’s role in unleashing American energy and driving economic growth in communities surrounding EM sites.

Edwin Deshong, Savannah River Operations Office manager, teamed up with Johney Green, SRNL director, to give an update on the recently completed Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative facility at the University of South Carolina-Aiken. The duo discussed why the facility was needed and the powerful impact it will have on the cleanup mission moving forward. Opening the state-of-the-art facility was commemorated on the 200th day of the Trump administration, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright cutting the ribbon and marking a new chapter for American innovation in South Carolina.

Mark Bollinger, EM Waste Isolation Pilot Plant manager, and Ken Harrawood, president and program manager for WIPP management and operations contractor SIMCO, discussed the recently commissioned Underground Ventilation System, a critical infrastructure project that allows crews to do concurrent mining and waste emplacement operations while reducing risk to worker safety. That project was completed 15 months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. Harrawood also outlined several other infrastructure projects, including two new hoists that will increase efficiency and rate of work at the site.

To close out the panel session, Jack Zimmerman, EM Consolidated Business Center director, and Jason Casper, president and program manager for WVCA, the EM West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) cleanup contractor, played a time-lapse video showing two years of demolition activity in two minutes.

WVDP completed demolition of the Main Plant Processing Building in June. Accomplishing this EM 2025 priority did not come without challenge. Zimmerman shared some of the challenges with the audience, such as the complicated nature of the demolition due to high contamination levels within certain parts of the facility. Casper closed out the session reflecting on how the team was able to overcome those challenges and complete the project ahead of schedule and $40 million under budget. Casper cited the highly experienced workforce and advanced radiation monitoring techniques, and praised the team’s consistent coordination with the local community to ensure those in the area understood the risks present and how they were being mitigated.

-Contributors: Jordan Anderson, Kyle Hendrix