Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of sources, including renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power, as well as nuclear, natural gas, biogas sources, etc. However, to be considered a sustainable component of the energy mix, hydrogen must be produced using these sources in an efficient and by-product reducing process. Of course, this includes carbon reduction methodologies.

One way to produce renewable hydrogen is through electrolysis, where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewable sources. Hydrogen can be used to power fuel cells, which generate electricity with water as the only fuel byproduct.

In addition to being a clean natural source of energy, hydrogen has the potential to be used in a variety of applications, including transportation, power generation and industrial processes. For example, hydrogen fuel cells are already being developed and deployed in some parts of the world, while power plants are being designed to use hydrogen as a combustion or pre-mix fuel.

The highly detailed version of the United States (US) DOE energy mix use by type Sankey Diagram (see below) clearly provides an explanation for 鈥淲hy Hydrogen鈥�. Of the 97.3 quadrillion BTUs used in the US in 2021, more than a third came from oil and is dominantly in transportation. However, a large portion of oil is used as an industrial working fluids and for chemical production feedstocks.

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Two other obvious conclusions can be drawn from the data shown on this diagram. Coal is only 10% of our energy supply and it is primarily used for electricity. However, we lose more electricity every day due to generation losses than is generated by coal combustion. In the immediate future coal fired electricity is needed in some areas to balance the national grid, and coal fired generation is one of our more efficient energy sources, however, it is an overall thermodynamic loss process and can, in time, be replaced by localized distributed grid generation sources such as hydrogen. This alone would greatly reduce the overall environmental impact of our national energy portfolio.

The electrification of vehicles, with heavy support from hydrogen generation is an area of great opportunity. It is not currently reasonable to electrify all vehicles but some fleets, such as localized delivery, localized transportation and personal vehicles is an efficient alternative from an energy utilization perspective. The current questions about the overall environmental impact of lithium batteries used in transportation can be somewhat answered by using hydrogen fuel cells to power these vehicles.

Almost another third of our national energy comes from natural gas which is more diversified in its use and a much cleaner fuel resource than oil. It is abundant and well-understood, so its use will continue to grow potentially as a hydrogen source via catalytic conversion, direct use in efficient methane fuel cells, and in newly developing technologies.

It is estimated over the next decade energy use and demand will continue to increase at more than 5% year over year which suggests that hydrogen utilization and potentially small modular reactors will replace sources such as coal. By 2030, the current national goal is that hydrogen and other sources will provide baseload distributed energy for up to 40% of the US electrical energy needs. Much of this can be done with today鈥檚 technology and certainly with the technology currently planned for development.

To grow a sustainable, multi-functional and multi-sourced global energy mix, it is important to invest in research and development of new technologies and infrastructure needed to produce, store, and transport hydrogen. This includes building out the necessary infrastructure, such as pipeline and storage facilities, and developing new materials and technologies for hydrogen production and transport.

Overall, the H₂ energy mix has the potential to play a major role in the sustainable, multi-functional and multi-sourced global energy mix, and continued investment and innovation in Hydrogen is crucial for a more sustainable and resilient, secure energy future.   

Dr. Doug Wyatt
Operations Manager/Advisory Scientist
Energy & Security

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In fact, in December 2022, the first-ever Federal Building Performance Standard was issued, which requires federal agencies to cut energy use and electrify equipment and appliances to achieve zero direct greenhouse gas emissions in 30 percent of the building spaces owned by the Federal government by 2030. As the Federal government is the country鈥檚 single largest energy consumer and building manager, these new requirements will save taxpayer dollars and eliminate millions of tons of greenhouse gasses.

Founded in 1993, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) is a membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems. LEED provides a framework for healthy, efficient, carbon and cost-saving green buildings, and is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership.

At 爱神传媒 we are investing in our employees to obtain LEED Credentials. The LEED Accredited Professional (AP) designation is an advanced professional credential signifying expertise in green building and a LEED rating system. To earn a LEED AP with specialty, candidates must first pass the LEED Green Associate exam. The AP exam measures knowledge about green building and a specific LEED rating system and is ideal for individuals who are actively working on green building and LEED projects.

To achieve LEED certification, a project earns points by adhering to prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality. Projects go through a verification and review process and are awarded points that correspond to a level of LEED certification: Certified (40-49 points), Silver (50-59 points), Gold (60-79 points) and Platinum (80+ points). LEED-certified buildings use less energy and water, utilize renewable energy and fewer resources, create less waste, and preserve land and habitat. They focus on occupant well-being, offering a healthier and more satisfying indoor space while addressing community and public health. LEED buildings also have a higher resale value and lower operational costs than non-LEED buildings. Many recent U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration Architectural Engineering procurements for new facility designs have specified the constructed projects achieve LEED Gold certification.

Both our customers and employees want to work with and for companies that are environmentally conscious and value sustainability. In addition, LEED certification provides a competitive advantage, as it demonstrates a commitment to sustainability and will attract customers who value environmentally responsible practices. At 爱神传媒, we are protecting the environment through clean energy engineering, environmental sustainability initiatives and utilization of LEED.

Idealistically, we make the world a better place; safer, smarter, cleaner, for everyone.

Steven A. Davies, P.E., Vice President, Engineering & Design

Environment & Security

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滨苍迟谤辞诲耻肠迟颈辞苍听听听听听听

For the U.S. to maintain its role as the leading industrial nation, every arm of the federal government has recognized the need to address climate change and the risks this poses to our national and economic security.

As a nation, we don鈥檛 only need to alleviate and slow down the effects of climate change, we also should take the lead in adapting to a new world order that includes more volatile weather events, displacement of people, challenges in transportation and agriculture infrastructure, and impacts to our defensive posture. To ensure our country is ready for tomorrow鈥檚 world, we need a more complete approach that includes an energy efficiency strategy, energy sustainability initiatives, and the transition to safer, smarter, cleaner energy technologies.

Reliable Energy Sources Lead to a Safer World

When we look at the U.S. energy infrastructure today, it has largely passed its design life. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers conducted a study on America鈥檚 infrastructure^[1], giving it a C- grade. An attributing fact was that the majority of the transmission and distribution lines have exceeded their 50-year life expectancy. In short, that same energy infrastructure, well past its prime, is now expected to handle increased demands and under constant pressure to expand.

Another significant vulnerability to our energy infrastructure is IT failures and cyberattacks. The Department of Defense (DOD) is one of the world鈥檚 biggest institutional consumers of energy, exceeding entire countries like Sweden and Portugal, so it comes as no surprise that our energy grid is the country鈥檚 most cyberattacked framework. To improve reliability, a movement to independent resilient grids is the wave of the future.

The DOD has plans to move their bases and installations from public grids to on-base power generation systems and a microgrid infrastructure. These plans include use of technologies that will be both resilient and independent, assuring uninterrupted power to support their defense efforts and their most critical missions.

Similarly, the DOD is motivated to eliminate reliance on the world鈥檚 energy system for overseas forward-operation bases. With increased risks and vulnerabilities associated with operating in an international theatre, the DOD is exploring the use of small modular reactors.

Improving our energy resilience, microgrid infrastructure and technology upgrades is critical. Our nation needs to build the infrastructure that could control, integrate and manage power loads from multiple energy sources, condition that power output, and manage the battery storage and charging associated with the grid. This is a key technical capability that needs further development to support independent energy systems.

Smarter Technology for Energy Sustainment

Combating climate change will require new technology development and maturation in the renewable energy sector in areas such as solar, wind, thermal, hydro, hydrogen, and nuclear.

In the case of hydrogen clean energy, technology development to safely and efficiently generate, store, convert and transport hydrogen is already underway with a number of industries, universities and labs within the United States.

Another viable source of sustainable, clean energy is nuclear. Nuclear fission is the technology process in nuclear power plants that operate in the U.S. today. Fission occurs when a neutron slams into a larger atom, forcing it to excite and split into two smaller atoms causing tremendous amounts of energy. Small modular reactors (SMRs) also use nuclear fission technology.

Both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOD are exploring SMRs as an alternative clean, carbon free energy source that offers greater flexibility and scalability than traditional larger energy power plants.

The DOE is pursuing SMRs to support remote locations providing individual or groups of independent energy grids. SMRs offer the DOD both energy independence and resiliency, and the DOD sees the value of deploying SMRs across their military bases. They’re also looking at SMRs as a mobile energy option for forward operating bases and deployments to curtail their reliance on local energy grids.

Although still decades from being operationalized, a more powerful source of clean nuclear power is fusion energy. Late last year, DOE announced a scientific nuclear energy breakthrough by producing a fusion energy output higher than the laser energy absorbed by the fuel to initiate it. This major scientific accomplishment, which demonstrates the fundamental scientific basis for inertial fusion energy, was made at the National Ignition Facility, located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and was decades in the making.

Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavy nucleus, with the excess mass converting to and releasing a large amount of energy. There is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, build public confidence in its safety, and develop it as a new clean energy source in decades to come.

Energy Sustainability Relies on Clean Energy

One of the challenges we must address is that existing U.S. energy infrastructure is not configured to handle the additional power loads that are delivered by new, sustainable clean energy sources. Recently passed government incentives and recent legislation provides some of the financial investment required to get over the high initial cost of setting up that energy infrastructure, which has traditionally been a barrier to moving towards the sustainable energy model.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes the largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history. The investment will fund new programs to support the development, demonstration, and deployment of clean energy technologies to accelerate our transition to zero-emissions. The DOE has the mandate to provide those funds in the form of grants to industry to jumpstart efforts and demonstrate technologies associated with several clean energy initiatives.

One of these initiatives focuses on localized hydrogen hubs. Clean hydrogen hubs will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and locally based infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy source that can deliver or store massive amounts of energy.

Hydrogen technologies aren鈥檛 new, but research and development is under way to generate hydrogen using sustainable and renewable energy technologies like solar, wind or nuclear. This allows hydrogen to be stored until converted to energy. Hydrogen gas generation through these technologies eliminate or minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Even with the right technology to bring us sustainable energy sources, we can’t flip a switch and turn off our full powered plants and gas plants overnight, and a transition to a 100 percent clean energy infrastructure could be years- or decades-long. We would also need scrubbers and filter technologies that allow our existing energy facilities to capture or sequester greenhouse gas emissions being generated. Carbon capture technologies are being refined and demonstrated today, and will help until we move to a completely sustainable energy infrastructure.

Conclusion

We clearly need to strategically invest in and develop our nation鈥檚 energy strategy as a vital, foundational element of our economic and defense objectives. Our country鈥檚 energy sustainability approach should include the focus on capturing emissions today, building the clean energy infrastructure, and developing energy resilience technologies. This holistic approach will lead to a safer, smarter, cleaner world and better stewardship of our environment, not to mention improve our national security today and in the future.

[1] (2021, March 3). Report Card for America鈥檚 Infrastructure, American Society of Civil Engineers. Web – Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, https://infrastructurereportcard.org/

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The 爱神传媒-led Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) is well into its third year of operations at Hanford and is boldly making substantial strides in achieving our cleanup priorities at the Department of Energy鈥檚 Hanford Site in Washington state. The overarching strategic plan, , provides a five-year roadmap that defines key objectives to support the sitewide cleanup effort and achieve mission success..

Since joining CPCCo last spring, I鈥檝e witnessed experienced and talented employees make significant cleanup advancements on the Central Plateau and along the Columbia River Corridor. These achievements are even more noteworthy considering the shift in our post-pandemic workforce profile.

For the past two years, CPCCo has observed attrition rates not previously experienced at Hanford, an aging workforce retiring en masse and increasing demand for talented individuals throughout all industries. With these challenges comes an exciting opportunity to cultivate the next generation of mission-driven nuclear workers.

We are actively recruiting the best and brightest 聽聽to tackle the challenging work before us. In fact, we welcome a new group of energetic and enthusiastic employees every other week, many of whom are hired from outside of our industry because of their interest in the nobility of our mission. We鈥檙e committed to attracting, retaining, and developing the very best team at CPCCo to deliver safe, efficient, and cost-effective solutions to support our DOE customer鈥檚 long-term cleanup mission.

Cleaning up the Columbia River Corridor

Over the past year, our team transformed the skyline along the River Corridor, the largest cleanup territory on the Hanford Site.

Last fall, we celebrated the completion of the K East Reactor 鈥渃ocoon,鈥� marking a significant accomplishment in our mission to finish cleanup near the Columbia River. Just over a year after breaking ground, the project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

The steel structure 鈥� rising more than 120 feet tall and 150 feet wide 鈥� protects the facility while radioactivity in the deactivated reactor core decays over the next several decades, making it safer and easier to complete disposition in the future.

The K East Reactor is the seventh of Hanford鈥檚 eight former reactors to be placed in safe storage. The ninth 鈥� B Reactor 鈥� is the world鈥檚 first full-scale plutonium production reactor preserved as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. CPCCo continues to manage this historic facility for public access as part of DOE鈥檚 National Park Program. In 2022, more than 5,600 people visited the reactor from all 50 states and 26 different countries.

At the nearby K West Reactor, the final reactor destined for cocooning in the coming years, CPCCo is isolating and stabilizing radioactive debris in the 1.2 million-gallon spent fuel storage basin. These are among the final steps needed to safely dewater, grout, and demolish the basin.

Reducing risk in the Central Plateau

The center of the Hanford Site, known as the Central Plateau, contains hundreds of legacy structures and waste sites. At one of our high-priority projects in this area, we are developing specialized equipment and techniques to safely transfer approximately 2,000 radioactive capsules from an underwater basin at the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility to a nearby dry-storage area.

Optimizing groundwater cleanup

Cleaning up contaminated groundwater is also a priority for CPCCo. Our six pump-and-treat facilities operate 24/7 to remove hazardous chemical and radioactive constituents from the groundwater, reducing risk across the site. We are on track to treat more than 2 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater for the ninth consecutive year and continue to add to our total of nearly 700 tons of contaminants removed from soil and groundwater over the life of our site-wide treatment program.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, several members of our team and their DOE counterparts were honored with a Secretary of Energy Achievement Award, the Department鈥檚 highest form of employee recognition, for their contributions to the ongoing success of our groundwater treatment operations program.

Supporting site-wide Hanford operations

Our work in the Central Plateau is also critical to the success of Hanford鈥檚 tank waste cleanup mission. Specifically, we are taking the final steps to complete the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) to support the site鈥檚聽Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste聽program, a key DOE priority.

This engineered landfill provides permanent, environmentally safe disposal for containers filled with vitrified (immobilized in glass) low-activity tank waste from the nearby Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant and mixed low-level waste from other Hanford operations.

Earlier this year, crews completed construction of two 400,000-gallon wastewater storage tanks at IDF by installing the domed covers. The tanks will hold runoff from rain, snow, and dust-suppression activities. The runoff will be monitored and sent to a nearby treatment facility to ensure the protection of groundwater. IDF is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

Environmental Sustainability

Here at CPCCo, the name of the game is environmental remediation. To that end, it鈥檚 our policy to be responsible stewards of the environment while meeting our mission. We鈥檙e working to over the next decade by reducing our electrical and infrastructure demands, our reliance on field vehicles and efficiency upgrades.

Partnerships with local small businesses are critical to the success of our cleanup mission. Since the inception of CPCCo鈥檚 contract, we鈥檝e partnered with 150 small businesses throughout the Tri-Cities region, investing nearly $180 million in subcontracts.

To 爱神传媒 and CPCCo, excellence means safely and efficiently achieving cleanup mission milestones on the DOE Hanford Site while supporting our customer, employees, and the Tri-Cities communities. It鈥檚 a responsibility we take seriously, and we continue to work hand in hand with the DOE and other companies to make that vision a reality.

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Author 鈥� Jim Blankenhorn

Congratulations to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory team! Their major scientific accomplishment late last year in achieving scientific energy breakeven, or producing a fusion energy output higher than the laser energy absorbed by the fuel to initiate it, was groundbreaking. This major scientific accomplishment which demonstrates the fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy was made at the National Ignition Facility, located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was decades in the making. We are proud to be a part of Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, which accomplished this unprecedented capability for advancements in our national defense and the future of clean energy on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavy nucleus, with the excess mass converting to and releasing a large amount of energy. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory National Ignition Facility is a laser-based fusion research facility that houses the world鈥檚 largest and highest energy laser.

While this achievement is spectacular, there is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy. This astonishing scientific advancement is encouraging about what possibilities lie ahead to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and the possibility of new clean fusion energy. There is much work to be done by the superb scientific community to build on this achievement, and the 爱神传媒 team of experts is positioned to help make fusion energy a reality within the next decade.

Looking to the future, fusion will move from the research laboratory to industrial/commercial production and there is a possibility that a viable nuclear fusion reactor could be available in the next 3-5 years. There are key research and development challenges that must be solved in transitioning to commercial use to make fusion a reality in this era of clean energy technology, including generation, control and sustainment of a burning plasma reaction, methods to harness the power of burning plasma in a controlled reaction, and conversion of power to a sustainable energy source. The combination of the progress at several scientific communities, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), and the Soonest/Smallest Private-Funded Affordable Robust Reactor (SPARC) are on track to demonstrate controlled fusion power, both domestically and internationally.

At 爱神传媒, we have decades of experience solving complex technical challenges in the design, commissioning and start-up of high hazard, highly regulated nuclear and industrial facilities. Our extremely talented engineering and technical staff bring industry-recognized subject matter expertise to create innovative solutions to one-of-a-kind problems, integrating science with the physical world.

Our team is supporting clean energy research, advancing technical solutions for corporate projects and for several customers and national laboratories.聽 爱神传媒 looks forward to playing a pivotal role in developing and delivering clean energy solutions for a safer, smarter, cleaner world.

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In 1979, Congress authorized WIPP as a research and development facility to demonstrate the safe disposal of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste from defense activities not regulated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

爱神传媒鈥檚 long history at WIPP began in 1985 when Westinghouse, one in a long line of 爱神传媒 heritage companies, served the Corps of Engineers with design, engineering and technical assistance.聽 Three years later in 1988, Westinghouse TRU Solutions 鈥� another 爱神传媒 heritage company, was named the WIPP management and operations contractor.聽 In all, 爱神传媒 and its heritage companies have managed and operated WIPP for more than 35 years.

鈥淭he WIPP facility is the nation鈥檚 only deep geological repository for nuclear waste, and we are proud of what has been accomplished by 爱神传媒, our heritage companies and most importantly the WIPP employees,鈥� said Mark Whitney, President of 爱神传媒鈥檚 National Security Group. 鈥淚 thank these employees for their longstanding dedication to this mission of national significance. We also thank DOE for allowing us to be part of such important work and the community for its strong partnership throughout our almost 40-year tenure at the WIPP site.鈥�

Why is WIPP Necessary?

Transuranic, or TRU waste began accumulating in the 1940s with the beginning of the nation鈥檚 nuclear defense program.聽 As early as the 1950s, the National Academy of Sciences recommended deep disposal of long-lived TRU wastes in geologically stable formations, such as deep salt beds. Sound environmental practices and strict regulations require such wastes to be isolated to protect human health and the environment.

Until 爱神传媒 helped open WIPP in 1999, there were about 60 million people who live within 50 miles of DOE TRU waste storage sites.聽 Storage in drums was never meant to be permanent.聽 Temporary containers for above-ground storage deteriorate long before prevalent radionuclides in TRU waste are eliminated through radioactive decay.聽 Plutonium, for example, will require nearly one quarter million years to decay by 99.9 percent.聽 Therefore, these materials must be isolated and controlled for many generations.

Bedded salt is free of fresh flowing water, easily mined, impermeable and geologically stable — an ideal medium for permanently isolating long-lived radioactive wastes from the environment. However, its most important quality in this application is the way salt rock seals all fractures and naturally closes all openings.

Throughout the 1960s, government scientists searched for an appropriate site for radioactive waste disposal, eventually testing a remote desert area of southeastern New Mexico where, 250 million years earlier, evaporation cycles of the ancient Permian Sea had a 2,000-foot-thick salt bed.

The WIPP facility, located 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, N.M., was constructed during the 1980s. Congress limited WIPP to the disposal of defense-generated TRU wastes. In 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certified WIPP for safe, long-term disposal of TRU wastes.

Generally, TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris, soil, and other items contaminated with radioactive elements, mostly plutonium. These man-made elements have atomic numbers greater than uranium, thus trans-uranic, or beyond uranium on the Periodic table of Elements.

爱神传媒鈥檚 Historical Role at WIPP

Since the first TRU waste shipment arrived at WIPP on March 24, 1999, 爱神传媒 has been part of numerous milestones that have helped shape DOE鈥檚 approach to nuclear waste management and disposal.

To date, 爱神传媒 has partnered with DOE to complete TRU waste cleanup at 22 sites nationwide, including the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site near Denver, Colorado in 2006.聽 As a result, Rocky Flats has been transformed into a wildlife refuge that is enjoyed by thousands of Coloradoans each year.

Since opening, more than 13,300 TRU waste shipments have arrived safely at WIPP.

During more than 20 years of TRU waste transportation, drivers have completed more than 15 million safe loaded miles without serious incident.聽 This feat is equivalent to a person driving around the circumference of the earth 600 times without a significant accident.聽 It would take two drivers about 75 years driving an average of 60 miles an hour to accomplish the same milestone!

In addition to cleaning up the environment and making America safer, 爱神传媒 and its heritage companies have made huge contributions to the communities where its employees live and work.

爱神传媒 is lauded by civic leaders in the WIPP host communities of Carlsbad and Hobbs, New Mexico where corporate donations routinely eclipse $500,000 a year and have grown to several million dollars over the life of the project.

爱神传媒 employees also routinely volunteer thousands of hours each year in support of a variety of non-profit organizations and schools who are the backbone of the community.聽 And it doesn鈥檛 stop with volunteerism.聽 Employees have supported the local United Way campaign by giving generously for almost four decades.

Key Milestones

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Limiting operations due to a radiological incident in 2014, the transuranic nuclear waste repository at long last has moved into a new disposal area that makes emplacement safer, less complicated and more efficient.

The disposal area, known as Panel 8, consists of seven huge rooms that are 33 feet wide, 16 feet high and over 300 feet long, about the length of a football field with the end zones.

WIPP waste handling crews celebrated October 20 when the final container of waste was emplaced in problematic Panel 7, where a ruptured drum led to a radiological contamination event in 2014. The event shut down the repository for three years before waste emplacement resumed in 2017.

When emplacement resumed in Panel 7, workers were required to wear respirators and anti-contamination suits, and handling waste involved a handoff from the 鈥渃lean鈥� side to the 鈥渃ontaminated鈥� side of Panel 7 using push-pull devices on the forklifts.

In November , crews emplaced the first container of waste in the new Panel 8. It was a new day for the 爱神传媒-led workforce and the Department of Energy. Emplacing waste in the non-contaminated panel now requires only one waste handling and radiological control crew, not two. Also gone are the respirators and anti-c suits. Now, instead of a forklift handoff at the entrance to the panel, a transporter drives all the way into the emplacement room before the forklift takes the payload and fits it into the stack of containers at the waste face.

鈥淭he return to normal emplacement activities has allowed us to increase waste handling efficiencies, said Sean Dunagan, president of 爱神传媒-led Nuclear Waste Partnership, the management and operations contractor that runs WIPP for the Department of Energy. 鈥淐rews recently achieved over a 50 percent increase in our downloading capacity. This has led to an increased WIPP capacity in accepting shipments and accelerate generator site cleanup.鈥�

For example, prior to the pre-2014 events, WIPP was receiving up to 20 shipments per week. Through Covid and while still in Panel 7, shipments dipped to an average of five per week. Now in Panel 8, crews received 19 shipments the week of Dec. 19, followed by 15 the following week. In January, rates are expected to average about 14 shipments per week.

鈥淚t is our goal to continue steady, safe and compliant operations so we can return consistently to those levels in the very near future,鈥� Dunagan said.

WIPP receives transuranic waste from generator sites via the Transuranic Package Transporter Model 2 (TRUPACT-II) and HalfPACT.

The TRUPACT-II can hold up to 14 55-gallon waste drums, two standard waste boxes (63 cubic feet capacity each), or one 10-drum overpack (a container designed to provide additional protection for older, deteriorating drums).

A shipment consists of three TRUPACTs or a TRUPACT/HalfPACT mix. Once TRUPACTs are opened and the payloads removed, two payloads are placed on a pallet and sent 2,150 feet underground to the WIPP repository.

The HalfPACT, as its name implies, is half the size of a TRUPACT-II and is designed to carry heavier loads.

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Management of groundwater is a major concern as our population continues to grow. Groundwater provides drinking water for as much as 50% of the global population and accounts for 43% of all of water used for irrigation. Globally, 2.5 billion people depend solely on groundwater to satisfy their basic daily water needs. Solving groundwater management problems are essential to ensure clean drinking water for the global population, including the people in the United States.

Additionally, groundwater supports rivers, lakes, and wetlands and the major threat to groundwater is pollution resulting from human activity that has created chemicals and wastes which leak into the subsurface. Pollution degrades the quality of groundwater and poses a threat to human and ecological health.

A major threat to groundwater is pollution resulting from chemicals and wastes that have leaked into the subsurface. Pollution reduces the quality of groundwater and poses a significant threat to human and ecological health. As the human population continues to grow, more demand will be placed on our groundwater resources. The need for understanding our groundwater systems and for managing them correctly, is greater than ever.

Protecting Our Groundwater

Recently, a new set of emerging contaminants has been found to be widespread throughout the United States and in drinking water supplies. Our federal agencies are taking action to address this issue. The groundwater contamination challenge across the country exists in various geological formations, making a solution at one site, not effective for a solution at another.

The challenge is to find the correct set of remediation tools that will remove the groundwater contamination as quickly and as cost effectively as possible. Some of the tools that can be implemented include pump and treat in situ remediation, and thermal remediation. These tools, when combined, can effectively shorten the remediation timeline, and make for a cost-effective solution.

爱神传媒’s Capabilities in Solving the Problem

爱神传媒鈥檚 experience with the Department of Energy and other federal and state agencies is enormous鈥�.we take on the most hazardous, the most complex chemicals in very challenging environmental locations. Our capabilities with environmental monitoring, predicting the outcomes through sophisticated groundwater modeling, developing, and deploying appropriate technology, operating it safely and compliantly and in open relationship with the client stakeholders and the public make us uniquely situated to help solve this emerging problem.

爱神传媒 is committed to our role in addressing the groundwater crisis. With proven experience in high hazard environments and diverse capabilities that span the full life cycle of the environmental market, 爱神传媒 is uniquely positioned to address current needs and lead the way in discovering answers to groundwater challenges yet to be solved.

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John Heller, third from right, joined UCOR and other 爱神传媒 officials on a tour of UCOR work sites, including ORNL’s Building 3010, pictured.

John Heller, CEO of 爱神传媒, visited the Oak Ridge, TN nuclear reservation recently and toured sites at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park. He also met with local community leaders, including Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Oak Ridge City Councilman Pastor Derrick Hammond, Roane County Executive Wade Creswell, and President of Roane State Community College Dr. Chris Whaley.

鈥淭he 爱神传媒-led UCOR team is doing superb work in achieving the DOE Environmental Cleanup mission at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Reservation. Our visit last week was a great opportunity for 爱神传媒 senior leadership, including CEO John Heller, to see firsthand the cleanup accomplishments at ETTP, ORNL and Y-12,鈥� said Mark Whitney, President of 爱神传媒鈥檚 National Security Group.

爱神传媒 senior leaders received a UCOR program overview and briefings on reindustrialization and economic development and workforce development, before touring UCOR critical project locations.

About UCOR

UCOR is a joint venture responsible for cleanup and remedial actions at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), and cleanup of excess facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex. UCOR efforts include design, construction, and operation of the new onsite Environmental Management Disposal Facility, operational activities and surveillance and maintenance for multiple facilities, and core functions for central and project services. The contract is a single award IDIQ contract with a 10-year ordering period with an estimated contract ceiling of approximately $8.3 billion. 爱神传媒-led UCOR has a long history of supporting the DOE鈥檚 environmental management programs and recently delivered historic success in cleaning up DOE鈥檚 uranium enrichment complex ahead of schedule and under budget at the 2,200-acre ETTP complex.

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The meeting, set up by the 爱神传媒 longtime partner Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC), featured representatives from TRIDEC, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and local agriculture who all shared ideas for economic recovery, diversification and expansion in the Fukushima Hamadouri area.

The Japanese delegation has created a sister organization 鈥� Fukushima Hamadouri TRIDEC 鈥� to emulate the successful framework TRIDEC uses in the Tri-Cities area. The group has partnered with local business, municipal governments, institutions of higher education and other organizations to create a vibrant and thriving community surrounding the Hanford Site.

John Eschenberg, center, recently joined, from left, Jens Rasmussen, AgriNorthwest; David Reeploeg, TRIDEC; Karl Dye, TRIDEC; Mark Triplett, PNNL; Takayuki Nakamura, FH-TRIDEC; and Rina Matsumoto, FH-TRIDEC to discuss ideas for community revitalization in Fukushima Hamadouri, Japan.

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