ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
EM issues Strategic Vision for 2021-2031
ECA Staff | 4/13/2021
Nearly a year ago, on March 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) released its first strategic plan in several years titled “A Time of Transition and Transformation: EM Vision 2020-2030” (the “Strategic Vision”) outlining past accomplishments and plans for future progress within the EM
program. Today, EM issued a revised version and offers an outline for the EM program for the coming decade.
ECA appreciates the projected framework for the EM mission as several sites and communities faced unforeseen consequences and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the 2021 Strategic Vision highlights many accomplishments seen during the tumultuous 2020 year.
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In the latest edition of the Strategic Vision, EM outlines anticipated accomplishments in addressing tank waste, demolishing contaminated buildings, remediating contaminated soil and groundwater, and shrinking the remaining footprint of the EM program over the next decade.
For 2021-2031, EM lists their priorities as follows:
- Activities to maintain a safe, secure, and compliant posture
- Radioactive tank waste stabilization, treatment, and disposal
- Spent (used) nuclear fuel and nuclear materials management and disposition
- TRU and mixed low-level waste (MLLW) disposition
- Soil and groundwater remediation
- Excess facilities deactivation and decommissioning (D&D)
For 2021-2031, EM lists their cleanup activities as follows:
- Initiating radioactive tank waste treatment at Hanford, as well as completing significant risk-reduction activities such as transferring cesium and strontium capsules to dry storage and placing the last of the former production reactors in interim safe storage
- Emptying and closing 22 of 51 underground waste tanks at SRS and completing disposal of remaining legacy TRU waste
- Completing the new Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS), utility shaft, and other key infrastructure upgrades at WIPP
- Completing disposal of remaining legacy TRU waste and uranium-233 at Oak Ridge, along with completing construction of the site’s new Mercury Treatment Facility
- Completing the treatment of remaining liquid sodium-bearing waste at INL, along with completing targeted buried waste exhumation and shipments of remaining legacy TRU waste to WIPP for disposal
- Finalizing and implementing long-term treatment approaches for contaminated groundwater at LANL
- Demolishing two of three former uranium enrichment process buildings at Portsmouth
- Completing deactivation activities at the C-333 former uranium enrichment process building and demolishing the former C-400 Cleaning Building at Paducah
- Completing Phase 1 decommissioning activities at the WVDP
- Initiating soil remediation and final groundwater treatment approaches at ETEC
- Completing legacy cleanup activities at Moab
- Completing legacy cleanup activities at the NNSS
- Completing legacy cleanup activities at LLNL and SNL
The 2021-2031 Strategic Vision most notably differs from the 2020 version as the newer edition was developed with feedback from state and local officials, tribal nations, and other stakeholder partners. When the 2020 Strategic Vision was initially released, one of the main comments from ECA was that few of our communities were incorporated into the decision making processes for their site. You can read ECA's comments on the
2020 version here.
EM has notified ECA there will be future interactions with the 2021-2031 Strategic Visions including informational webinars. ECA members support EM’s initiative to develop a long-term projection for cleanup activities across the complex.
ECA appreciates the opportunity to comment and work with EM on further development of the Strategic Vision as it is a “living” document. ECA’s members look forward to a direct dialogue with EM leadership and EM site officials on their site’s plan.
NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Savannah River Site welcomes new NNSA Field Office Manager
SRS | 4/12/2021
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) welcomed Jason A. Armstrong as manager of the NNSA Savannah River Field Office today, where he leads a team of approximately 50 federal employees and a contract workforce of nearly 4,000 people in managing and operating contracts with an annual budget of $1.3 billion. NNSA activities at the Savannah River Site serve two primary missions: managing the
nuclear stockpile and nonproliferation. Mr. Armstrong is responsible for executing these missions by providing oversight of site programs, nuclear operations, security, quality assurance, environment, safety and health, and the overall execution of key mission deliverables. He is a member of the Senior Executive Service.
Before assuming leadership of the NNSA Savannah River Field Office, Mr. Armstrong previously served as Assistant Manager for Nuclear Safety and Engineering at the NNSA Production Office in Tennessee from March 2018 to April 2021. There, he was responsible for multiple duties to include nuclear safety and upkeep of equipment and facilities critical to the nation’s nuclear weapons enterprise. Duties also
included ensuring facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex (Oak Ridge, TN) and the Pantex Plant (Amarillo, TX) operate safely and securely.
Read about DOE's High Level Waste Interpretation
Have questions about DOE’s recent high-level waste (HLW) interpretation? Download ECA’s Key Points and FAQs on the issue to better understand what ECA believes are the potential benefits of implementation.
Interested in learning more? Read the ECA report “Making Informed Decisions on DOE's Proposed High Level Waste Definition” at www.energyca.org/publications
Stay Current on Activities in the DOE World
Read the latest edition of the ECA Bulletin, a regular newsletter providing a detailed brief of ECA activities, legislative news, and major events from across the DOE complex. Have suggestions for future editions? Email [email protected].
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ECA's new site profiles detail DOE's 13 active Environmental Management cleanup sites and national laboratories, highlighting their history, missions, and priorities. The profiles are a key source for media, stakeholders, and the public to learn more about DOE site activities, contractors, advisory boards, and their surrounding local
governments.
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