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Wednesday, June 4, 1997

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GRO director to receive New Mexico Distinguished Public Service award
Barrels look good: Lab uncovers first pad at waste storage facility
Director discusses concept of GOCO management partnership
Mountain lions spotted around the Lab
New employee orientation now at the museum

GRO Office director to receive New Mexico Distinguished Public Service award

Karl Braithwaite, the Laboratory's Government Relations (GRO) Office director, has been chosen to receive a New Mexico Distinguished Public Service award for 1997.

Braithwaite was chosen to receive the award in the federal agencies and national laboratories category.

Gov. Gary Johnson announced the 10 winners for 1997 earlier this month. This is the 28th year the New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Awards Council has recognized New Mexicans for service to the state.

The council consists of 200 citizens from around the state who select the recipients, according to a news release from the Governor's Office.

Laboratory Director Sig Hecker nominated Braithwaite to receive the award. Braithwaite has worked at the Lab 16 years.

"The Laboratory is committed to maintaining its overall national mission of reducing nuclear danger," Hecker wrote in a nomination letter to the council. "Karl has not only made substantial contributions to the Laboratory's mission, but has also been a strong advocate to many of our New Mexico community outreach programs ... His services to New Mexico and to the community are commendable."

The state's two U.S. senators also lauded Braithwaite in nomination letters to the council. "Karl has been a critical contributor to the success New Mexico's federal labs have had in transitioning from the Cold War to the post-Cold War environment," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "Without Karl's expertise, committment, and counsel, I am not sure that transition would have been as smooth."

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said, "I know from direct experience that Karl is an important member of the Lab's senior management and that he has done a great deal to help the Laboratory in its transition through the end of the Cold War.

"He is also active in the New Mexico community, drawing upon his valuable expertise in air quality and other environmental issues. He has given generously of his time and his talents for the benefit of the citizens of the state of New Mexico."

Braithwaite and other individuals selected will be recognized at a banquet June 20 at the Marriott Hotel in Albuquerque.

At the banquet, Gov. Johnson will present the recipients with a plaque and silver lapel pin.

--Steve Sandoval

Barrels look good: Lab uncovers first pad at waste storage facility

Workers at the Laboratory's Environmental Management Solid Waste Operations Facility -- Area G -- have recovered in near-perfect condition more than 1,500 drums that had been covered by plywood, tarps and soil for nearly 18 years.

The drum-recovery work is part of the Transuranic Waste Inspection and Storage Project, or TWISP -- a project in which three soil-covered, asphalt pads containing drums or boxes of transuranic waste materials are being excavated to allow the drums to be inspected, characterized and certified for planned shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M.

Workers at Area G are excavating the first pad, which contains 4,816 drums and 88 boxes that typically measure four-by-four-by-eight feet.

Because the 55-gallon drums and fiberglass-sealed boxes on all three pads were covered and weren't available for inspection, the New Mexico Environment Department required Area G operators to excavate the drums and boxes and place them in a configuration that would allow people to inspect them regularly. Laboratory officials say 16,641 drums and 187 boxes in all reside on the three pads and will be excavated during TWISP.

Workers have excavated nearly 30 percent of the first pad at Area G, located on Mesita Del Buey, a finger-like mesa between Pajarito Canyon and Canada Del Buey. The pad is situated beneath a large, white dome structure erected for the drum-recovery effort.

Personnel who are excavating drums perform their work under the dome wearing respirators and anti-contamination clothing as a protective measure. The dome is under negative pressure: Air flows into the building at all times and no air leaves the building without first going through a high-efficiency-particulate-air, or HEPA, filter. These precautions prevent the potential release of radioactive material to the environment and prevent workers from becoming contaminated if one of the drums leaks.

The vast majority of the more than 1,500 drums so far recovered are in pristine condition, said Tony Stanford of the Environmental Management (EM) Program office and manager for solid waste operations at the Lab. Nearly 50 have been "overpacked" -- placed inside a larger, 85-gallon drum -- as a routine precautionary measure because the drums were dented or showed some corrosion.

TWISP manager Gilbert Montoya of EM-SWO said none of the drums excavated so far has had leaks and none shows signs of heavy corrosion, despite having spent nearly two decades under soil.

This is a slight contrast to 17 drums that were excavated in April 1992. Laboratory workers excavated those drums so state officials could inspect them. Eight had signs of corrosion and required overpacking. One had "pinhole corrosion" that had been caused by an internal chemical reaction. The reaction perforated the container, but no contamination was found on the outside of the drum.

All drums on the pads were treated with an environmentally benign corrosion inhibitor before they were covered.

After the drums are excavated and inspected, they are taken to a nearby dome for labeling. During the labeling process, workers use a citric-acid solution to remove the corrosion inhibitor on a small portion of the drum. This allows the label to adhere to the drum.

"It's amazing to see the condition of the drums once the corrosion inhibitor is removed," Montoya said. "They look like new."

After labeling, drums are taken to another facility at Area G where they are characterized. Area G technicians drill into each drum using a drum-venting system with a pressure-certified containment vessel designed at Los Alamos. The drum vent is a nonsparking drill bit connected to a HEPA filter and an activated-charcoal-filtered vent that allows technicians to draw a sample of air from inside each drum and determine whether any gases have accumulated. Drums with a concentration of potentially explosive hydrogen gas will be purged within the drum-venting system. All drums are stored with the drill/vent apparatus sealed in place.

"So far we've found no drums with any kind of gas buildup," said Stanford.

Montoya and Stanford say TWISP is ahead of schedule.

Stanford said excavation of the first pad originally was scheduled to be complete by September 1998, but most likely workers will finish excavating the pad a year ahead of schedule.

Excavation of the second pad originally was scheduled to be complete by September 2000 and excavation of the third pad originally was scheduled to be complete by September 2003. Stanford said Area G operators could conceivably complete TWISP three years ahead of schedule, potentially saving taxpayers $4 million to $5 million.

The total cost for TWISP was budgeted at $42 million. The project began in 1993.

"Because of the rigorous and complex set of procedures that were required by the Department of Energy and others to document how we were going to minimize potential risks associated with the project, we weren't able to begin excavating drums until the beginning of this year," Stanford said. "From 1993 to 1997, the project primarily consisted of a massive effort to get all our ducks in a row. This gives us a high level of confidence that the project can be completed with an extremely high degree of quality assurance."

In 1970, the Atomic Energy Commission directed its facilities around the nation, including the Lab, to begin storing transuranic waste in such a way that the waste could be retrieved for shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Before this, transuranic waste had been disposed of with low-level radioactive waste in shallow landfill cells. At the Laboratory, starting in 1957, such unsegregated waste was disposed of at Area G.

However, as a consequence of the DOE order, the Laboratory began segregating transuranic waste from low-level waste and dedicating specific storage units at Area G for their management. (The AEC was split into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Energy Research and Development Administration in 1975; in 1977 DOE was formed out of ERDA and other organizations.) By the late 1970s, Lab officials recognized the need to upgrade transuranic waste-management practices -- practices that focused on transuranic waste storage instead of disposal -- to provide a more retrievable drum configuration. In 1979, the Laboratory constructed the first of three above-ground asphalt pads containing densely packed arrays of waste containers that later were covered with plywood, tarps and soil.

--James E. Rickman

Director discusses concept of GOCO management partnership

During his colloquium last Friday, Director Sig Hecker discussed the status of the University of California contract negotiations with the Department of Energy and mentioned the concept of the GOCO (government-owned, contractor-operated) management partnership that always has been the foundation of the UC contract with DOE. Although the very foundation of the DOE's nuclear weapons responsibility over the years was built on trust engendered by the special contractual relationship of the DOE with UC, the director says he has found in recent years that relatively few people in government (not limited to just the DOE) today fully understand or appreciate the true value of this GOCO partnership with the laboratories.

The executive agencies such as the DOE have "reformed" their contracting practices closer to the federal norm in the hope of getting greater value and accountability from their contractors. Unfortunately, Hecker notes these reforms are undermining the partnership and trust required to succeed in performing inherently governmental functions, such as nuclear weapons stewardship, and are standing in the way of getting the job done. The director wrote a paper on the GOCO model for Energy Secretary Peña, and he said during the colloquium that he would make it available to employees on the Web. go to

Mountain lions sighted around the Lab

Last week, a Lab employee reported seeing a pair of mountain lions roaming near the former guard shack at Technical Area 21. While the employee never was threatened by the lions, several people frequently hike, bike and run in that general area.

According to the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, there are a large number of lions around Bandelier National Monument. There also apparently is a natural lion crossing that runs through Bandelier, across the Lab and through town to the northern part of Los Alamos County.

Manny L'Esperance of Johnson Controls World Services Inc., a reserve conservation officer for the game and fish department, said a female lion is known to be domiciled somewhere on Lab property. He added he suspects the lion has had more than one litter ranging from one to four kittens each.

Ecology (ESH-20), which monitors the wildlife in the area, hopes to trap two mountain lions in August; the lions then will be tagged and monitored for migration patterns, feeding habits and other information. The game and fish department said the risk of people being attacked by a lion is very low. Lions are most active from dusk to dawn and eat deer, elk, porcupines, small mammals, livestock and pets.

The Colorado Game and Fish Department created the following guidelines for those who either encounter a lion or enter known lion territory:

When walking or hiking in mountain lion country, go in groups and make plenty of noise to reduce the chance of surprising a lion. Carry a sturdy walking stick; it can be used to ward off a lion.

Make sure children are within your sight at all times. Talk with children about lions and teach them what to do if they meet one.

Do not approach a lion, especially one that is feeding or with kittens. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.

If you encounter a lion, stay calm. Talk calmly yet firmly to it, and move slowly. Stop and back away slowly only if you can do so safely.

Running may stimulate a lion's instinct to chase and attack. Face the lion and stand upright.

Do all you can to appear larger. This can be done by raising your arms or opening your jacket if wearing one. If you have small children with you, pick them up so they won't panic and run.

If the lion behaves aggressively, throw stones, branches or whatever is available without crouching down or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly. You want to convince the lion that you are not prey and that you may in fact be a danger to the lion.

Lions have been driven away by prey that fights back. People have successfully warded off attacks with rocks, sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools and bare hands. If you are attacked, try to remain standing; if you are knocked down, try to get back up as soon as possible.

Finally, if you encounter a Iion, contact the game and fish department at 827-7911 as soon as possible. The department's main office in Santa Fe is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or call your police department. Additional information about mountain lions is available at http://www.gmfsh.state.nm.us/ on the Web.

--Ternel N. Martinez

New employee orientation now at the museum

PHOTO: Garry Franklin, right, of the Bradbury Science Museum talks about the geology of the Valles Caldera and the general terrain of the Los Alamos area during new employee orientation Monday at the museum downtown. The Human Resources (HR) Division moved new employee orientation to the museum to help employees gain a broader perspective of the Lab's history and future missions. Photo by Fred Rick

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