Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
10/31/2014
West Valley Demonstration Project contractor CH2M Hill B&W West Valley has improved schedule planning and addressed issues with its water treatment system after receiving about 53 percent of available award fee from the Department of Energy in the latest available period, CHBWV President Dan Coyne told WC Monitor this week. The contractor earned $150,000 out of $285,029 in available award fee from August 2013 through February 2014, which includes a $50,000 fee reduction due to a Category 2 incident involving turbidity in the site’s water treatment system. DOE also expressed project management concerns. CHBWV has since brought on additional employees to focus on planning and project management and also dug wells to address the water issue.
The latest evaluation comes after CHBWV earned 60 percent of available award fee, a total of $200,000, for the previous period, which ran from March 1, 2013, through August 2013. In the latest fee determination, the contractor earned the lowest marks in project management, receiving a “satisfactory” rating. “DOE still believes CHBWV needs to provide additional emphasis in the area of Project Management. This has been a recurring concern since DOE’s evaluation in May 2012. CHBWV’s schedules still demonstrate the need for detail planning and traceability,” the scorecard states. DOE highlighted some specific areas of concern. “The earned value schedules lack detailed planning and traceability. CHBWV field level schedules contain issues associated with horizontal and vertical integration to the baseline schedule, however improvements have been observed,” according to the scorecard. “Furthermore, the CHBWV earned value schedule does not contain a critical path for FY14 which limits its use as a management planning tool.”
CHBWV has since brought in several new employees who are focusing on detail planning and field schedules. “We’ve implemented some improvement plans on our detailed schedules, up to and including bringing on some additional people and changing the way we do business in a number of areas,” Coyne said. When asked if DOE has seen improvements in CHBWV’s project management, DOE West Valley Director Bryan Bower said this week in a written response: “CHBWV has undertaken a number of corrective actions to address the project management issues. The Department will carefully evaluate those changes to determine contractor success.”
Cold Weather Freezes Water Treatment System
The notice of violation for the water treatment system came from the local municipality after the water clarifier froze during the harsh winter, Coyne said. Water at the site had been coming from a lake and then running through the treatment system, but the contractor has since dug wells to provide water that will not have to run through the same treatment system. “The water comes directly out of a well and into the system and that will help us,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about the clarifier, which I assume has been here since the start of the site in the ‘60s. We’ve got a more modern potable water system now.”
Employees had been drinking bottled water at the time of the violation and notices were posted during the event. The notice of violation from the local government was “non fee bearing,” Coyne said. “We repaired the system and reestablished the clarifier and actually got a note from the health department here that they appreciated our fast response on it,” he said. “It was an NOV and in our structure, you get an NOV, no matter what kind, and it can have impacts on your award fee.”
CHBWV Receives High Marks in Safety and Regulatory Areas
CHBWV received higher marks in other areas, including an “excellent” rating in safety, health and quality management and a “very good” rating in environmental and regulatory strategy. Those marks incorporate “include successful achievement of Voluntary Protection Program Star Status; implementation of Quality Assurance oversight for the High Level Waste (HLW) Storage Pad and Vertical Storage Cask construction; interactive senior management field presence; enhanced coordination and partnering efforts; and excellent 2013 As Low As Reasonably Achievable budget performance,” the scorecard states.
Schedule Still Uncertain for Main Plant Demolition
While a baseline is in place for CHBWV, DOE has not yet completed approval of all the contract modifications due to material differences, Coyne said. That means that there still isn’t schedule certainty for the D&D of West Valley’s main plant, the former reprocessing facility that is the focus of cleanup at the site. Originally the main plant demolition was expected to be completed by the April 2019, at the end of CHBWV’s contract, but in May Coyne said the contract modifications and limited scope would likely push the contract out into early 2020.
Coyne declined to comment this week on the main plant demolition schedule, but said that a final contract modification related to waste relocation is still awaiting DOE approval. “That mod will establish the final schedule as it pertains to material differences. I’m not saying that there couldn’t be changes down the road. As to what we know right now that will establish the final schedule,” he said. Bower said this week: “DOE expects to complete all remaining contract changes by the end of the calendar year. The new schedule will be part of those contract changes.”
Meanwhile, progress is continuing on the relocation of the 278 high-level waste canisters in the main plant building to a recently constructed interim storage pad, a necessary step before main plant demolition. Relocation should begin next year. “There are about five pieces of equipment tied to canister relocation and we are waiting for one remaining piece of equipment that is supposed to be here at the end of this year. We are doing the necessary steps right now to do startup next year and relocate our first canisters,” Coyne said.
Coyne Emphasizes Safety Record
CHBWV’s award fee is just one part of the contractor’s three fee components, which also include schedule and cost, Coyne noted. He said that the contractor has had “what we would consider a very good year here,” noting the progress on canister relocation. Coyne also emphasized CHBWV’s safety record. “We just received our VPP star of excellence, just hit 1 million hours without a lost workday and we are 11 months without a recordable injury,” he said. “Hopefully next month we’ll hit a year. We are doing it safely. That doesn’t draw a lot of headlines, but that’s where we focus every day.”
