All 16 nuclear cleanup sites overseen by the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management have at least initiated Phase 1 remobilization operations, after on-site work was drastically scaled back this spring in an effort to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 among the workforce.
In addition, Phase 2 is now underway at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Nevada National Security Site, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, according to the Energy Department.
Phases 1 and 2 of resuming work suspended by the pandemic involve recalling people who either work in key jobs better done on-site, and or isolated tasks at the site that tend to be low-risk and don’t require too much personal protection equipment.
The nuclear cleanup office is following the Energy Department’s four-stage process, which starts with preplanning (Phase 0) and eventually advances to Phase 3, or nearly pre-COVID workforce levels on-site. There are no time limits for each phase and progress is to be determined largely by coronavirus infection data at the regions where the Environmental Management sites are located.
The Office of Environmental Management resorted to bare bones staffing inside the fence at all but one of its properties between late March and late May. The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Recovery Action (UMTRA) project in Utah never scaled back to minimum operations because so many of its people are heavy equipment operators, who have little contact with other employees.
With infection rates in many parts of the country starting to increase again, as states have allowed various types of businesses to reopen, some DOE sites might take an extended amount of time to progress to Phase 3, one federal contractor manager said this week. Some might be stuck in Phase 1 for quite a while, he added.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted online Friday indicates there are nearly 2.47 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationally and 126,000 deaths.
There are 13 “active” cases of COVID-19, and zero deaths, within the DOE nuclear cleanup complex, a federal source said Thursday.
Nevertheless, new cases continue to pop up at some properties.
As of this morning, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has confirmed a total of 52 cases of COVID-19 among its 11,000-member workforce that includes personnel for both EM and DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. The 52 figure is 10 more than June 18. Of that total, 37 employees have recovered and been cleared to return to work, according to the website for the DOE operations office at Savannah River.
Another worker at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state tested posted for COVID-19 this week, bringing the total number of cases to 17 at the former plutonium production complex. It is unknown how many of those are still active, or how many have been cleared to resume work.
The individual works at the Waste Treatment Plant being built by Bechtel, according to the Hanford Energy Department website that provides updates on COVID-19. The update did not provide any other details on the case.
In accordance with guidance form the regional Benton-Franklin Health District, other people who work in this area should monitor themselves for symptoms common to the novel coronavirus 2019, including a bad cough or fever.
Like most other cleanup locations, Hanford began remobilization in late May. It has been in Phase 1 throughout June and will continue that status next week, DOE Hanford Site Manager Brian Vance said online Thursday.
Also, on June 20 a third worker at WIPP near Carlsbad, N.M., tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee of WIPP management and operations contractor Nuclear Waste Partnership “became ill earlier this week and was tested by WIPP Health Services on Wednesday [June 17],” the Energy Department announced on its social media feeds for the transuranic waste disposal facility
The test came back positive a week ago, DOE said, adding that the employee has been working remotely since mid-March. The infected individual visited the DOE complex for about 15 minutes on June 4, according to the agency.
Earlier confirmed cases of the viral disease were reported among the workforces of two WIPP subcontractors: Constructors Inc. in May and North Wind in April. On June 15, WIPP entered Phase 2 of the Environmental Management office’s remobilization program, with continued recall of staff involved mostly in high-priority or low-risk chores.
During its reduced operations, WIPP accepted no more than five waste shipments weekly – roughly half what it would usually receive on a good week.
