WASHINGTON, D.C. - Energy Secretary Rick Perry honored Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management’s (OREM) Wendy A. Cain as Federal Project Director of the Year for 2016, and presented a team under Cain’s oversight with the DOE’s.
“A lot of people say that they have a great team and partner well with their DOE and contractor counterparts, but this really has been the key to our ongoing success at Oak Ridge," Cain said at the 2017 DOE Project Management Workshop on March 22 where she received the award. “A few items that have been particularly helpful in our success are a common vision of success, a sense of urgency, maintaining the focus on a strong safety culture, transparency of issues and a focus on problem-solving."
Described as the “best" of DOE project management leadership, Cain demonstrated exceptional leadership and project management acumen overseeing the demolition of a former uranium enrichment facility, according to DOE. Her leadership, attention to detail, empowerment of team members, and fostering of open communications enabled the demolition of the at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) almost four months ahead of schedule and about $4 million under budget, which EM called a “tremendous" achievement.
Each year, DOE recognizes outstanding project management efforts as part of its project management recognition program.
Cain manages a portfolio that includes 12 capital projects and four large operational activities. The annual plan for this scope is approximately $200 million, and primarily consists of deactivation and demolition of contaminated facilities, and remediation of soils.
The K-31 team won one of two DOE Achievement Awards. The other award went to the U.S. Belle II Project, a DOE Office of Science project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state.
OREM completed the $40 million K-31 demolition project in February 2016. The team successfully decontaminated and demolished the steel-framed building, one of five uranium enrichment facilities. DOE commended the team for its outstanding performance.
Completing the project ahead of schedule enabled the acceleration of ETTP cleanup, supporting a Departmental goal of returning an environmentally remediated site to the local community. OREM has already demolished hundreds of ETTP facilities as it transforms the site into a private-sector industrial park.
Built in 1951, K-31 covered about 19 acres under one roof and encompassed more than 1.66 million square feet of floor area.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
