An environmental management team at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C., has won the U.S. Department of Energy’s Project Management Excellence Award for work that was ahead of schedule and under budget.
The Saltstone Disposal Unit 7 team “delivered 33 million gallons of long-term storage for grout waste produced” in Savannah River Site’s Saltstone Production Facility, allowing the site to meet deadlines “for the disposition of decontaminated salt solution processed at the Salt Waste Processing Facility,” a Nov. 8 news release said.
“By taking a proactive approach to schedule management and working activities in parallel, the SDU 7 team was able to successfully mitigate the impacts of the COVID pandemic,” Environmental Management Senior Advisor William “Ike” White said in the release. “Through effective leadership and risk management, the team was able to bring this project in ahead of schedule, under budget — and perhaps even most importantly — without a single recordable safety event or issue.”
Delivery of the repository for radioactive grout was “eight months ahead of schedule and $32 million under budget,” despite a work stoppage because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.
Lessons the team learned from other constructed units helped them implement improvements in their work, according to the release.
“All of this work paves the way for continued success with the SDU program, which just marked completion of concrete placements on the fourth mega-volume unit,” White said in the release. “Congratulations guys.”
Charles “Chuck” Comeau, the federal project director for the Saltstone Disposal Unit construction program, praised former Saltstone Disposal Unit Federal Project Director Shayne Farrell, the release said.
“I just appreciated all the mentoring that Shayne did that helped me get where I am,” Comeau said in the release. “He set us up for success. I look forward to the future and leading these last five SDUs. We’re doing well. Thank you.”
