Project Management Institute Columbia River Basin Chapter

In March 2006, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary James Rispoli requested of Len Peters, Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), that PNNL implement the proposed Seismic Boreholes Project as a top priority. Congressional authorization for the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) had restricted any expenditure of funds for two of the facilities until the Department of Energy certified that the final seismic criteria for the plant had been approved. As a result of questions raised about the seismic design basis from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), the original seismic criteria had been revised and interim criteria issued. The absence of deep subsurface geophysical data from below the plant resulted in higher uncertainty and greater conservatism with the interim criteria. The Seismic Boreholes Project was established as a means of reducing uncertainty in the current seismic criteria.

The scope of the project included the installation of 3 boreholes and a corehole, collection of seismic velocity and other geophysical data from the boreholes, and then re-analysis of the predicted ground motion response at the Waste Treatment Plant site to an earthquake based on the new data obtained from the boreholes.

Completion of the Seismic Boreholes Project was critical to the definition and defense of the final approved seismic criteria and restart of the construction of the WTP. The WTP itself is destined to play a pivotal role in the cleanup of the Hanford Site which originally played a key role in the nation’s defense for more than 40 years, beginning with the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. The plutonium production complex had nine nuclear reactors and associated processing facilities. Today, under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy, Hanford is engaged in the world’s largest environmental cleanup project, with a number of overlapping technical, political, regulatory, financial and cultural issues.

In addition to the overall challenges with such a project, there were also business climate obstacles to overcome. For example, a boom in the drilling business led to limited resources for a competitive and schedule-responsive contractor bid. To encourage drilling contractor interest in the project, the contracts and technical staff coordinated communication efforts with potential bidders. Early in the project conceptualization phase, potential bidders were approached with detailed opportunity information, and expressions of interest requested.

Project staff maintained contact with potential bidders between that time and the official project authorization and issuance of requests for proposals (RFP). Personal contact with prospective bidders was made again immediately before release of the final RFP to encourage response. The contracting strategy was also designed to maximize responsiveness. Because of the geologic conditions and borehole specifications, three different drilling methods were required. Three separate RFPs were used to encourage the best response from potential bidders and manage project risk.

The construction of the WTP site was being led by a separate contractor, Bechtel National, Inc., with no direct contractual relationship with the project team. This dynamic required that mechanisms be put in place to ensure the effective and efficient coordination and communication of work activities on the WTP construction site. To add to the complexity, the delayed construction of the WTP affected more than 2,000 workers and with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, significant pressure was exerted by the customer and Bechtel to accelerate the Seismic Boreholes Project and complete the analyses to allow for restart of construction.

A project team was quickly established with PNNL, EnergySolutions, and Fluor Hanford expertise and more than 15 key subcontractors to ensure project success. This highly engaged team focused their efforts on meeting customer expectations for the accelerated schedule while accommodating DOE’s most rigorous nuclear quality assurance requirements. The project team was also required to conduct all work consistent with existing Hanford environmental, safety, and health requirements for nuclear operations.

The approach of the project included four main elements: 1) planning and site preparation, 2) new borehole installation, 3) data collection, and 4) site seismic response analysis. To plan and implement the Seismic Boreholes Project, a team was established to effectively control all elements of the project. A drilling plan was developed to guide the installation of the boreholes which included several different drilling methods to address site-specific geologic conditions. Sampling and analysis plans were developed and reviewed by external reviewers to document the physical characterization, geophysical logging, in-situ seismic velocity and density measurements collected.

Prior to the start of the drilling operations, key permits and guiding documents were prepared and approved, including National Environmental Policy Act compliance documentation, waste control plan and corresponding data quality objectives, air discharge compliance documentation, excavation permit, project health and safety plan, and a quality assurance project plan.

Tom Brouns Presenting to the 2008 POY Meeting
POY Attendees intently listening to the presentation

Customer Comment:

“This critical project enabled the U.S. Department of Energy to resume construction of the largest and most capable facility of its kind in the world…leadership of this project was exceptional.”
– John R. Eschenberg, DOE ORP

To read the Seismic Borehole Nomination Packet (Click here).