As any sports fan can attest, achieving greatness takes more than just a team full of star players. Experienced coaches need to design the plays and guide them to success.
Office of Environmental Management
March 1, 2022
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RICHLAND, Wash. – As any sports fan can attest, achieving greatness takes more than just a team full of star players. Experienced coaches need to design the plays and guide them to success.
The team at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) follows that model in its approach to operations with the recent addition of conduct-of-operations coaches.
The coaches, who have experience in nuclear or environmental cleanup operations, observe work performed, provide constructive feedback and reinforce positive operational behaviors. Their mentoring, training and coaching help implement a disciplined and structured operations approach to support commissioning and future operations while promoting worker, public and environmental protection.
“These operations coaches help shape our staff’s behaviors and conduct as we move into melter heatup, cold and hot commissioning and future Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) Program operations,” said Eugene Nemeth, deputy nuclear facility manager for Waste Treatment Completion Company, a subcontractor to project lead Bechtel National, Inc. “Their experience and mentorship provide our team with valuable insights and learning.”
The WTP employs three coaches: one from Hanford contractor Washington River Protection Solutions and the others from Bechtel’s team at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Colorado. There are plans to hire a fourth coach in the near future, with each coach supporting the four rotating operations shifts.
The addition of the coaches is part of a larger strategy at the WTP to enhance the operational mindset and culture, which includes the creation of a conduct-of-operations council. The council is the governing body for ensuring continuous improvement of facility operations using the WTP conduct-of-operations program. The objectives of the council are to provide oversight and direction for plant-wide conduct of operations, including implementation and monitoring, and recommendations regarding program effectiveness, lessons learned and consistency.
The team is closing in on heatup of the first melter that will be used during the DFLAW Program operations to convert radiological and chemical waste from the Hanford tank farms into a form safe for disposal.
The plant facilities can be viewed using the self-guided Hanford Virtual Tour.
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