IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – When industrialist Henry Ford invented the production line, he likely didn’t think it’d be used to process retrieved transuranic waste.

   But adding one in the guise of a new conveyor has dramatically improved the safety and efficiency of retrieval operations at EM’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Idaho Site.

   Some 65,000 cubic meters of waste were once stored at the site, but crews are now retrieving a final cell where approximately 1,400 cubic meters of waste remain in the form of severely degraded metal drums and wood boxes stored under an earthen berm for nearly half a century.

   In retrieval, workers use a forklift to secure the containers, survey them for radiation and external contamination, overpack them based on their physical conditions, and move them to a compartment known as an airlock, where they receive tracking labels. The next stop is AMWTP’s characterization facility.

   It's a process that has been repeated tens of thousands of times. But being able to safely move the older degraded drums to the airlock became more difficult as the area containing the drums and boxes receded. Working in close proximity to coworkers, the forklift operators maneuvered the drums, some weighing more than 750 pounds, several hundred feet over a rough surface while kicking up dust.

   The conveyor system was built to expand from the airlock into the retrieval area, thus reducing forklift travel and handling. Operations now take place closer to the area containing the drums and boxes, reducing forklift travel distance and improving safety and efficiency. The retrieval rate increases as batches of containers exit the retrieval area in a controlled manner.     

   With the survey and identification activities performed near the airlock, radiological control technicians and retrieval operators are stationed away from the noise, fumes, and forklifts, avoiding potential collisions.  

   “Instead of one drum at a time, we can now batch process drums because of the incredible efficiency resulting from the conveyor,” said LeeRoy Jones, retrieval and cargo lead. “If there’s a metric for the conveyor system, it’s definitely happy operators who can focus on their work in a safe, secure, area.” 

   With the innovation of the conveyor system and introduction of another shift in retrieval operations, crews anticipate completing retrieval work by late 2016. But most important, it’s work being performed in a safer, compliant, and more productive environment, Jones said.