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WHITESHELL WHITESHELL WHITESHELL WHITESHELL SPRING 2020 CONTACTWHITESHELL A PUBLICATION OF CANADIAN NUCLEAR LABORATORIES WHITESHELL WHITESHELL CHALK RIVER WHITESHELL PORT HOPE WHITESHELL AN UPDATE ON THE WHITESHELL PROJECT KEEPING WHITESHELL SAFE John Gilbert, Site Head of the Whiteshell Closure Project You could say that employees at Whiteshell Laboratories work was halted. Everybody who could, was working had a distinct advantage when they were faced with the from home. But Whiteshell Laboratories was far from COVID-19 pandemic. After all, working on a nuclear site, empty. Up to 40 people a day were still coming into they are used to dealing with an invisible risk and are work to perform necessary tasks to keep the site safe, familiar with safety procedures that translate directly to to meet licensing requirements, and to provide general a COVID-19 world. maintenance. On March 18, the call went out to go to Minimum Safe Those coming on site were trained in how to ensure Staffing, in line with actions recommended by the -Gov safe work practices which were similar to the protec- ernment of Canada and public health authorities to re- tions used in their everyday work on a nuclear site like duce the risk to workers and the community. Two days protective clothing – but with a few differences such as later the site was safely shut down, all decommissioning wiping down surfaces and keeping two metres apart, WHITESHELL ADOPTS 4x10 SCHEDULE New work schedule has been 'overwhelmingly positive' for employees The work-from-home protocol for COVID-19 is not the only ter efficiency and increased field production by allowing workplace innovation that Whiteshell employees have ex- workers to increase their time between donning and doff- perienced. About a dozen employees working on the Bun- ing personal protective equipment." Working on a nuclear ker 5 Waste Retrieval Project spent the last few months site means spending a lot of time carefully putting on and on a pilot project where they were getting to work earli- taking off protective clothing and equipment and workers er, leaving later, and thoroughly enjoying the experience. must meticulously prepare equipment and double-check That’s because they had Fridays off. plans before entering potentially contaminated sites. Pro- viding workers with longer “jump” times in their work It’s called 4x10s (four tens) – where employees work ten- zones between breaks reduces that impact of time spent hour days from Monday to Thursday and then enjoy a long, getting into PPE and preparing to enter the work zones three-day weekend. It’s an early start. They were getting over the week, Gilbert says, and that “…adds extra hours of on site just before 6 in the morning, and not leaving until tool time, actual work.” 4:30 in the afternoon. But many of those who took part in the trial said they loved it. Some staff had worried about working longer hours, and others were concerned about having to adjust sleep pat- John Gilbert, General Manager of the Whiteshell Closure terns. But after a few weeks, an employee survey found Project, stated “moving to a 4x10 schedule provides bet- that the workers on the pilot project easily adjusted to the and that physical distancing was made easier by having support the workers. There will be no rush back to work fewer people on site. Those able to work from home when we resume. The pandemic has had an impact on continued their jobs planning, writing documents, and our schedules, but we do not expect anyone to make up performing mission critical tasks. 4, 6 or 8 weeks of lost time.” John Gilbert, the General Manager of the Whiteshell Some of the changes at Whiteshell necessitated by COV- Closure Project, indicated it has been an exercise in flex- ID-19 have been good ones. Some workers will continue ibility, “We’re all having to rethink how we conduct work when we’re out of our comfort zones and traditional of- fice settings. Some staff have been fortunate to have I have been impressed with my home offices that they have moved in to, others are team’s ability to push through the sharing dining room tables with spouses or juggling work challenge, continue to produce with home-schooling their children.” " solid work, give back to the com- munity, and look out for their peers CNL staff came on site to perform essential tasks such in these challenging times. Over- as conducting environmental monitoring tests, repairing all, the support from the team has the hot water system, and, yes, even taking out the gar- been fantastic! bage. Whiteshell’s Emergency Services Operations con- - John Gilbert tinued to monitor the site every day, around the clock. The return-to-work won’t happen all at once, says Gil- bert, “We are planning a phased return based upon some to work remotely. As well, site access screening, social assumptions of what the new normal may look like. We distancing, and carpooling restrictions designed to keep don’t anticipate everyone returning to work on the same workers safe could be part of CNL’s workplace for some day and will only do so when our workspaces are safe to time to come. change and were feeling energized by the longer weekends and coming back to work on Mondays feeling “re-charged.” As the trial moved to a close, the numbers were positive: the employees had managed to increase productivity by 25%. And, the benefits mentioned by the workers them- selves included less time on the road and the ability to ac- complish much more during the day. Oh, and then there’s that three-day weekend! There were two less than positive observations: a lack of daycare options for employees starting work that early and driving in the dark. Gilbert says, “Both of these issues will be managed on a case-by-case basis. But overall, the 4-10s has been a morale booster and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive." The pilot project was just winding down when the work- from-home protocol went into place, but the results were so positive, that even in lock-down, the entire site has moved to 4x10s as of March 30. This makes the work of the Bunker 5 Waste Retrieval team even more efficient, as -ev eryone at Whiteshell is now working on the same schedule. UPDATE ON THE WHITESHELL PROJECT CNL dives into planning while COVID-19 lockdown delays operations The implementation of COVID-19 response measures All of the materials recovered from the structures have stopped the clock for more than 65 days on the schedule for been carefully disposed of with an emphasis on recycling demolition work on the Whiteshell site, however, time was when possible. The numbers: spent during the COVID-19 lockdown on planning, planning, and more planning! Before that, CNL’s Whiteshell Closure • The demolition of these three facilities represents Project Team made good progress even during the winter 1,347 square metres of floor space removed from months, on key activities. the Whiteshell campus site. • Since 2016, CNL has demolished a total of 22 build- The demolition of three facilities, led by the Building and ings representing a total of 7,541 square metres of Lands Decommissioning team, was completed in the first floor space. three months of 2020. They are: the Hydrogen Contain- ment Test Facility and Annex, the Waste Clearance Facil- For structures with radiation contamination, the demoli- ity, and the WR-1 Organic Monitoring Building. tion work is carried out by the Nuclear Facilities Decom- BEFORE AFTER missioning and Demolition Team. Planning is extensive Treatment Centre, the Radioisotope Research and De- and involves assessing a facility or structure, describing, velopment Complex, the Accelerator Building, and the or characterizing its radioactive content, and then devel- Medical Biophysics Building. oping a detailed plan to decontaminate where possible, dismantle, and then safely store the pieces and debris All the plans must be approved by the Canadian Nuclear until the Government of Canada has approved a method Safety Commission – Canada’s nuclear regulator – before for safe disposal. Team members must examine and as- any actual work can get underway. sess every crawl space, drain, fume hood and ventilation system. Even the surrounding land is included. In some cases, the facility poses complex challenges, as workers could be dealing with more than radioactive contamination. For example, the Medical Biophysics Building required a Hazmat Remediation Plan for type 3 asbestos, lead, and PCBs as well. And the team is still trying to devise a plan to undertake type 3 asbestos re- mediation of mastic tar on concrete – a sticky puzzle that requires the expertise of CNL’s Industrial Hygienist. In the past few months, the team has made progress on plans for decommissioning the Active Liquid Waste WASTE MANAGEMENT AT WHITESHELL How CNL manages the waste that is produced through decommissioning When the Building and Lands Decommissioning Team and Project in its 20-year waste plan and is now discussing the the Nuclear Facilities Decommissioning and Demolition possibility of accepting Whiteshell’s non-radiological, non- Team undertake a demolition project, the product is waste, hazardous demolition waste. and there is lots of it. The teams carefully separate materi- als according to contamination, and whether or not it can In January 2020, the town met with Whiteshell’s Waste be recycled. Management team to discuss a contract for handling office waste, and it’s hoped a contract will be in place in the com- Waste that has low-level and intermediate-level radioac- ing months. tive contamination is packaged and then shipped to Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario for temporary storage until a permanent facility has been approved and built.