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Title: How the Lean Management System is Working on a Closure Project - 13242

Abstract

Washington Closure Hanford, LLC (WCH) manages the River Corridor Closure Project (RCCP), a 10-year contract, in which WCH will clean up 220 mi{sup 2} of contaminated land at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. Strategic planning sessions in 2009 identified key performance areas that were essential to closure and in which focused change could result in dramatic performance improvement. Lean Management Systems (Lean) was selected as the methodology to achieve the desired results. The Lean Process is built upon the fundamentals of the power of respect for people and the practice of continuous process improvement. Lean uses week-long, focused sessions that teach a selected team the techniques to recognize waste within their own work processes, propose potential solutions, and then conduct experiments during the week to test their solutions. In 2011, the Lean process was implemented in the Waste Operations organization. From there it was expanded to closure documents, field remediation, and decommissioning and demolition. WCH identified the following Lean focus areas: 1) closure document processes that required extensive internal preparation, and lengthy external review and approval cycles; 2) allocation of limited transportation and waste disposal resources to meet aggressive remediation schedules; 3) effective start-of-the-day routines in field operations; 4)more » improved excavation and load-out processes; and 5) approaches to strengthen safety culture and support disciplined operations. Since the introduction of Lean, RCCP has realized many successes and also gained some unexpected benefits. (authors)« less

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Washington Closure Hanford, 2620 Fermi, Richland, Washington, 99354 (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
22224993
Report Number(s):
INIS-US-13-WM-13242
TRN: US14V0443045948
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: WM2013: Waste Management Conference: International collaboration and continuous improvement, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; ALLOCATIONS; CLOSURES; CONTRACTS; DECOMMISSIONING; DEMOLITION; REMEDIAL ACTION; RICHLAND; SAFETY CULTURE; WASTE DISPOSAL; WASTES

Citation Formats

Mowery, Carol. How the Lean Management System is Working on a Closure Project - 13242. United States: N. p., 2013. Web.
Mowery, Carol. How the Lean Management System is Working on a Closure Project - 13242. United States.
Mowery, Carol. 2013. "How the Lean Management System is Working on a Closure Project - 13242". United States.
@article{osti_22224993,
title = {How the Lean Management System is Working on a Closure Project - 13242},
author = {Mowery, Carol},
abstractNote = {Washington Closure Hanford, LLC (WCH) manages the River Corridor Closure Project (RCCP), a 10-year contract, in which WCH will clean up 220 mi{sup 2} of contaminated land at the Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. Strategic planning sessions in 2009 identified key performance areas that were essential to closure and in which focused change could result in dramatic performance improvement. Lean Management Systems (Lean) was selected as the methodology to achieve the desired results. The Lean Process is built upon the fundamentals of the power of respect for people and the practice of continuous process improvement. Lean uses week-long, focused sessions that teach a selected team the techniques to recognize waste within their own work processes, propose potential solutions, and then conduct experiments during the week to test their solutions. In 2011, the Lean process was implemented in the Waste Operations organization. From there it was expanded to closure documents, field remediation, and decommissioning and demolition. WCH identified the following Lean focus areas: 1) closure document processes that required extensive internal preparation, and lengthy external review and approval cycles; 2) allocation of limited transportation and waste disposal resources to meet aggressive remediation schedules; 3) effective start-of-the-day routines in field operations; 4) improved excavation and load-out processes; and 5) approaches to strengthen safety culture and support disciplined operations. Since the introduction of Lean, RCCP has realized many successes and also gained some unexpected benefits. (authors)},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22224993}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}

Conference:
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