NNSA-LA Field Office Manager Ted Wyka

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Operations are moving steadily along at the NNSA Los Alamos Field Office, Manager Ted Wyka told County Council during a Sept. 16 work session.

In his presentation, Wyka touched on several areas including the laboratory’s budget, the electric coordination agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and County’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU), the Rendija Canyon land transfer and the efforts to improve driving behaviors on laboratory property.

Regarding laboratory funding, Wyka said it remains steady with a slight upward trajectory with the passage of the budget reconciliation process.

“As we approach the end of the fiscal year, we remain hopeful that a budget will be reached, but I am confident that the lab can weather any temporary budget disruptions should one occur,” he said.

Looking forward, Wyka said he believes the lab will be in a hiring mode. It appears it will replace its annual attrition, which is roughly 900 staff, along with some modest hiring. He also reported that the NNSA Field Office remains in a hiring freeze. Additionally, the field office lost nine people to the deferred resignation program.

Touching on construction projects, Wyka said, “Not surprisingly construction in national security activities will again be at the main areas where programmatic dollars will be spent and budget increases will occur. I also want to continue the good news front in terms of continued operational improvements.

“I continue to be encouraged with traffic safety improvements both internally and externally to the site,” he added. “While I recognize that NNSA and the lab do not make or enforce the traffic safety laws in New Mexico, I see progress. Speeding appears to be getting better, based on our internal telemetry data, our car and van pool usage is up, taking more cars off the road, and the bus ridership is steadily increasing. In addition, many of you would have noticed the repaving happening on the truck route right now … improving the road surface will enhance safety. I am optimistic the work will be completed in the next three to six weeks, depending on weather.”

Wyka also provided an update on the new electric coordination agreement between DOE and the County. The agreement is with the NNSA procurement acquisition services in Albuquerque for review. The field office and DPU staff met with procurement staff to go over questions about the contract. The current agreement was extended for six months and expires Dec. 31.

Work also is progressing with the Rendija Canyon land transfer, he said. The field office is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop an interagency agreement to estimate the cost of additional clearance of unexploded ordnance in areas specified by the County. Wyka said the cost estimate will include a survey to the depth of 4 feet or greater where utilities are buried on approximately 28 acres of Rendija Canyon that are associated with the proposed recreational vehicle park as well as the utility and road rights-a-way. NNSA is in the process of scoping this work with an interagency agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Wyka’s report also touched on the site-wide environmental impact statement (SWEIS) to assess impacts of future operations across the lab.

“The purpose of the new SWEIS is to analyze the environmental impacts of the potential new or expanded future operational activities and programs that have not been previously analyzed through the national environment process,” he said.

The NNSA also is completing internal reviews of the analysis and preparing to publish the final SWEIS in November.

“We issued a finding of no significant impact to our environmental assessment of the lab’s electrical power capacity upgrade project (EPCU) …,” Wyka added.

The NNSA executed a memorandum agreement with DOE, NNSA, and state historical preservation office, the advisory council on historical preservation and the Santa Fe National Forest for the EPCU, he said. It involved coordination with the Pueblos and includes mitigation of agricultural impacts. The project transitions into the design and construction phase in 2026 for the new transmission line. The infrastructure updates are scheduled to begin this fall.

Regarding the legacy waste shipments, Wyka said that reducing the laboratory’s waste inventory remains a high priority for the state and the NNSA Field Office. He reported that 76 transuranic waste shipments are projected to be conducted this fiscal year. So far, more than 3,000 cubic metrics of chemical and hazardous material have been shipped off the hill.

A few other topics featured in his presentation were:

• The cooperative agreement between the Los Alamos Fire Department and DOE, which Wyka said remains strong.
• The depressurization process of four waste containers; Wyka said the process was going “smoothly.”
• Traffic enforcement work; Wyka said the laboratory is working with the Los Alamos Police Department to install speed cameras.