Waste and Transportation Oversight Sr. Specialist

About this role

Argonne National Laboratory seeks a  Waste and Transportation Sr. Specialist to provide senior-level, independent technical leadership, governance, and assurance for the Laboratory’s Waste Management Program (WMP) and associated on-site and off-site waste transportation activities.

Operating from the Worker Safety and Environment Division within the ESH Directorate, this position leads oversight regulatory compliance, and performance of the full lifecycle of hazardous, radioactive, mixed, Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), and Transuranic (TRU) wastes—from planning, generation, processing, storage, characterization, packaging, on-site transportation, and final disposition. The Sr. Specialist reviews regulations, waste acceptance criteria, procedures and directives to develop clear oversight priorities, while serving as a mentor.

This position works in concert with the ESH, Radiological Operations, Facilities, the Transportation Safety Program Manager, Nuclear, Waste, Site Services (NWS) Division and external stakeholders (e.g., Department of Energy-Argonne Site Office (DOE-ASO), Illinois Environmental Protection Act (IEPA/EPA), Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Carlsbad Field Office (WIPP-CBFO), and commercial treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) to strengthen technical rigor, identify program weaknesses and collaboratively develop improvements that drive continuous improvement, and ensure safe, compliant, and efficient, full service waste operations.

Key Responsibilities

Program Governance and Technical Leadership • Lead independent oversight of the Waste Management Program and related transfer and transportation activities to ensure compliance with DOE Orders, federal and state regulations, contractual requirements, and Laboratory policies. • Set technical expectations and priorities for waste, transfer and transportation oversight, coordinate oversight scopes and schedules. • Lead periodic reviews of waste and transportation program documents ensuring required review cadences and provide recommended changes for compliance with changes to regulations and DOE requirements.

Independent Assurance • Lead the planning and execution of independent assessments, surveillances, and readiness reviews of: • Waste characterization, accepted knowledge/process knowledge (AK/PK), sampling and analysis, data quality and validation. • Waste processing, treatment, and packaging.        • Waste storage, inventory control, and data integrity in waste management systems. • Waste shipping compliance, carrier qualification, and transportation operations.

• Ensure issues are properly documented, coordinate, perform, assess causal analyses, and verify effectiveness and completion of corrective actions to closure in institutional corrective action programs, including effectiveness reviews. • Champion application of Nuclear Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility applications (NQA‑1) and DOE O 414.1D quality assurance principles, as applicable, in oversight activities; mentor other staff in Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) rigor and assessment techniques.

Facility and Transportation Compliance • Provide lead oversight of waste-related activities in nuclear and radiological facilities for compliance with safety basis requirements (e.g., Documented Safety Analysis (DSA), Technical Safety Requirements (TSRs), Specific Administrative Controls (SACs), Limiting Condition for Operation (LCOs)) and movement controls. • Perform oversight activities to ensure compliance to DOE transportation requirements (e.g., DOE O 460.1D/460.2A, transportation safety documents and TSRs) for on-site transfers and off-site shipments. • Lead technical oversight of compliance with DOT/Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regulations (49 CFR) related to hazardous materials classification, packaging, marking, labeling, placarding, shipping papers, emergency response information, and hazmat security planning. • Oversee and guide reviews of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)/TSCA shipping requirements (manifests, e‑Manifest, Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) notifications, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) shipments) and applicable federal and state disposition and transportation requirements. • Exercise stop-work authority when conditions jeopardize nuclear safety, worker safety, or regulatory compliance.

Regulatory Compliance, Waste Certification, and Disposition • Provide senior-level assessment of program conformance with applicable DOE Orders; 10 CFR (e.g., 830,835, 850, 851); 40 CFR (RCRA, TSCA, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and related environmental rules); 49 CFR; 29 CFR 1910; and Illinois Administrative Code Title 35. • Oversee monitoring of accumulation limits, container storage conditions, inspection findings, and housekeeping standards in waste storage areas; ensure timely and effective resolution of nonconformance’s. • Lead technical oversight for waste certification activities to ensure compliance with applicable waste acceptance criteria (e.g., NNSS Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), commercial TSDF WACs). • Provide oversight of complex or high-risk waste profiles, technical basis documents, isotopic distributions, hazardous constituents, and WAC conformance prior to certification or shipment to ensure compliance with applicable requirements. • Provide strategic input, as requested, on disposition pathways and exemptions/variances to optimize safety, compliance, and life-cycle cost.

Worker Safety, Special Hazards, and Training • Lead oversight of High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter procurement and replacement activities in accordance with applicable DOE standards and Laboratory processes. • As requested, provide or contribute to development of targeted training, lessons learned, required reading, and guidance materials to elevate technical rigor and compliance culture across generato

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