1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,480 We all have responsibilities in light of that, but in the end 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,800 these are complex problems. These are not stuff you wake up 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,360 in the morning and say I can take care of 56,000,000 gallons 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,400 of high level radioactive liquid waste. 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:15,760 So you have to understand that it does take collaboration and 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,600 it takes a lot of really talented people with a lot of 7 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,920 lot of different perspectives. Welcome to the Environmental 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,880 Transformation Podcast, where we bring you interviews with 9 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,560 industry leaders, climate champions, sustainability 10 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,960 practitioners, EHS and hazmat professionals making an 11 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:31,520 impacting their businesses today. 12 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,800 Each leader solving complex challenges and delivering 13 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,840 solutions within their areas of expertise. 14 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:40,280 I'm your host, Sean Grady, and thanks for joining us today. 15 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,040 Before we jump in, make sure to follow us on your devices and 16 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,520 visit my website at www.seankgrady.com and sign up 17 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,960 for our newsletter and e-mail announcements. 18 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,560 Now let's get started. Welcome to the Environmental 19 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,240 Transformation Podcast. I'm your host, Sean Grady, and 20 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:01,240 today's guest is Steve Moore. Steve, the President and CEO of 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,599 Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services Group. 22 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,680 Steve, welcome to the show. Thank you on it is a mouthful. 23 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,800 It's not the easiest thing in the world to say, but I'm really 24 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:12,400 happy to be here. We've worked together for a 25 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,400 little while. This gives us an opportunity to 26 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,560 maybe die in a little Prince. The work that the Federal 27 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,920 Services Group does, in particular with our primary 28 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,000 client, the Department of Energy, that's heavily focused 29 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,200 on nuclear waste, which I think is a topic that your listeners 30 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,720 bullhenge boy, but it's also your taxpayer dollars in action. 31 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,640 So keep that in mind when we talk about how much money gets 32 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,400 spent. Absolutely. 33 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:36,880 A little painful. No, this is going to be a good 34 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,200 conversation. Excited to talk with you today. 35 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,920 So, Steve, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself, how 36 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,680 you got started in the business and, you know, how you became 37 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,640 the president, CEO of Veolia's, you know, Nuclear Solutions 38 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,040 Federal Services Group. Very good. 39 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,280 So, yeah. So my background, I've got a 40 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,120 chemistry undergrad. I'm an attorney kind of worked 41 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,200 through a lot of the traditional government sites that people 42 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,080 think of when they think of the Department of Energy. 43 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,160 I spent a lot of time at the portable side, the the where 44 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,400 they enriched uranium in Ohio built the relationship with the 45 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,520 different companies and there's a lot of players that get 46 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,280 involved in in this business. So over time I kind of grew into 47 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,080 I work with Lockheed Martin at the time and and got advanced my 48 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,200 career through there, started to work with a small business, had 49 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,000 an opportunity to become an owner of a small business when a 50 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,520 gentleman retired. So I had a business that that I 51 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:33,200 grew pretty significantly in, in kind of 2006 to 2015. 52 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,760 So and we continue to grow. We had an opportunity to really 53 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,200 look at the ways that we could give more people opportunities 54 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,280 as we continue to serve this primary client and we reached a 55 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,040 point where growth was really organically challenging. 56 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,320 So we decided let's look for an acquisition and long, Long story 57 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,520 short with a lot of different offers and opportunities. 58 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,800 I, I got connected with Veolia, which is, you know, as you know, 59 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,240 one of the largest environmental companies in the world sold to 60 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,440 them in 2018. Part of that process was then 61 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,360 used to create their business here in the US, in particular 62 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,400 for the government, U.S. government. 63 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:13,560 There's a lot of complexities when you're a foreign owned 64 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,840 company and how you try to work for the US government. 65 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,600 We were able to do that through my acquisition and then I stuck 66 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,640 on and help them continue to grow and have been working 67 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:25,000 through that process ever since and it's been a lot of fun. 68 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,640 Tell us, Steve, if you could a little bit more about the waste 69 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,320 symposia. We're here in in Arizona. 70 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,400 This is a big conference, probably 1 of the largest 71 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,040 conferences I've been to. And to be quite frankly, I've 72 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,040 never been to a conference with so many DOE contractors and 73 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,640 service providers that are all focused on the nuclear yeah, 74 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,320 business. Yeah, this is kind of their, I 75 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,920 think they refer to it as their Super Bowl, if you will. 76 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,440 But so the Department of Energy has a conference in in Phoenix 77 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,000 once a year. And what we really are focused 78 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,600 on, a lot of people don't realize is, you know, the US 79 00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:59,400 government, through the Department of Energy's 80 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,520 Environmental Management Group, they spend about $8 billion a 81 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,200 year cleaning up. Really it's, you know, for lack 82 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,080 of a better term, it really is the Manhattan Project. 83 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,280 So I tell people, if you've seen the movie Oppenheimer, you 84 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:16,000 understand our places like Oak Ridge, TN, Los Alamos, NM, 85 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,360 right, Hanford, Washington, places where we did a lot of the 86 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,680 research, rather a lot of the testing and everything 87 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,920 associated with that, enriching the uranium, enriching the 88 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,360 plutonium, and the things necessary to make that happen. 89 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,280 So the government, you know, was all full steam ahead and and 90 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280 making sure that we had the what we needed to make that work. 91 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,080 But the reality is there, there's a lot of work to do to 92 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,840 clean all that up. So it remains one of the largest 93 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,320 environmental liabilities that's U.S. government owns. 94 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,760 This is the symposium once a year, where we all get together 95 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:49,640 and discuss new technologies, new funding profiles, new things 96 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,200 that are happening throughout the complex. 97 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,440 So when you're at this conference, do you have 98 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,600 opportunities to interact with, say, the DOE directly? 99 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:58,400 That's that's the real advantage of this. 100 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,440 So there's a couple things that this is both a, a technical 101 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,720 conference where there's papers and, and lots of presentations 102 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,720 on some of the unique challenges of if they're waste, how it's 103 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,040 packaged, how it's handled, how it's stored, how it's disposed 104 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,240 of. But then there's also a lot of 105 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:16,640 interaction from the department themselves. 106 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,880 They're kind of listing their priorities as you would expect 107 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,280 with new administrations with. Different. 108 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,280 Things that that are important to different, different parts of 109 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,120 the government, the opportunity for them to be here kind of say 110 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,960 here, here's my top five things for this year, here's what we're 111 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,480 worried about on the funding side. 112 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:35,000 So it gives us that real collaboration opportunity. 113 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,840 And and you just, you know, when you get a concentration of 114 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:40,480 people together one time, it's you got to take advantage of 115 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:42,000 that because it's just, we're all busy. 116 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:44,680 Absolutely it doesn't happen. Well, so why is this so 117 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,040 important for BNSFS to be here here? 118 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,400 And what do you plan to accomplish by coming to this 119 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,560 event every year? Well, I think part of it too is 120 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,160 there's a lot of this industry is pretty mature. 121 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,040 There are a lot of companies that that are larger AE firms 122 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,040 and different things that are really focused on helping solve 123 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,360 this problem for the government. So for us in particular, this 124 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,280 gives us an opportunity obviously here with a client, 125 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,920 but also to work with our notice others to say, you know, develop 126 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,920 those solutions, spend time with with people in more of a 127 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,440 networking environment where we can really look at specific 128 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,120 problems and specific ways to try to solve those. 129 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,680 Lots of follow up meetings and stuff come from this. 130 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,080 But anytime you get an opportunity to get a bunch of, 131 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,520 you know, really talented people together, you take advantage of 132 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,040 it. And for us, we're really trying 133 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,160 to hear or listen to the client, but at the same time, you know, 134 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,080 engage with our partners and others to figure out what's the 135 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,720 right priority for us. So you mentioned that there's 136 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,080 opportunities to sit through trainings, education, but talk a 137 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,720 little bit about some maybe maybe the opportunities where 138 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:50,200 our people with B and SFS has to present to the audience about 139 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,000 what their key experiences are. And so maybe technologies that 140 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,360 we offer talk A. Little bit about that. 141 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,280 So I mean we do a lot of things. Again the old is one of the 142 00:06:58,280 --> 00:07:00,440 largest environmental companies in the world. 143 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,840 So we have a lot of depth and breadth of capabilities. 144 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,120 Not all of those obviously are focused on on nuclear waste, but 145 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:12,640 in reality, a lot of the same type of waste issues that that 146 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,920 people have rather it's landfill operations or it's treatment 147 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,880 technologies for stabilizing hazardous ways. 148 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,040 The technologies are are still applicable to what what we do in 149 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,120 the nuclear world with this just it also happens to be 150 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,480 radioactive. So for us, we've got folks that 151 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,480 are giving presentations on, you know, everything from how 152 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,120 efficient ways of managing landfills and the leach aid and 153 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,880 everything associated with that to, you know, vitrification 154 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,120 technologies that can turn a, a chunk of, of radioactive waste 155 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:41,640 into a nice little piece of glass. 156 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:43,160 We just, we're going to talk about that. 157 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,040 We are, we're not going to get that paper weight, not good. 158 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,200 And then we also do a lot of things with, you know, as you, 159 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,320 you would understand from radioactivity, there's a lot of 160 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,440 robotics associated with that remote handle things where yeah, 161 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,800 you simply can't get that close to certain materials without, 162 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,800 you know, exposing people to health issues, issues that that 163 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,920 that are not necessary. So it's kind of the full 164 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,600 portfolio for us. And again, we can talk about it 165 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,720 in in technical sessions, but then we can also meet with the 166 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,160 client and and be proactive on what's the next channel. 167 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,240 Well, I think it's a great opportunity to demonstrate our 168 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,040 thought leadership and our expertise to the industry 169 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,280 because, you know, what better way to talk about what we do 170 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,400 than present in front of a lot of people, right? 171 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,440 And, and that's a huge asset to our company. 172 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,320 One of the things I was hoping to maybe get from you is, you 173 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,120 know, for the audience, what type of capabilities 174 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,960 specifically are, you know, the BNSF group focused on and, and 175 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,159 how do they deliver that? Because I think there's, you 176 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:48,800 know, a little some maybe know exactly how or what you guys 177 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:50,920 offer as a service. So talk about that group. 178 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,640 So we primarily focus focus on on on waste management 179 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,920 activities and you know that that kind of expertise. 180 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,560 So if we have the full gamut of whether it's characterizing the 181 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:05,080 waste, it's packaging, transporting and then we have 182 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,680 technologies we partnered with some. 183 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,160 There are two commercial radioactive waste disposal 184 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,320 facilities in the US Most of the actual disposal facilities for 185 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,800 nuclear material in the US are owned by the government. 186 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,720 So OK, we operate some of those facilities for them. 187 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,120 We currently operate the two largest radioactive waste 188 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,600 landfills that the government owns. 1 is in Hanford, 189 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,880 Washington. The other is in Portsmouth. 190 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,920 OH, that we're actually still constructing part of it. 191 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,360 So we really have that kind of expertise. 192 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:37,120 And as you know, deep in that's, yeah. 193 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,800 And, you know, in your world, we, you know, Veolia North 194 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,560 America does a lot of hazardous waste work. 195 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,320 They operate a lot of landfills. Yep. 196 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,880 So one of the things that we're really doing is we're partnering 197 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,840 with some of the other components of Veolia North 198 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,200 America and the hazardous waste group in particular will bring 199 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,000 in their, you know, subject matter expertise on landfill 200 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,360 operations in. We're sending our folks out. 201 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,320 And it really is, it's a fresh set of eyes and it's part of our 202 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,720 commitment to the client where we're, we're being it. 203 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,360 We'll bring in best practices and there's a lot of stereotypes 204 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,760 about people doing work with the government and people don't work 205 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,600 in a commercial environment. So what we really want to do is 206 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,320 blend that together and, and take, take the best from both. 207 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,360 So that that's really what we're focused on is, is kind of that 208 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,240 those capabilities to kind of solve some of those unique 209 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,360 challenges around waste. Well, I tell you, you know, the 210 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,920 short period time I've been here, the capabilities that we 211 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,120 offer is a full service that's like 1 Veolia concept. 212 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,920 Right where it really is. Where we have water treatment 213 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:34,360 capabilities, well, obviously we have our hazardous waste 214 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,040 treatment capabilities. Whether we have, you know, we 215 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,560 have 3 incinerators, we have a hazardous waste lamp. 216 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,960 Oh, we've got 4 fuel building facilities for alternative 217 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,880 hazardous waste fuels and other, you know, by products for 218 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:49,200 solvent recovery and things like that. 219 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,480 There's so many great things we do, electronic waste recycling. 220 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,040 Marrying those technologies and capabilities to what you guys do 221 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,320 in the DOE space is a game changer when you think of the 222 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,760 full package of federal services that we can offer any of our 223 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,000 clients in the DOE space. And I think that's a powerful 224 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,200 statement to anybody who listens to what we can do and get 225 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,080 partnered for so. I think it's important to what 226 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:14,800 we're seeing with this client in particular. 227 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,920 So obviously we're focused on the environmental stewardship 228 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,320 and all the things that are necessary to be the responsible 229 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,920 stakeholder that we should be. But what we're seeing from this 230 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,080 client is, is a big focus on taking these assets, the federal 231 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,720 facilities and kind of revitalizing them there. 232 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,240 There's a big initiative from this administration rather it's 233 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,920 a data center or it's additional energy capacity through advanced 234 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,840 reactors or even through solar field. 235 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,760 And I think again, to your point about 1 Veolia, we can you know, 236 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,880 even RSIB group when it comes to commissioning new data centers. 237 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,000 What we're seeing from this client is that, that growth 238 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,120 opportunity where they're just, and hey, not only do we want 239 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,600 this stuff cleaned up responsibly, but we're not just 240 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,440 going to walk away from it. We, we want to take these assets 241 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,480 that we own and we want to turn them into the next generation 242 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,480 of, of, of productivity for. And right now the focus is 243 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,200 certainly on data centers and whether it's our our water tech 244 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,920 group or or SIB group, there's certainly opportunities for us 245 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,880 to bring that one solution to to the client. 246 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,160 So when you're here, do you hear updates on, you know, the 247 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,840 funding, Yeah, projects from the the DOE and how that's going to 248 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,640 happen as part of their priorities? 249 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,240 So one of my challenges with communications in in Beolia or 250 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,240 or really with our staff or anything else is the never 251 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,760 ending saga of government may shut down government may 252 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,080 partially shut down government may open government may have a 253 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,800 budget may not. And it's, it's we, we joke about 254 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,680 it, but it's the same time it is challenging and, and I think 255 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:54,280 anybody who would appreciate large projects realize that 256 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,720 starts and stops and fluctuations funding create 257 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,960 their, you know, their own set of unique challenges. 258 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,960 So for us, what we try to do obviously is, is as be as 259 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,320 flexible as we can for our clients and see that, you know, 260 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:09,960 that there's the pluses and minuses. 261 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,200 Because it's not uncommon at the end of a fiscal year to have a 262 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,680 surge where there was some planning work that didn't 263 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,720 necessarily happen. And now the client comes, I've 264 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,040 got some stuff here. So you know, we like to have 265 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,120 stuff on the shelf and say, OK, here's 1-2 or three, right, if 266 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:26,400 you feel like that's something you can do. 267 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,360 So for us it really is about, I know Bob Capitol talks about 268 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,400 being nimble, agile, right. And I think that's very much 269 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,640 what is needed from client like this. 270 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,560 And it's just a function of the government and it has its own 271 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,600 set of challenges. Rather, you're trying to get in 272 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,760 the line of TSA or, or you're trying to get rid of some 273 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,520 nuclear waste, Eileen. It's still a challenge. 274 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,400 Hello ET Nation, I want to thank you for listening to the 275 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:51,920 podcast. If you're enjoying the 276 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,800 interviews we bring you, consider supporting the program 277 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,760 by visiting my website at seankgrady.com and buy me a cup 278 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:00,880 of coffee. Proceeds will go towards helping 279 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,280 me continue producing timely content and offset production 280 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,200 costs. I'd also like to take a moment 281 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,720 and recognize a few of our sponsors of the show who have 282 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,760 been amazing partners and our ET Nation legends. 283 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,960 If you're looking for a drilling and environmental contracting 284 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,200 firm to help you delineate the extended contamination at your 285 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,440 site, then look no further than Cascade Environmental. 286 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:26,840 Cascade has over 37 offices across the country and offers a 287 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,000 huge range of environmental and geotechnical drilling, site 288 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,680 characterization, and remediation services. 289 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,240 With their huge fleet of equipment nationwide coverage, 290 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,200 Cascade is a great choice to support your environmental and 291 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,080 infrastructure needs. 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Of your waste management 320 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,240 processes and optimize your business. 321 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,840 Visit wastelink.com to schedule a demo today. 322 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,840 When you when you look across the landscape of DOE and their 323 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,960 types of projects, are there any particular locations or, or 324 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,840 projects that are like that is like the big one? 325 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,760 You know, that is like a major going to be here for a long time 326 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,040 and there's so many opportunities for so many 327 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,480 players to support the the remediation challenges. 328 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:48,480 Which ones maybe stick out in your mind? 329 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,320 So the one that's the biggest of the environmental liabilities 330 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,320 within the CM program is and again it's a lot of people don't 331 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,440 realize it, but from again the Manhattan Project and kind of 332 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,960 end in the Cold War, there's 56,000,000 gallons of liquid 333 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,760 radioactive high level waste stored at Hanford, Washington in 334 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,200 above ground storage tank. 56. Million 56,000,000 gallons. 335 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,119 It remains the single largest liability within the DOE 336 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,920 complex, the current life cycle baseline projection, which is, 337 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,520 you know, roughly around the end of the century, which is kind of 338 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,800 code for us who've been in the business long time to say that's 339 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:26,319 code for we really don't have any idea. 340 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,520 But in, in all seriousness, it, it's a real issue. 341 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,160 We're very much involved right now with, with that client and 342 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,080 not to, you know, bore people with too much technical detail, 343 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,400 but there's, there's grappling technology, there's, you know, 344 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,960 liquid separation technologies there. 345 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,560 There's a big investment that the government has made with a, 346 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,000 a waste treatment plant at Hanford that's been 347 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,840 controversial because it has been behind schedule and over 348 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,000 budget. So we're looking at, we actually 349 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,720 just responded to a request for proposal to the client to 350 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:02,480 provide some alternative routing technologies to help again, work 351 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,320 away that in all seriousness, that's not gonna go away 352 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,080 overnight. So it is a matter of kind of an 353 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,680 all approach to how we can as a community of contractors work 354 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,600 that down. But that's the biggest single 355 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,480 liability that they have out there, right? 356 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,520 Now, so does the DOE have an end game strategy for the final 357 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,360 disposition of a lot of this nuclear waste that's out there? 358 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:29,160 I mean, Yucca Mountain was Swan there for a while, but now is 359 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,760 there other alternatives that they're evaluating that's being 360 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,480 hey, we're going to go this route or to some others, I mean, 361 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,880 is there? So, so, so it's probably not as 362 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,200 concrete as some people would like it to be, but this 363 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,840 administration came out a few months ago with a request for 364 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,240 information on a concept of basically, and I'll might mess 365 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,200 up the terminology. It's kind of energy campuses or 366 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,400 innovation campuses, or they're really looking at these, again, 367 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,280 federal assets, these facilities and they're looking at a variety 368 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,960 of different additional support services, consolidated waste 369 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,880 storage spent for recycling. And then put as you make, you 370 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,840 know, you, you recycle as much as you can. 371 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,960 Then you get to the point of where are we are looking at 372 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,560 repository, the repository disposal. 373 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,680 And that may be part of the equation too. 374 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,600 It's a real issue. Or, you know, Finland is the 375 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,160 host country here this year. We always sponsor a, a, a 376 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,240 country to present and they are gonna go operational with their 377 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:34,200 the repository for storage, for storage later this year. 378 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,120 Really. So it's, it's not A and not the 379 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,440 again, sound political, but it's not a it's really not a 380 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,400 technical issue. It is a it is, you know, there's 381 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,640 gotta be willing communities and there's gotta be that kind of 382 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,960 stakeholder involvement for people to understand, you know, 383 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,680 this is not something that's that's going to go away tomorrow 384 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,520 if you're committing to do that. But I think the technology is 385 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:57,320 there. I know the technology is there 386 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,280 to do it responsibly, but I think that's kind of the next 387 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:01,400 step. I know this current 388 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,400 administration has aspirations for that. 389 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,920 But to answer your your other question just a little bit. 390 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,480 So most of the sites individually, they do try to 391 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,920 work a lot with the stakeholders to understand. 392 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,640 Do you want this to become? In the Greenfield, do you want 393 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,960 this to become right a new nuclear power plant do you want 394 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,320 you know and really looking at the assets in the context of the 395 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,520 communities cuz. They're like huge brow builds 396 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,400 essentially, but much more complex. 397 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,280 Much more complex, you know, from an operation standpoint, 398 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,680 they're also huge employers and Oh yeah, right. 399 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:35,720 Community. Grow up around. 400 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,480 Correct. So what's the right answer for 401 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,200 each one? It's you know, it's. 402 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,600 It could be different. Wow, yeah, I can imagine. 403 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,400 I mean, the complexity of trying to address all of these 404 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,760 concerns, it's not easy, but you know, I think there are a lot of 405 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:52,280 really smart engineers and scientists that are here working 406 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,920 to all really pull the same direction to help DOE solve 407 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,600 these problems. When you're here, you know how 408 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:03,880 important it is for us as a company and you to develop 409 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:08,480 partnerships with others that can deliver the full service of 410 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,200 maybe a particular scope because. 411 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,800 We may be limited. In one aspect of our business, 412 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,280 but you know to fulfill a full scope, we need a partner, 413 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,120 correct. What is, how important is that 414 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:20,720 for you and and what's our strategy around that? 415 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,040 So I have. Not, I have not copyrighted 416 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,600 this, but there's a term we all say in this industry called 417 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,240 competimates, competimates. So we certainly have 418 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,360 opportunities to your point where our technologies and 419 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:36,520 services align with another company's capabilities to solve 420 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:39,000 this solution and we partner and we do that. 421 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,680 There are other times when you know we can do this and they can 422 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,480 do this and we compete. But I think this industry has 423 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,000 matured over the years to where the committed competitive a 424 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,360 concept it really is true. We we all understand and we all 425 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:54,040 have, most of us are publicly traded companies and we all have 426 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,120 responsibilities in light of that. 427 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,800 But in the end, these are complex problems. 428 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,800 These are not stuff you wake up in the morning and say I can 429 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,880 take care of 56,000,000 gallons of high level radioactive liquid 430 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:06,800 waste, right. Yeah. 431 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,720 So, so you have to understand that it does take collaboration 432 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,720 and it takes a lot of really talented people with a lot of a 433 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,640 lot of different perspectives. Yeah, I just, yeah, I'm just, my 434 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,520 mind's still kind of reeling on 56,000,000 gallons of, you know. 435 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,160 Or, And remember, it's your tax dollars that are going to 436 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,880 actually make that go away. So yeah. 437 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,480 When come April 15th, realize what you're what what what, what 438 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,000 you're signing up for there? Yeah, actually, I mean, yes, 439 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,280 it's kind of no different than, you know, in the in the 440 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:36,360 hazardous waste business. Or. 441 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:40,640 Solid waste business, each company can't really deliver all 442 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,600 the services. They can deliver a lot of the 443 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,160 services. And you know, we have channel 444 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,160 partners just like you guys have channel partners to do, you 445 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,400 know, deliver on service. And you know, we work together 446 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,560 to satisfy and and meet the demand of our clients. 447 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,120 And it's a great partnership when it's all working and 448 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,800 communication is good. We need good communication with 449 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,920 all our partners. And so we all know our lanes, 450 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,800 what we can do. That's real important. 451 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,760 If you could, Steve, talk a little bit about the actual 452 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,840 capabilities that Viola has in this space and the types of work 453 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,680 you're doing for the DODDOE industry because I don't think 454 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,240 you know everyone understands it completely and and so. 455 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:18,880 Be happy to. That's it. 456 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,440 This is maybe a little Segway to this. 457 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,400 So just one technology we have, we have a lot, lot of patented 458 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,320 technology. This is a vitrification 459 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:29,280 technology that really focuses on obviously radioactive waste, 460 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,960 but in particular waste that have reactive metals, sodium, 461 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,400 lithium, those kinds of things. You certainly in your hazardous 462 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,440 waste background know the challenges of of of reactive 463 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,480 metals and at the same time throw in some radioactivity and 464 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:46,800 it really does make it challenging. 465 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,600 So we have a patented technology called Geo Melt. 466 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,240 We have a couple of facilities, We have one in located at the 467 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,200 Hanford Site and we have another one with a partnership with 468 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:00,240 waste control specialist in Andrews, TX at their commercial 469 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,640 radioactive wasteland. And what this technology does is 470 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,080 it takes high level or, or low level waste that is also 471 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,120 reactive and essentially vitrifies them in the glass. 472 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,840 These are electrodes that are sacrificial. 473 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,360 And you typically see a combination of, you know, 474 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,320 there's recipes with a combination of the waste and 475 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,960 then surrogate material and then also the sand and the things to 476 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,680 make glass. And then this is typically in 477 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:32,320 the, you know, 1500° C range. It it, it's impressive, super 478 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,960 hot and you end up with a nice big, a nice glass and then with 479 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,320 that facility, then it goes to the land disposal in which it's 480 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,880 no. Longer it's encapsulated. 481 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,720 And it's the longer reactive metal it'll, it'll continue to 482 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:50,520 be radioactive of course, but the the reactive nature of the D 483 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,680 double O3 characteristic is is gone. 484 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,520 So that's an example. We're looking at this at the 485 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,680 multiple sites. We use this with waste from Oak 486 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,880 Ridge, TN with, with raised waste from the Idaho National 487 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,880 Lab right now and are really looking at it similar to my 488 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,400 earlier comments. You know, these are, these are 489 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,480 unique solution providers and for us we're looking at those 490 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,440 targeted things. The the waste, for example, 491 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,640 we're doing in Oak Ridge, it, it's the sodium shielding that 492 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:26,560 was used over 50 years ago to actually test the opportunity to 493 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,360 build a nuclear powered Airfrag. So, so again, those are the 494 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,160 things you get into and you realize there's something that's 495 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,960 been in storage for over 50 years and now all of a sudden, 496 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,960 you know, we have a safe, regulatorily compliant solution 497 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,040 for that. And let's figure out a way to 498 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,640 work that image way down. You know, I think this is such a 499 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,680 great example to showcase the technology for somebody just 500 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:56,120 coming by the booth or just curious about what is the end 501 00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:00,800 result of a GO Melt product for the listeners and and those 502 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,680 watching. I mean, this is an actual block 503 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:09,160 of I think concrete here, but inside is the hot radioactive 504 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,600 material and then it's encased completely into in a glass 505 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,800 through this melting Geo melting technology. 506 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,960 It it's pretty fascinating. I think it's really great that 507 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,920 this is a a solution that is eliminating your radioactive 508 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,440 exposure by encasing it in vitrified type container. 509 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,760 Is it safe to say though this like this is our technology, but 510 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:35,760 there are other companies doing similar, yeah. 511 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,880 There are product side delivery, yeah, a lot of it has to do 512 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,560 vitification as a technology is is a common in the hazardous 513 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,000 waste world certification using, you know, different types of 514 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,120 material to be heated up and and encapsulated. 515 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:52,200 That's what you're doing. So, yeah, the patent here really 516 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:56,400 is related to the method and this is a batch process, not a 517 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,080 closed loop process. And kind of the way we have 518 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,120 sacrificial electrodes and that approach, it's a proven 519 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:04,960 technology. It's rather robust. 520 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,760 We configure it differently depending on the size and then 521 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,280 the end state if they needed, hey, we need this it to be end 522 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,320 up in a drum, we need this to end up in a box and we have the 523 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,120 flexibility to do that. And to your point of there, I 524 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,320 got I got some engineers who could they could do 2 podcasts 525 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,640 on, on on how the well we'll. Probably talk to the We'll get 526 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,080 Rob Mitchell out here at some point. 527 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,480 They'll leave me behind pretty quick, right, right. 528 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,200 Really passionate about this technology. 529 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:36,240 No, it's, it's really great. And, and, and to see, you know, 530 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,560 kind of like the actual results in the, you know, technology 531 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,520 right here in front of you really kind of brings together 532 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,800 the whole concept. And so it was really good to 533 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,600 learn that this week for me. Yeah, as a as a. 534 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,640 Partner with you. The other nice thing we've done 535 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,760 with this to echo your point is we've taken the DOE client to 536 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,680 the facility and you know, it's the shows them and models and 537 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,040 and PowerPoints are cool, yeah, but you stand there and you see 538 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,640 you know this is how it happens and there's the end product and 539 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,680 and everything else in it. Again, the other thing I would 540 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,200 say is that was a investment that Veolia made in a facility 541 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,960 where we didn't actually have a backlog and a long term 542 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,800 contract. We saw the need, we understand 543 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,360 the long term issues of the client. 544 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,600 So we've proactively developed this facility and are now this 545 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:23,800 room where we're doing the podcast. 546 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,280 We've had half a dozen meetings this week about how we can 547 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,440 continue to to solve these challenges and problems that 548 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,240 that this technology helps. So how big can these encased, 549 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,840 you know, GMO products? I mean, how big? 550 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,760 Can they be, so, you know, there's theoretically, you know, 551 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,160 lots of different scenarios, the kind of the, the sweet spot size 552 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,640 is a 6 by 6 by 8 box. And that's kind of, that's kind 553 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,720 of what we've got set up. Our facility in Texas also has 554 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,320 the ability to have, have two units and it's rail aligned with 555 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,520 rail to where you move one box in, let it cool, move another 556 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,480 box over here and, and be able to, to configure it that way. 557 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,680 But it is a, it's a flexible technology. 558 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,800 And we're actually looking at, one of the things we're looking 559 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:10,400 at somewhat unrelated to the kind of the nuclear waste world, 560 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,040 is that there's a lot of classified shape or associated 561 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,080 with weapons programs and things in the past. 562 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,480 And, you know, what needs to happen is those shapes need to 563 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,040 be destroyed before they're disposed of. 564 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,480 And this is something that we've been in discussions with some of 565 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,120 the security people. It's kind of interesting because 566 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,320 we don't know where they are, how many they are or what they 567 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:33,920 look like. But we know they're shapes. 568 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,520 So. So we're working with the client 569 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,480 to see again, because the technology makes sense and and 570 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,680 the application for it would be again different from a 571 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,520 radioactive standpoint, but it is, it's a really cool 572 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,960 technology that can can do a lot of different things. 573 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:54,560 This is, it's, it's, it's great. You know, when, when you're here 574 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,400 and you're looking at everybody and you see all these partners 575 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,080 and there's just so much happening. 576 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,880 And then, you know, one starts to think after you start to 577 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,720 learn about what the DOA strategies are and things like 578 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,760 that for, you know, addressing their big challenges, how does 579 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:12,080 that help you formulate your growth strategy for our support 580 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,120 of the DoD or I mean DOE and and how we grow our business 581 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:17,280 throughout the US? Yeah. 582 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,360 So I think a lot of people don't necessarily realize, but you 583 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,680 know, the US government is the largest single employer in North 584 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,720 America, right? They have the most facilities, 585 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,720 the most real estate, the most fixed assets. 586 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,600 So for us what we're really wanting to do is our growth 587 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,960 strategy is really wanting to focus on how do we bring the 588 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,920 full portfolio of services of Viola North America to not just 589 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,320 the the part of energy client, but to the government because we 590 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:45,320 have that full capability. And as I mentioned earlier, you 591 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,600 know we have as being a four known company, there are certain 592 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,160 things that we have to do a little differently still for the 593 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,920 US government. We can do classified work, we 594 00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:58,320 have clearances, we have those kinds of things. 595 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,640 And in order to do that, what we want to do is, is align 596 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,920 ourselves with the government in general because of the growth 597 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,080 opportunity there. And like I said earlier, bring 598 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,000 the full capabilities of Veolia North America to the client. 599 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,200 Some things are going to make more sense for the Department of 600 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,560 Defense, some of them make more sense for maybe NASA or some 601 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,680 combination. But we really believe we've only 602 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,840 scratched the surface on what we as a as Veolia can do with one 603 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:29,360 Veolia with the largest employer in North America. 604 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,280 Well, I think it's really it's powerful statement from our 605 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,120 company that really wants to focus on the growth of our 606 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,640 federal business. You know, you mentioned some of 607 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,040 the things that you guys are doing like you know, you're a 608 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,840 mitigated entity within our own company so that we can actually 609 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,720 comply with all the FAR requirements and the CMCACMMC, 610 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,480 you know, cyber security requirements and cost accounting 611 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,440 and things like that. And us as a company can work 612 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,600 with you. I mean us meeting our 613 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:58,880 environment or has waste business can work with the 614 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:00,960 federal business under the same umbrella. 615 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,920 Yep. That's a that's key because now 616 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,240 we have the flexibility to really deliver that full one, 617 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:10,240 the only approach and so can our water business and so can yeah, 618 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,520 I mean it's, it's really, it's really a great opportunity. 619 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,960 And I think too when you look at bring up you look the 620 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,280 initiatives that that are so important to Paris and as we 621 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:20,800 continue to move forward is right. 622 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,920 Again, this is a bit of an untapped market in that sense, 623 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,960 right, That the US government market is, is, I used to joke 624 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,480 with people, it's the, it, it's in your 4-O1K, It's, it's the 625 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,400 stable growth fund, right? It doesn't get you jumping out 626 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,600 of bed in the morning, but it helps you sleep a little better 627 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,760 at night, right? And, and, and I think that's 628 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,360 what it's a. Steady, constant, slow. 629 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,360 And I think for for a growth company like Veolia, I think 630 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,880 some time spent working through the never ending challenges of 631 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,840 working for the federal government is probably going to 632 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,400 be worth it in the end. Well, I, yeah, I agree. 633 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,120 So it's, it's really exciting times. 634 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:02,120 I think we're in just a kind of a new era, so to speak with the 635 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,760 new administration. I think it's going to really 636 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,480 develop new opportunities that we haven't seen before. 637 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:12,240 I think there'll be an emphasis on doing things quicker, yeah, 638 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:17,440 rather than slower and less process red tape versus let's 639 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,480 get going and do it. Have you heard feedback in that 640 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:22,880 space? I mean, it's definitely the, the 641 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,160 mantra of this administration and, and having done this for 642 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,440 over 30 years now, there's a little skepticism from any 643 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,480 administration change because again, great ideas and great 644 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,640 initiatives we all support. But you know, we like to joke 645 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,240 that, you know, the, the federal government, Department of Energy 646 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,240 in particular, it's, you know, it's a bit of a battleship, 647 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,320 right? So moving, moving and in most 648 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,760 cases, administrations have windows, windows of opportunity, 649 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,440 but this administration is clearly committed to the things 650 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,520 you just said. And we're seeing, we're seeing 651 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,640 tangible results, right? The data center developments at 652 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,680 these sites and the conversations earlier this week 653 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,720 where you've got a, a commercial data center coming in and 654 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,960 they're saying, Hey, I want to have access to this site by this 655 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:08,520 day, right? And you know, knowing that if 656 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:11,639 you, if the department doesn't say yes, they're going to go 657 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:14,080 somewhere else, right? So, so I think we're seeing some 658 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,440 of that and I think time will tell. 659 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,080 I think there's momentum that's being built that these are 660 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:23,000 things and, and again and again, it's always a balance, but with 661 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:26,520 the regulatory framework, the decision documents, the records 662 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,639 and decision, the circle of sites there, you know, there's a 663 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:33,719 huge environmental envelope of safety and and care to the 664 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,280 communities that very much intact, not in any way being 665 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,239 circumvented. You know, it's just we're trying 666 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,360 to figure out ways to be nimble and be flexible while we're 667 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,520 still protect human health and the environment, and we're 668 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,280 seeing all that happen. Well, you know, one thing that 669 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:52,000 I've after we have a bit of some aging population in our 670 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,960 workforce. And what would you would say to 671 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,680 a young professional just trying to break into this space who, 672 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,800 who is attracted to say the DOE market space? 673 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,360 Because I can tell you from experience, the DOE market 674 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,960 environmental space is a little different than the industrial 675 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,440 commercial environmental Azure space. 676 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,520 And so, you know, you're, we're all working in the same kind of 677 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,160 mission to protect and human health, the environment. 678 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:22,120 And, but they're different, you know, industries in the South 679 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,920 and it's, it's how, what do you recommend for somebody? 680 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,600 I spend time with with the own panels with college age kids and 681 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,360 and others and, and it's you know, what I describe with this 682 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,760 industry is, you know, it's complex and I think for people 683 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:39,960 that really want to be challenged and really I pry into 684 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:44,080 the the we are cleaning up the the challenges of the past. 685 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:45,520 Right. And since the past is what A? 686 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,600 Lot of people would say it's a noble mission and there were 687 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:50,600 great reasons why we did what we did. 688 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,200 But I think again, we owe it to the country and those same 689 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:58,840 communities that sacrifice to make all those things happen, to 690 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:02,920 really do what is right by them. And and it's a noble cause. 691 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:07,640 And the other part of that for younger people is, I don't know, 692 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,560 a market that has as you know, as many challenges. 693 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,600 So there's unique issues with, with types of material, with 694 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,720 waste. And as as the program matures, 695 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,640 you know, it's only the harder stuff that's left. 696 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,680 So if you want to be challenged and you want to really feel like 697 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:26,400 you're having an impact that is generational, it's, it's a good 698 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,920 industry to be in. It is, it's also what I'm seeing 699 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:33,040 with this administration is their ability to then look, cuz 700 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,120 you know, the theory in part was where you're just working 701 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:38,160 yourself out of a job, but with what they're wanting to do, 702 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,320 developing, redevelopment or something else, you know, you're 703 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:42,600 just. You're more jobs. 704 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,040 You're just moving it forward, right? 705 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,280 You're bringing in a modernization approach to 706 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,560 different things, and I think that's really exciting. 707 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:50,240 Well, that's great. That's great. 708 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:53,480 Well, Steve, really appreciate you coming on the show today and 709 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,760 talking a little bit about what you know BNSFS is doing and and 710 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:01,400 how you are helping clean up the DOE sites that are around the 711 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,720 the US and really excited to see what happens in. 712 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,800 That it's the exciting time, but anytime there's a hint of a 713 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,080 government shutdown, please pray for me so that that would be 714 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,960 appreciated, that appreciate the time and enjoy talking to you 715 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:14,880 always. Absolutely. 716 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,000 Thank you, Stanley. Thanks for listening and 717 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,320 watching the show. If you enjoyed the show then 718 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,000 please share it with your friends and Co workers on social 719 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,160 media and tell somebody in person. 720 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,520 Thanks for being with us, ET Nation.