RACE

[atomicarcheologist]

Has anyone had any dealings with RACE, LLC?  I understand that they have a complete consulting/disposal/instrumentation program, but it gets a little dicey during internet searches.  I'm looking for some first hand knowledge, or at least substantiated rumors.  Both business and employement knowledge would be helpful.

[RAD-GHOST]

Nobody goes there, without singing the Blues!  A Memphis Thingy!

I'll try the political angle!  It is a very unique place, with very unique people, who have very unique phylosophies!  You will find many unique processing techniques and many forms of unique waste!  MOST of the management is uniquely related to each other, which causes unique privelage problems, which are none of your business, when they uniquely take the day off without calling!  Unique Isotopes, without unique instruments!  In summation, simply a unique place!

Key Phrases to Remember:

This isn't a power plant!

We don't do it that way!

Why don't you go survey something outside, while we do this!

You don't need no stinking Rem-Ball with Cm-252!

Imagine that, Zirconium does burn!


My Unique Input!

RG
   

[PWHoppe]

Not sure what exactly you're looking to find out. Their primary mission is waste minimization, and they do that very well. It is true they are NOT a power plant which is why the power plants (and others) send their waste there. They (RACE) can get it released (legally) easier than the power plants can. It may seem like they are cutting corners to the power plant HP's, but you have to understand that production drives them, and they have different limits and restrictions. I won't get into the political issues of who know's who and the other such issues since that will exist anywhere you have a small family like business. It even exists in large "good ole boy" places.

All in all a pretty good place to work depending on what it is your after.

[Alvin Smith]

PHoppe, Where are you? Race is a processor if you haven't worked with or for a processor you'll find the environment different. Race is an off shoot of personnel from the Hake facility in Memphis. The old Hake facility is now owned by Duratek and still has the PIMS inventory held there. The facility was purchased and upgraded by Duratek to process steam generators. This fell through and I'm not sure what is happening there now.

Race has recently won a couple of large processing contracts and is probably straining the existing resources at their facility. They have a release program that takes material form the Envirocare burial site, therefore they are not loved by the Utah operation.

[Rennhack]

http://www.race-services.com/

[PWHoppe]

Alvin is that you?

I'm in Las Vegas at the NTS burial site!

[atomicarcheologist]

Thanks for all the help!  This has given me a bit of the information that  I came here seeking.  I love this site!  
Has anyone done business with this company?  I mean doing business as business, not as employment.  How do they compare to some of the larger firms?  Are they physically experienced, schoolwise, or both?  What kind of track record do they have with shipping/receiving? 
Thanks again, and a thanks in advance.

[Chimera]

I worked there for about 6 months.  It is a different place to work.  It is most definitely NOT a power plant, nor is it a DOE facility.  You will monitor everything coming and going out (direct frisk, smears, micro-R, etc.).  As a general rule, they make money when most of what comes in goes to the clean land-fill.  At a power house, if something has contamination on it, it the entire piece is disposed of as radioactive.  At RACE, they will remove the offending contamination (destructively if necessary) or the offending part of the larger piece and dispose of the clean part while shipping out the "bad stuff".

Their attitudes have been improving over the last year or so as their management has started treating their company with more professionalism.  I recommend checking it out.  While I didn't necessarily agree with everything that went on, I did have fun working there.

Incidentally, that was Cf-252, not "Cm-252".  And I think they've learned their lessons where that was concerned.

[RAD-GHOST]

Chimera,

I always have problems with those F & M's!  The place has a necessary nitch in the Industry and seems to be a money maker, no matter how they do business, ( the benefits of a agreement state ).  I aways had fun there, every day was a new adventure, which I will not describe, because nobody would believe me!
You, as many, can say you worked there, past tense!  It's just one sector of the industry a person has to experience, words can not describe it!

Although many think Memphis is a reasonably inexpensive area to live, expenses tend to be a bit high.  I suggest an average wage of about $30.00/ hour is reasonable.  Carefull where you choose to stay and be especially carefull on what you sign!

Good Luck to All, RG.

[cajunbaby84]

I worked at RACE for a short period of time.  If you are some one that cares about what and how you do your job then you need to stay away from there.  It is not Nuclear Power and certainly not DOE.  If material is not checked the right way then it can be disposed of just about any way you want to.  I don't know if they have changed their attitude in the last couple of years or not but I know when I was there things that were labeled as radioactive would disappear from the site.  That is not how I like to see business done.  If it is contaminated it needs to be treated as such.  As I said they could have changed in the last two years and I certainly hope they have because their practice at the time left a lot to be disired.

[DecommMan]

Seems that they are more involved with the commercial side of nuclear than anything.

[Alvin Smith]

Yes, it's me working with M. Schaefer at the Plum Brook Reactor decommissioning. See you took the advise and went West youg man. Sorry it's taken so long to reply I'm still learning how this site works. Contact me directly at iradwaste@cs.com or 419-609-4832. Need to ask you some questions

[billhudson]

I remember a few months ago, thaking the comments here about RACE, with a "grain of salt".   I figured, "I'll go there myself and make up my own mind".

Well, to make a long story short what you read here about RACE being a unique place, is an understatement that hits the nail on the head.   To avoid possible legal reprocussions I'll just state the facts that pertain to me.

On September 20, 2004, I received an offer from RACE to act as the RACE Field Service Manager.  3 weeks later I was asked to take the company digital camera to take pictures of the arrival and subsequent unloading and transpost of the Rx Head comming from Surry to the RACE facility.   I had to arrive at the Port of Memphis at 7:00 am Saturday morning and at 11:00 am I learned that the crane operator would not be on site until after 1:00 pm.   So at 11:00 am I left the Port of Memphis to go to the RACE facitily to re charge the digital camera (about 1 mile away) and I had an accident in my private truck I was using.

About 2 weeks later I learned that my services with RACE would no longer be needed. 

The "Offer of Employment" letter I received from RACE was for "Permanent" employment with full benifits. Granted Tenneessee is a "Right to Work" state:
Translation: you can be fired for ANY reason as long as it doen't violate Federal Guidelines of race, religion or general descrimination.

Also, in the last few weeks I was there, RACE had rented new offices for the "exempt" employees and had significantly increased thier overhead.

At the time I left I was told that my accident in my oun truck while on RACE company time (while conducting RACE business) "will be turned over to (the RACE)  legal counsel and our actions will be based on their response to the situation.

So beware of any company that would take this kind of attitude.

[RAD-GHOST]

Bill, sorry to hear about your Unique endevor!  Good luck on getting any funds for fixing the vehicle.  I left there in the red, like many, many others!  I can honestly say, this is a first, it was worth leaving the money behind!  I just consider it a Unique learning experience.  By the way, I'm sure you heard the stories, many of which are true!  Sounds like you made the five week mark, that put's you in the Unique top one percent, for longevity!  The average stay for experienced newbies, when I arrived, was 5 days!  They actually had one guy quit after taking the tour, about thirty minutes, smart man!

[nanook]

I've been at RACE since 10 May of this year. 
They are unique.
I guess I didn't get a chance to meet Bill.
They have been pretty good to me. 
Thay are evolving and improving: they have to to compete and maintain a revenue source.
Someone did create a "stir" with the State. 
I have to presume it was a disgruntled employee.
Have a good day.

[RAD-GHOST]

Sounds like you may have found your little slice of Heaven!  I did a short stint there some time ago and what a wild ride it was!  Back then, management preferred to deal with the concequences of an evolution, instead of any associated probabilities.  ANY information offered by a tech, was considered resistance to their process, Non- Productive!  It was better to just sit back and clean up the mess, when they were done.  At the time, there was one tech, who wanted to nuke everything out and proceduralize the world.  I think he produced the Power Plant Tag, they speak about today.  As you said, it isn't a power plant! 

As far as the Radiological aspect of the place, no Big Deal!  As far as other hazards, watch your six!  They receive waste from all sectors of the industry, medical, research, experimental, fabrication and your guess is as good as mine!  After you pop the lid on a couple of packages and see what rolls out, that's when you should make your final decision.  Other than a simple radiological characterization, it's just a guessing game!  The place really needed a hands on, diversified waste specialist.  Someone who could tell you what items didn't mix well with others!  Someone who could tell you what items dont agree with a cutting torch!  What is that odor coming from that drum?  Incidental things like that!

I wish you a world of Luck, then some!

RG

[Chimera]

Congratulations, T_Tarbox.  I rather enjoyed the six months I spent there.  You make it sound like they really have made an effort to clean up how they do business.  Remember, always listen to Big Daddy.

Mike

[merlin_the_wizard]

What is the nature of the Field Services Manager position?  Are the benefits good?  A lot of travel?

[Rennhack]

Don't forget to vote.  Keep your comments civil.

[R Beasley]

Fenceline, In 6 mths I have personally taken 1 pair of shoes, 2 pants,& 1 shirt.
  the reason we don't have very many contaminations is Rad practices are improving dramatically and the very small amount of contamination we have is controlled really well.
also, I am in the field working daily and my exposure is quite a bit more than
5 mR. ALARA concerns are being improved on daily.

[R Beasley]

Tim
I went to the memphis truth website and tried for several hours to find A way to send a response to anyone in that website, to discuss the lies and unsubstantiated
Accusations being made against RACE , As always is the case with these type of "uninformed"people and groups, the whole website is false propaganda and people with nothing better to do, with there pitiful lives than make up this garbage that there putting out.
  Thanks, Robert Beasley (rebeasleyii@yahoo.com) 901-326-6320, people with the honest truth to tell don't hide behind a facade of lies 

[cruella]

I went to the  memphistruth.org website and found an email section where you can add your name to a pre-written message to City Counsil members and I deleted their message and sent my own. I then sent another to  see if mine went thru or the pre-written one.

[PWHoppe]

Cruella, what were the results of your experiment? Did your letter go through? I'm interested since I too would like to send my own letter to these folks. I have worked at the RACE facility and I am very concerned that this is heading down a very dangerous path not just for them but for the entire industry. I really like many of the folks down there and I hate to see them get rail-roaded like this. This is something that should be sending up red flags to all of here at Nukeworker. Not just the incinerator issue but the attempt to shut down the entire business. Look at who is involved in this effort, some very big players from the green world (Sierra Club); be afraid, be VERY afraid.

[cruella]

Too soon to tell, I guess. I used my real name and my real email address and I have not recieved any messages yet.  There are big names fighting this as you stated but why be afraid? We are not doing anything wrong! Just like a power plant or a DOE facility we have procedures and guidelines to follow. And just like other places we have a few people that use scare tatics to "inform" the public.

[PWHoppe]

I realize that there is nothing being done wrong, that is not the point. These people do not deal in what is REAL, they deal in half -truths and out -right lies. You should be afraid because these are the very same types that have successfully shut down perfectally good power plants (see Maine Yankee, Rancho Seco, etc.) They can and do cause MAJOR problems, even when you are doing everything right.