Hanford Site

A former Hanford Site building, now within the city limits of Richland, Wash., is being torn down under an $11.4 million contract held by CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. The contract is separate from CH2M’s cleanup contract at Hanford for work such as excavating contaminated waste sites and tearing down contaminated buildings. The Richland building, […]

Jacobs Engineering Group reported $2 million in net earnings for its latest financial quarter, a steep year-over-year dive from $61 million linked to its recent acquisition of CH2M. Earnings for Jacobs’ fiscal 2018 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, took a hit from the $3.27 billion CH2M acquisition and a one-time tax charge, the company […]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s record of policing itself is “mixed at best,” and the agency might benefit from independent oversight by an entity such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said Tuesday. Pallone made his remarks during a House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee hearing on U.S. nuclear infrastructure. “For example, […]

Workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state twice this week have reported smelling suspicious odors that could be chemical vapors. The two incidents are the first time since Nov. 28 that suspicious odors have been reported outside the radioactive waste storage tank farms at the Department of Energy facility. On Monday afternoon, five Hanford […]

Layoff notices will be delivered this week to up to 60 workers at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant as progress is made in completing much of the remaining engineering, procurement, and construction at some plant facilities. The facilities nearing completion are needed for the Waste Treatment Plant to begin converting low-activity radioactive waste at […]

Jacobs Engineering Group reported $2 million in net earnings for its latest financial quarter, a steep year-over-year dive from $61 million linked to its recent acquisition of CH2M. Earnings for Jacobs’ fiscal 2018 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, took a hit from the $3.27 billion CH2M acquisition and a one-time tax charge, Jacobs said […]

A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has scheduled a two-day public meeting in Richland, Wash., starting on Feb. 28 to consider supplemental treatment methods for tank waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. The Waste Treatment Plant being built at Hanford was not planned to be large enough to […]

A federal judge had been asked to reschedule the trial in the Hanford Site chemical vapors lawsuit to Feb. 5, 2019, a delay of more than two months. If U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice agrees, this would be his ninth rescheduling order in the case, with most of the delays intended to give the plaintiffs […]

Workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state twice this week have reported smelling suspicious odors that could be chemical vapors. The two incidents are the first time since Nov. 28 that suspicious odors have been reported outside the radioactive waste storage tank farms at the Department of Energy facility. On Monday afternoon, five Hanford […]

Two major players in the Department of Energy cleanup complex, AECOM and Jacobs, will post financial results this week for the final three months of 2017. Los Angeles-based AECOM will discuss earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal 2018 during a conference call with analysts at noon Eastern time Tuesday. Dallas-based Jacobs, which in […]

The Department of Energy on Monday transferred management of the troubled Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition at the Hanford Site in Washington state to Jacobs Engineering Group, the new owner of cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC). The change came after another spread of radioactive contamination at the plant was identified on Jan. 26, […]

An executive with a U.S. affiliate of French multinational Veolia on Jan. 25 said the waste management company’s acquisition of Piketon, Ohio-based Wastren Advantage is “a great fit,” according to slides for a presentation to the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association in Tennessee. The presentation by VNS Federal Services Senior Vice President for Business […]

The Department of Energy plans to open a center to help ill current and former Hanford Site workers or their survivors understand the benefits for which they may qualify. The new center, called the Hanford Worker Engagement Center, is one of the steps DOE is taking after hearing worker complaints about difficulty getting help. The […]

The Washington state Department of Health has increasing concerns about the spread of radioactive contamination from the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant, saying the public could be put at risk if demolition resumes without better controls. Clark Halvorson, assistant secretary at the Health Department, sent a letter to DOE on Tuesday, outlining the concerns and […]

The Department of Energy on Monday transferred management of the troubled Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition at the Hanford Site in Washington state to Jacobs Engineering Group, the new owner of cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC). The change came after another spread of radioactive contamination at the plant was identified Friday, when a […]

Appearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, new Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar was asked whether a recent DOE reorganization put too much on his plate by having him oversee both nuclear cleanup and federal scientific research. “The Environmental Management portfolio has dominated the time and attention of whichever undersecretary has had it,” Rep. […]

The U.S. Energy Department’s industry day for the occupational medical (OccMed) services contract procurement at the Hanford Site in Washington state drew a crowd earlier this month, including incumbent provider HPM Corp. Thirty-seven individuals representing 13 companies, plus the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, were registered for the presolicitation conference, site tour, and individual sessions, according […]

The Department of Energy plans to open a center to help ill current and former Hanford Site workers or their survivors understand the benefits for which they may qualify. The new center, called the Hanford Worker Engagement Center, is one of the steps DOE is taking after hearing worker complaints about difficulty getting help. The […]

Dave Einan, a remedial project manager at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Hanford Project Office, has been selected as the agency manager for the Department of Energy site in Washington state. The position, open since Dennis Faulk retired last summer after serving as EPA manager since 2009, was advertised as a Seattle or Hanford-area position, with […]

Having workers use supplied air respirators with lines that snake across the ground rather than heavy air tanks could be an option for certain tasks at the Hanford Site’s radioactive waste storage tank farms, according to tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. Workers have been testing use of air lines, including at the HAMMER […]

New data has raised questions about the efficacy of monitoring for the spread of radioactive contamination during demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The Department of Energy on Wednesday released additional results from the analysis of samples collected at DOE and state Department of Health air sampling stations. […]

The Washington state Senate on Thursday voted 35-14 to pass legislation that would ease requirements for ill Hanford Site workers to be approved for state workers’ compensation because of exposure to radiation or toxic chemicals on the job. House Bill 1723, which was first introduced last year by Republican state Rep. Larry Haler, a former […]

Two informed industry sources said this week that multinational waste management company Veolia has completed its purchase of Piketon, Ohio-based Wastren Advantage for an undisclosed sum. The sources said the deal closed on Jan. 16 following federal approval of the U.S. Department of Energy’s foreign-owned, control, or influence (FOCI) analysis. News of the pending deal […]

Having workers use supplied air respirators with air lines that snake across the ground rather than heavy air tanks could be an option for some limited tasks at the Hanford Site’s radioactive waste storage tank farms, according to tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions. Workers have been testing use of air lines, including at […]

Two informed industry sources said Monday that multinational waste management company Veolia has completed its purchase of Piketon, Ohio-based Wastren Advantage for an undisclosed sum. The sources said the deal closed on Jan. 16 following approval of the U.S. Department of Energy’s foreign-owned, control or influence (FOCI) analysis. News of the pending deal was first […]

While there is no official word from the parties, there have been increasing signs in recent days that French waste management company Veolia has completed its purchase of Ohio-based Wastren Advantage. Wastren CEO Steve Moore confirmed the pending deal last August, but the companies since then have largely avoiding discussing the matter in public. Terms of […]

Washington Closure Hanford has reached a settlement agreement in principle with the U.S. Department of Justice in a civil lawsuit over subcontracting at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The Justice Department has accused the former Hanford cleanup prime contractor of awarding small business subcontracts to front companies. Washington Closure’s contract for environmental […]

A total of $211 million was spent on procurements for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in fiscal 2017, according to contractor Bechtel National. The plant is being built to turn up to 56 million gallons of radioactive waste held in underground tanks into a stable glass form for disposal. “Procurement opportunities have changed as work […]

About 100 workers at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant are being moved to new offices outside of an expanded control zone around the facility. The move is due to “the overwhelming presence of naturally occurring radon in the PFP trailer village area,” workers were told in a message Wednesday. A spread of radioactive contamination […]

Wastren Advantage Inc. (WAI) took home 96.1 percent of the potential award fee for its laboratory analysis and testing contract at the Hanford Site in Washington state for the period from Nov. 21, 2016, to Sept. 20, 2017, according to a recent performance scorecard from the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. Wastren took in […]