Hanford Site

The Washington River Protection Solutions’ (WRPS) project to empty a Hanford Site double-shell waste tank with an interior leak has been named the 2017 Project of the Year by the Project Management Institute. “Washington River Protection Solutions was able to establish and follow sound project management practices that allowed its challenging and potentially dangerous project […]

The Department of Energy has acknowledged that contractor Bechtel National has met all of the criteria required to resume construction on parts of the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility that have been on hold since 2012. However, DOE also pointed out in a statement Friday that its focus is on preparing to […]

The Washington state Department of Ecology has opened an investigation after being notified by the contractor for the Hanford Site’s waste tank farm that some liquid had been poured into the soil in central Hanford in August. The liquid was in four used containers that had sat out in the weather for a couple years […]

Recently obtained email messages indicate the Department of Justice might be investigating time-card issues involving the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) project at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The investigation follows two settlements in recent years for alleged time-card fraud at the Hanford waste tank farms. An email sent on July 27 […]

In a closed-door meeting Thursday, the acting head of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup program briefed the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on the 45-day review of his office’s operations and other key issues. An entry on the DNFSB calendar says the five-person board was scheduled to receive one of its periodic briefings from EM-1, […]

With the House of Representatives already planning to look at the issue, the Senate on Oct. 19 approved a measure that could result in more predictable Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for communities surrounding federal facilities, including many across the Energy Department complex. The amendment to the Senate’s fiscal 2018 budget package won approval […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) has been awarded 92 percent of the fee available for fiscal 2016, the Department of Energy announced Monday. That compares to 95 percent the previous year. The Hanford Site cleanup contractor earned $14.1 million of $15.4 million available for the budget year ended Sept. 30, 2016. “CHPRC was very […]

The acting head of the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup program is due to brief the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week on the 45-day review of his office’s operations and other key issues. An entry on the DNFSB calendar says the five-person board is scheduled to receive one of its periodic briefings from EM-1, […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) has been awarded 92 percent of the fee available for fiscal 2016, the Department of Energy announced Monday. That compares to 95 percent the previous year. The Hanford Site cleanup contractor earned $14.1 million of $15.4 million available for the budget year ended Sept. 30, 2016. “CHPRC was very […]

CH2M anticipates the Energy Department will pursue a legal challenge to a $33.2 million decision from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals last month in favor of a CH2M joint venture that was the former prime cleanup contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory. That is according to documents that CH2M filed Tuesday with the U.S. […]

A CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. project director has been selected as the new manager for the Office of River Protection at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Brian Vance takes over from Kevin Smith, who retired at the end of September. The Office of River Protection is responsible for management of 56 […]

Site managers for the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) will discuss with stakeholders, elected officials, and regulators the proposals resulting from a review of the office’s operations that started in late June, according to Stacy Charboneau, EM associate principal deputy assistant secretary for field operations. She discussed the 45-day review initiated by […]

Some 31 of 305 bioassays collected from workers after the airborne spread of radioactive contamination at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) in June have tested positive for internal radioactive contamination. Doses were very low, the Department of Energy said in a statement on Wednesday.  Of the 31 workers with positive results, 18 had […]

Hanford Treatment Plants Process 2.2B Gallons of Water in FY17 The six groundwater treatment plants at the Hanford Site cleaned 2.2 billion gallons of water in the fiscal year just ended, reinjecting the processed water back into the ground, the Department of Energy announced Thursday. More than 145,000 pounds (72.5 tons) of contamination were removed. […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said in a new report the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management has more work to do to resolve safety issues connected with criticality and flammable gas at the Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 100-page-plus technical report centers on four […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) said in a new report the Energy Department Office of Environmental Management has more work to do on safety issues connected with criticality and flammable gas at the Pretreatment Facility for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state. The 100-page-plus technical report centers on […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. has awarded an $11.3 million subcontract to prepare for installation of remotely operated equipment to clean up the highly radioactive spill beneath the Hanford Site’s 324 Building. The subcontract went to Apollo Mechanical Contractors, headquartered in Kennewick, Wash., near Hanford. Apollo is expected to begin work in the next few […]

While it has settled the case, Hanford Site subcontractor Sage Tec on Friday vigorously denied allegations made in a federal fraud lawsuit. The company released a statement a week after the Department of Justice said Sage Tec had agreed to pay a $235,000 settlement. Sage Tec was accused of using its status as a small, […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry told a House of Representatives panel Thursday that progress is being made in improving the history of cost overruns and missed deadlines on big projects administered through the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management. Perry testified for more than three hours before the House Energy and Commerce energy subcommittee. While much […]

Installation of the two melters for the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford’ Site’s Waste Treatment Plant has been completed, a key milestone on the project, plant officials announced Wednesday. “When operational, these melters will be the largest operating vitrification plant melters in the world,” said Bill Hamel, Department of Energy project director for the […]

A Benton County, Wash., Superior Court jury found in favor of a former employee’s lawsuit against Mission Support Alliance on Tuesday, requiring the Hanford Site support services contractor to pay damages of $8.1 million. Manager Julie Atwood resigned when she was told she would be fired from MSA in 2013. She filed a lawsuit claiming […]

Hanford Subcontractor Settles Federal Fraud Case Sage Tec and its owner, Laura Shikashio, have agreed to pay $235,000 to settle allegations of subcontracting fraud at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Justice said on Oct. 6. The announcement came less than a month after a second Hanford-area company in the federal court […]

Installation of the two melters at the Low-Activity Waste Facility at the Hanford’ Site’s Waste Treatment Plant has been completed, a key milestone on the project, plant officials announced Wednesday. “When operational, these melters will be the largest operating vitrification plant melters in the world,” said Bill Hamel, Department of Energy project director for the […]

A Benton County, Wash., Superior Court jury found in favor of a former employee’s lawsuit against Mission Support Alliance on Tuesday, requiring the Hanford Site support services contractor to pay damages of $8.1 million. Manager Julie Atwood had resigned when she was told she would be fired from MSA in 2013. She filed a lawsuit […]

Sage Tec and its owner, Laura Shikashio, have agreed to pay $235,000 to settle allegations of subcontracting fraud at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Department of Justice said Friday. The announcement came less than a month after a second Hanford-area company in the federal court case, Federal Engineers & Constructors (FE&C), agreed to […]

The federal trial for the Hanford Site chemical vapors safety lawsuit case has been delayed until Aug. 29, 2018. Judge Thomas Rice, of U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington, agreed Thursday to delay the trial and interim deadlines in the case by about 30 days at the request of defendants and plaintiffs. The next deadline […]

The Department of Energy on Tuesday finalized the membership package to reconstitute the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), which has been unable to establish a quorum to conduct business for three months. Membership for about half the members of the board expired at the end of June. Half of the members and their alternates for 32 […]

Crews at the Hanford Site in Washington state by Thursday morning had injected 61 truckloads of grout into the PUREX Plant waste storage tunnel that was discovered on May 9 to have partially collapsed. Work was scheduled to continue Thursday night, when traffic would be light as cement trucks hauled the grout to the underground […]

The Department of Energy’s Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center at the Hanford Site was praised at its 20th anniversary celebration Thursday by officials ranging from national and international organized labor leaders to the governor of Washington. The 88-acre facility, a training center for Hanford workers, includes classrooms and an extensive set of training props, including: […]

In what appears to be a sign of progress, Bechtel National has filed a revised preliminary documented safety analysis to the Department of Energy for the Hanford Site Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility. The document is intended to support the resumption of procurement and construction on the facility, according to a newly released weekly […]