Hanford Site

In a long-awaited development that figures to send ripples throughout the Energy Department’s Cold War nuclear cleanup program, Jacobs Engineering of Dallas will acquire engineering services company CH2M for $2.85 billion in cash and stock. Jacobs will also assume $416 million of CH2M debt under the transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth […]

Glyn Trenchard has been named assistant manager of the Hanford Site Tank Farms Project for the Department of Energy Office of River Protection. He will oversee the storage, treatment, and disposal of 56 million gallons of waste stored in underground tanks starting Aug. 6. Trenchard joined the Office of River Protection in 1998 and has […]

French waste management company Veolia plans to acquire Ohio-based Wastren Advantage in a move that would further boost the Paris-based company’s reach into the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup market. “I can confirm we are in the process of being acquired by Veolia subject to the necessary approvals from DOE for our mitigated entity,” Wastren Chief […]

The Department of Energy is seeking additional time to evaluate options for stabilizing the second waste storage tunnel at the Hanford Site’s PUREX plant. It is proposing convening a “best and brightest” panel of experts to consider the tunnel design, operating history, and waste inventory, which would inform a decision on how to deal with […]

French waste management company Veolia plans to acquire Ohio-based Wastren Advantage in a move that would further boost the Paris-based company’s reach into the Energy Department’s nuclear cleanup market. “I can confirm we are in the process of being acquired by Veolia subject to the necessary approvals from DOE for our mitigated entity,” Wastren Chief […]

Glyn Trenchard has been named assistant manager of the Hanford Site Tank Farms Project for the Department of Energy Office of River Protection. He will oversee the storage, treatment, and disposal of 56 million gallons of waste stored in underground tanks starting Aug. 6. Trenchard joined the Office of River Protection in 1998 and has […]

Demolition began Wednesday on the Hanford Site’s Z Plant, the main processing building at the Plutonium Finishing Plant. “Starting the work on the main processing facility complex marks the final step in demolition” of the Plutonium Finishing Plant, which was used during the Cold War to shape the material for use in nuclear weapons, said […]

Lockheed Martin and Leidos have allocated liabilities between themselves should the Department of Justice pursue a claim in connection with an ongoing false claims investigation of Mission Support Alliance, the support services contractor at the Hanford Site, according to a quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Lockheed Martin. In August 2016, Lockheed completed the […]

The Department of Energy would be required to establish a resource center to support ill and injured Hanford Site workers in their efforts to obtain workers’ compensation, under language added to the U.S. Senate appropriations bill covering DOE for the next fiscal year. The language, inserted by Washington state’s two Democratic senators, Patty Murray and […]

The Department of Energy would be required to establish a resource center to support ill and injured Hanford Site workers in their efforts to obtain workers’ compensation, under language added to the U.S. Senate appropriations bill covering DOE for the next fiscal year. The language, inserted by Washington state’s two Democratic senators, Patty Murray and […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry is scheduled to travel to Ohio on July 31 to view the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and American Centrifuge Project, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced Friday. “I’m excited to announce that Secretary Perry has accepted my invitation to visit the cleanup site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant to get a firsthand […]

The 200-foot-tall ventilation stack at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant crashed to the ground Saturday in an explosive demolition. It was another step toward bringing the plant down to slab on grade by the end of September as required by the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) covering cleanup at the former plutonium production complex in Washington […]

The Department of Energy is evaluating multiple options for stabilizing the second radioactive waste storage tunnel for the PUREX facility at the Hanford Site, as an Aug. 1 deadline nears. The Washington state Department of Ecology set the deadline for DOE to present a draft plan for stabilizing the second tunnel after the other PUREX […]

The 200-foot-tall ventilation stack at the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant crashed to the ground Saturday in an explosive demolition. It was another step toward bringing the plant down to slab on grade by the end of September as required by a Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) milestone. Demolition work at the plant had shifted in recent […]

Thermal imaging scans were being collected over 20 square miles at the center of the Hanford Site this week to help determine where radioactive waste might be buried. A crew using a small airplane started the flights early Wednesday morning and expected to continue over early mornings for three to five days. Information is being […]

The public meeting promised by the Department of Energy on the structural integrity of the Hanford Site’s PUREX Tunnel No. 2 has been set for 6 p.m. July 20., at the Courtyard by Marriott, 480 Columbia Point Drive in Richland, Wash. The workshop will be webcast. Registration information can be found here. DOE and the Washington […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and the Washington state Department of Ecology have reached a settlement agreement over waste storage that waives a $50,000 penalty against the Hanford Site cleanup contractor. The state had accused CH2M in August 2016 of breaching requirements for the storage of five containers of waste at Hanford’s T Plant, including identifying […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and the Washington state Department of Ecology have reached a settlement agreement over waste storage includes the waiver of a $50,000 penalty against the Hanford Site cleanup contractor. The state had accused CH2M in August 2016 of breaching requirements for the storage of five containers of waste at Hanford’s T Plant, […]

The public meeting promised by the Department of Energy on the structural integrity of the Hanford Site’s PUREX Tunnel No. 2 has been set for 6 p.m. July 20., at the Courtyard by Marriott, 480 Columbia Point Drive in Richland, Wash. The workshop will be webcast. Registration information can be found here. DOE and the […]

CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. and the Washington state Department of Ecology have reached a settlement agreement over waste storage includes the waiver of a $50,000 penalty against the Hanford Site cleanup contractor. The state had accused CH2M in August 2016 of breaching requirements for the storage of five containers of waste at Hanford’s T […]

A large wildfire spread across the security perimeter of the Hanford Site onto the main portion of the facility late Sunday night, burning 1,644 acres. The overall fire was contained to 30,984 acres by Thursday, but the Hanford Fire Department had the blaze on the main portion of the Department of Energy site contained at […]

A large wildfire spread across the Hanford Site’s security perimeter onto the main portion of the Department of Energy complex late Sunday night. It burned from the west across Highway 24 onto the northwest section of the facility, according to Rae Moss, spokeswoman for Hanford support services and firefighting contractor Mission Support Alliance. The Hanford […]

Three Washington state Democrats made a last-minute attempt to revive a proposal in the state Legislature to help ill personnel from the Hanford Site win easier approval of workers’ compensation claims. Their bill was scheduled for discussion Wednesday in an executive session of the Senate Commerce, Labor and, Sports Committee, but the meeting was canceled […]

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Thursday demanded the Energy Department brief Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs staff by July 21 about what the senior senator from Missouri considers a questionable contracting arrangement between Bechtel National and AECOM at DOE’s Hanford Site in Washington state. McCaskill, the committee’s ranking Democrat, questioned in a letter to […]

Nearly two months after a decades-old tunnel containing irradiated equipment was found to have partially collapsed at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department said Friday a similar tunnel is also at risk of collapse. Hanford was rocked May 9 when personnel discovered a 20-foot by 20-foot section of Tunnel 1 […]

Trial in the lawsuit over worker protection from vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been reset for June 11, 2018, at the request of all parties in the case. This is the third time plaintiffs and defendants have jointly requested a delay in the federal trial to allow for […]

Been there, heard that, was the reaction from Washington state’s two U.S. senators as Energy Secretary Rick Perry defended budget cuts proposed in the administration’s fiscal 2018 request for the Hanford Site. Perry was in the hot seat for three days in succession this week, answering questions about proposed funding levels for cleanup at the […]

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Wednesday she has heard the same message from new energy secretaries for 25 years – that they will find a new and better way to address environmental cleanup at the Hanford Site. The latest was Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who testified on his agency’s fiscal 2018 budget request before the […]

Trial in the lawsuit over worker protection from vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state has been reset for June 11, 2018, at the request of all parties in the case. This is the third time plaintiffs and defendants have jointly requested a delay in the federal trial to allow for […]

Plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit over chemical vapors protection for workers at the Hanford Site in Washington state have asked for another delay in the trial as they try to reach a settlement agreement. The trial already has been postponed twice to allow the parties to pursue mediation. Now, the sides have asked U.S. […]