Hanford Site

Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has resumed work to empty waste from Hanford Site Tank AY-102 as it faces a March 4, 2017, retrieval deadline under a settlement agreement with Washington state. The Department of Energy’s Hanford tank farm contractor halted work on the double-shell tank leaking waste between its shells this spring to change out […]

Bechtel National can at last start work that could allow the Waste Treatment Plant it is building to by 2022 start processing 56 million gallons of Cold War-era liquid waste stored at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the Energy Department announced late Friday. The update came in the form of a contract modification DOE and its […]

The Hanford Advisory Board is asking the Department of Energy to increase its budget to allow more meetings, including sessions around the Pacific Northwest. The federally chartered 32-seat board is tasked with offering advice on key Hanford Site cleanup issues to DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington state Ecology Department. It includes […]

Bechtel National defended its progress on construction of the crucial Waste Treatment Plant at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state following a Tuesday Twitter strike from a local nuclear watchdog. The sharply critical Hanford Challenge on Tuesday chided Bechtel for earning a “failing grade” on its work on the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) in […]

The Hanford Advisory Board is asking the Department of Energy to increase its budget to allow more meetings, including sessions around the Pacific Northwest. The federally chartered 32-seat board is tasked with offering advice on key Hanford Site cleanup issues to DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington state Ecology Department. It includes […]

A public meeting to discuss the planned Effluent Management Facility at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant has been rescheduled to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Richland, Wash., Public Library. The previously scheduled meeting Wednesday was canceled because of predictions for heavy snowfall. Hanford workers were sent home in stages to avoid traffic congestion […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team this week drew a snarl from one of the Senate’s top nuclear policymakers, who vowed to keep a close eye on the incoming administration’s demand that the Energy Department provide target budget and staffing levels for its national nuclear cleanup programs. “I intend to closely follow the transition process at […]

The Department of Energy will hold a public meeting today (Dec. 14) on revising a state permit to allow for starting construction of the Effluent Management Facility at the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment Plant. The new facility is planned to treat secondary liquid effluent generated by the vitrification plant’s Low-Activity Waste Facility. The Effluent Management […]

Costs will soar and deadlines will go unmet at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., if workers there keep wearing gear to protect them from noxious fumes leaking from underground waste tanks, the Energy Department and its tank-farm contractor said this week. In documents published Wednesday, the AECOM-led Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) estimated the cost of […]

Sixteen single-shell tanks built to hold liquid radioactive waste at the Energy Department’s Hanford site near Richland, Wash., will not be closed in 2019 as once scheduled, under a tentative agreement finalized last week. These underground tanks in Hanford’s Waste Management Area C have been emptied but must still be either removed from the site, […]

The Department of Energy Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site in Washington state has named Ben Harp as deputy manager, after he served in the position on an acting basis for several weeks. He also will serve as chief operating officer for the DOE office charged with management and disposal of 56 million gallons […]

A new trial date has been set in a federal lawsuit over worker protection from chemical vapors at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. After the plaintiffs requested a five-month delay, plaintiffs and defendants agreed to postpone the trial by about six weeks, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for […]

Stricter safety measures for workers mean the Energy Department will likely blow deadlines to drain radioactive waste from tanks at the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., over the next four to eight years, an official with the agency’s Office of River Protection said Wednesday. Schedule pressure resulted from “inefficiencies we’re seeing because of a number […]

An Energy Department contractor was expected to begin a review Thursday that would pave the way for removing the last 14 vertical pipe units from the Hanford Site near Richland, Wash., an agency official said Wednesday. Most of the 90 pipes, which were filled with radioactive wastes in the 1950s and 60s, have been yanked out […]

The Department of Energy Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site in Washington state has named Ben Harp as deputy manager, after he served in the position on an acting basis for several weeks. He also will serve as chief operating officer for the DOE office charged with management and disposal of 56 million gallons […]

Three Pacific Northwest senators are urging Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to take swift action on recommendations made last week in a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on Hanford Site waste tank vapors. “With the review in hand it is now critical that DOE take swift and definitive actions to implement the recommendations,” […]

Sixteen single-shelled tanks built to hold liquid radioactive waste at the Energy Department’s Hanford site near Richland, Wash., will not be closed in 2019 as once scheduled, under a tentative agreement finalized late last week. These underground tanks in Hanford’s Waste Management Area C have been emptied but must still be either removed from the […]

The Washington state Ecology Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment period for locals to weigh in on a permit modification Bechtel National and the Energy Department need to start treating radioactive waste at the Hanford Site as soon as 2022. If granted, the modification will smooth the way for Bechtel, prime contractor on the […]

Energy Department contractors Bechtel and AECOM will pay a combined $125 million to settle allegations that they spent federal dollars on non-nuclear-certified parts and services for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Justice Department announced late Nov. 23. Bechtel’s payment also covers claims that it improperly used federal funds for lobbying purposes. […]

A dozen workers this week reported symptoms or suspicious odors that could be related to chemical vapors from waste stored at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. Thursday afternoon, three workers reported a suspicious ammonia-like odor outside a facility used to switch out empty air bottles for full containers to use with […]

Hanford Site tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Energy Office of Enforcement over a subcontractor worker who fell into an abandoned septic system. The company has agreed to pay $45,000 and take actions to improve safety, including with its subcontractors, according to a consent […]

Washington state and its co-plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit over chemical vapor protections for workers at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site are asking for five more months to prepare for trial. The proposed delay would move the trial from Sept 18, 2017, to Feb. 19, 2018. The current case schedule cannot be met, in […]

Six workers received “precautionary medical evaluation” Wednesday following possible exposure to vapors from waste tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington state, tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions said. The workers said they detected odors Wednesday morning near the AX Tank Farm, and four indicated they were experiencing symptoms of exposure. All were approved to […]

The Washington state Ecology Department on Monday opened a 60-day public comment period for locals to weigh in on a permit modification Bechtel National and the Energy Department need to start treating radioactive waste at the Hanford Site as soon as 2022. If granted, the modification will smooth the way for Bechtel, prime contractor on the […]

Energy Department contractors Bechtel and AECOM will pay a combined $125 million to settle allegations that they spent federal dollars on non-nuclear-certified parts and services for the Waste Treatment Plant at the Hanford Site in Washington state, the U.S. Justice Department announced late Wednesday. Bechtel’s fine also covers claims that it improperly used federal funds for lobbying purposes.  […]

Hanford Site tank farm contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) has reached a settlement agreement with the Department of Energy Office of Enforcement over a subcontractor worker who fell into an abandoned septic system. The company has agreed to pay $45,000 and take actions to improve safety, including with its subcontractors, according to a consent […]

The Energy Department expects this year to finalize contract modifications necessary to begin treatment of the Hanford Site’s liquid waste by 2022, according to a monthly report filed with regulators in Washington state and Oregon. Negotiations with contractor Bechtel National “have been ongoing and are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar […]

Perma-Fix Environmental Services said Friday it is is partnering with Waste Control Specialists in its program to enter the market for treatment of high-level radioactive waste. The Atlanta-based nuclear services specialist, which already provides treatment of low-level and mixed waste, this year plans to complete a demonstration test involving processing up to 5 gallons of high-level waste from […]

Executives with radioactive waste management specialist Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Friday acknowledged rough earnings numbers for the latest quarter and entirety of 2016. But they said the outlook is improving, particularly with an opportunity to treat large amounts of waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “We’ve been very disappointed with […]

Executives with radioactive waste management specialist Perma-Fix Environmental Services on Friday acknowledged rough earnings numbers for the latest quarter and entirety of 2016. But they said the outlook is improving, particularly with an opportunity to treat large amounts of waste at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. “We’ve been very disappointed with […]