DOE to Skip Another Hanford Cleanup Life-Cycle Report
The Department of Energy will not be required to issue an annual report in January outlining the remaining costs and schedule for cleanup of the Hanford Site in Washington state.
The annual Hanford Lifecycle Scope, Schedule and Cost Report has been mandatory since 2010, when it was added to the Tri-Party Agreement as part of negotiations that led to milestone extensions for the Hanford tank farm and Waste Treatment Plant under the court-enforced consent decree governing cleanup at the former plutonium production site.
The Hanford regulators – the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington state Department of Ecology – agreed with DOE that resources could better be used to prepare the 2019 life-cycle report due Jan. 31, 2019, than used for the document due in January 2018. This is the second consecutive year the department has been allowed to skip the report.
The Tri-Party agencies waived the annual requirement, in part, because a triannual analysis from DOE’s Office of River Protection of scenarios for its work at both the tank farms and Waste Treatment Plant is not due until Oct. 31, 2017. An updated baseline, which sets the cleanup plan going forward and will rely on information from the analysis, is not expected until June 1, 2018, months after the 2018 life-cycle report would have been required to be released.
The Energy Department was allowed to skip the 2017 life-cycle report, with regulators saying late last year that the significant number of recent changes to cleanup work plans at Hanford, and extensions to project milestones, showed DOE should wait to release a report until it had time to incorporate the updates.
The last life-cycle report released, in early 2016, put the remaining cleanup cost for Hanford at $107.7 billion, including completion of most work in 2060 and some post-cleanup oversight. The estimate did not reflect delays at the Waste Treatment Plant that will not have the plant fully operating until 2036.
Incumbent, Peers Attend Industry Day for Hanford 222-S Lab Contract
Incumbent Wastren Advantage and nearly 20 other companies sent representatives to the August industry day for the next management and services contract for the Hanford Site’s 222-S analytical laboratory, according to the newly posted attendance sheet.
Other attendees were familiar names in the Department of Energy complex, including Westinghouse Government Services, Navarro Research and Engineering, Fluor Federal Services, North Wind Group, AECOM, and Atkins. Veolia, which is in the process of buying Wastren Advantage, was also represented.
The 222-S laboratory provides analysis of liquid waste from Hanford’s underground tank farms, where 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste awaits final disposal. The material in each tank is different, so samples help determine how the manage the waste, and to help ensure the safety of plans to transfer the waste from tank to tank — and ultimately to the Waste Treatment Plant that will convert the waste into a solid glass form for permanent disposal.
Wastren Advantage in 2015 received a roughly $45 million contract for operations and analysis and testing services that could extend into 2020. The base period of the contract ends on Sept. 20, but DOE could provide additional one-year options.
The department in July issued a request for information/sources sought for the next contract. Responses are due by Sept. 21 to [email protected].
