Bechtel Agrees to $800,000 Payment Over Hanford WTP Development Deficiencies

Bechtel National in June agreed to pay $800,000 and take other steps to head off possible enforcement action by the Department of Energy over quality-assurance problems and other shortcomings in the contractor’s construction of the Hanford Site’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The consensus order between DOE and Bechtel followed a multiyear investigation by the department’s Office of Enterprise Assessments “into the facts and circumstances associated with the misalignment of design documents with [WTP] authorization bases; welding deficiencies of fabricated vessels accepted by WTP; and implementation of the quality assurance and corrective action management programs,” according to a June 1 letter from Steven Simonson, director of the Office of Enterprise Assessments’ Enforcement Office, to Margaret McCullough, Bechtel’s project director for WTP. The effective date for the consent order was June 8, and the payment was due within 30 days of the order.