Bechtel to Resume Full Production Engineering at WTP HLW Facility

Bechtel National has received approval to resume “full production engineering” at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility, according to a letter Weapons Complex Monitor obtained yesterday. The move allows Bechtel National “to resume all engineering work necessary to finalize the design” of the HLW Facility, as well as to proceed with “limited procurement and construction,” according to the Aug. 19 Department of Energy letter. DOE has given Bechtel National approval to resume and complete design work at the HLW Facility because the contractor “has made significant progress in resolving technical issues and establishing work processes to align the HLW Facility design and safety basis,” the DOE letter says. Neither DOE nor Bechtel National responded to requests for comment late yesterday.

DOE moved to largely suspend work at the Hanford vit plant’s HLW Facility in the summer of 2012 because of the need to fully resolve long-standing technical concerns such as ensuring adequate waste mixing and preventing erosion and corrosion. In the interim, the only work performed at the facility has focused on civil construction activities, such as placement of concrete and structural steel, while Bechtel National has performed additional engineering studies to help address the remaining areas of technical concern. This spring, the Department gave Bechtel National approval to resume “limited production engineering” activities at the HLW Facility, which allowed the contractor to move forward with some design activities for facility systems, but not to proceed with related procurements or construction work.