High-Level & Tank Waste

Bechtel National is looking to conduct a significant reorganization of its management at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Weapons Complex Monitor has learned. Many details of BNI’s proposal, which has been submitted to the Department of Energy for approval, remain unclear, though it reportedly would include modifications to the contractor’s Environmental and Nuclear Safety organization […]

The Obama Administration appears set to submit a new proposal for modifying the 2010 Consent Decree that governs the cleanup of Hanford’s tank waste to Washington state officials by the end of this month. The schedule was outlined in a letter Washington State Governor Jay Inslee (D) and Attorney General Robert Ferguson sent to Secretary […]

A key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant who has alleged she has faced retaliation for raising safety concerns was terminated yesterday by URS, the Hanford vit plant subcontractor for which she worked. Donna Busche, who held the position of environmental and nuclear safety manager, told Weapons Complex Monitor yesterday that she had […]

In the wake of URS firing a key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Sen. Ron Wyden said yesterday that he will ask the Government Accountability Office investigate how whistleblowers are treated at the Department of Energy. Wyden criticized DOE earlier this week after URS terminated Donna Busche, who had held the […]

CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company is soliciting proposals for a small business subcontract for Liquid Waste and Fuel Storage Tank Integrity Inspections, releasing a draft request for proposals yesterday. It would be a firm fixed unit rate contract, and proposals are due by March 25 in an eSourcing event. An award is expected by April […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) late last week released a set of documents that raise new concerns over the status of Hanford’s double-shell waste tanks and called on the Department of Energy to prepare within 45 days a plan for “responding to the increased safety and operational risks” associated with “flaws” in the tanks. Engineering reviews […]

The Department of Energy Friday released a draft request for proposal for a small business procurement for laboratory analysis and testing services at Hanford’s 222-S laboratory. The Department is asking for comments and feedback by March 28. The work would be performed for DOE’s Office of River Protection. “The scope of this contract is to […]

The Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight is set to hold a hearing next week on the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The hearing appears to have been prompted by the recent decision of URS, a major subcontractor at the WTP, to terminate Donna Busche, who served as a key nuclear […]

The Department of Energy will start purchasing equipment and making other preparations to remove sludge from a double shell tank with a leak between its shells, but pumping of waste would start no sooner than March 2016, according to a new DOE plan with two phases. DOE delivered the plan for emptying Tank AY-102 to […]

The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council appears to have dropped a lawsuit it filed against Washington River Protection Solutions over what the union had alleged was the unfair termination of four employees last year. On March 7, a federal judge agreed to dismiss the union’s suit, with prejudice. HAMTC had sued WRPS in late January […]

The Department of Energy’s plan to wait at least two years to pump waste from Hanford’s damaged double-shell tank is legally unacceptable, the Washington State Department of Ecology said Monday. The plan released late Friday “demonstrates the federal government’s lack of commitment to set a firm, near-term schedule for the removal of waste from leaking […]

Sen. Claire McCaskill is set to hold a “roundtable” this morning with two former Hanford employees who have charged they faced retaliation for raising safety concerns at the Waste Treatment Plant project. Those set to participate in the event include Donna Busche, who served as a key nuclear safety manager at the WTP and who […]

The Department of Energy has asked for an Inspector General’s investigation into the recent termination of a key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, a senior DOE Office of Environmental Management official said yesterday. URS, a major subcontractor at the WTP, has come under heavy scrutiny over its decision last month to […]

More than a year after the evaluation period came to an end, the Department of Energy has completed its Fiscal Year 2012 fee determination for Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. Out of an available $10.4 million in fee tied to performance measures, CHPRC earned $4.49 million, according to information DOE released yesterday. […]

Members of South Carolina’s Congressional delegation yesterday urged the Department of Energy to work with them on restoring funding for tank waste cleanup at the Savannah River Site. The Department’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget request cut funding significantly for liquid waste cleanup at the site, putting cleanup milestones at risk. “We are very concerned regarding […]

Bechtel executives have come out against a lengthy article Newsweek published yesterday on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant headlined “America’s Fukushima?” The article examined the history of the project, the technical issues that have challenged its completion and safety culture concerns, among other topics. In a message to employees yesterday, though, Bechtel executives criticized the […]

More than a year after the Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security presented Bechtel National with a set of draft findings from an investigation performed into design issues at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, the final resolution of the investigation—including what, if any, financial penalties BNI may face—remains unclear. DOE did not […]

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) called on Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Washington State Governor Jay Inslee (D) late last week to develop a final plan for completing the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and moving forward with tank waste cleanup at the site. In a letter to both officials, Hastings said he was concerned over […]

Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council workers for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions approved a collective bargaining agreement late last week by a vote of 290 to 239. The 650 workers had been given a choice of approving the proposed agreement or giving their authorization to proceed to a possible strike. It was […]

Savannah River liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation earned 95 percent of its total available award fee in Fiscal Year 2013, or about $29.7 million out of $31.4 million available. “SRR has provided safe, timely, and cost-effective management and execution of the Liquid Waste program at the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River site in […]

After the recent discovery of a new crack in one of the Savannah River Site’s high-level waste tanks, officials are pointing to the potential leak site as another reason more funding is needed at the site. The crack is well above the waste level in the tanks and is not leaking, but it is a […]

As expected, the Department of Energy is moving ahead with a small business procurement for design of the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts at Oak Ridge separate from the construction work, releasing a sources sought notice Friday. The sludge buildouts at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center is designed to process about 2,000 cubic meters of sludge […]

The construction of two new Saltstone Disposal Units at the Savannah River site has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget, the Department of Energy and liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation announced yesterday. The units are vaults used to permanently dispose of low level salt waste, which is mixed with cement to form […]

The federal government should increase its emphasis on Savannah River Site tank waste given the deterioration of Savannah River tanks, according to an editorial in the Aiken Standard yesterday. “It’s been evident for years that the cleanup process at the Savannah River site needs to be sped up. As waste tanks at SRS continue to […]

Paul Hirschman has been named the director of the Office of River Protection’s engineering division for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, leading the team responsible for the project design. He joined the Office of River Protection in 2006 and previously was a nuclear operator for the Navy and worked for private industry. Hirschman replaces Gary […]

While a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board review of the Sludge Processing Buildouts Project at Oak Ridge did not identify major safety issues, it found several concerns that should be addressed before the project moves onto the next design phase. The sludge buildouts at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center is designed to process about 2,000 […]

The Department of Energy late yesterday issued what it calls a new “framework” for addressing Hanford’s tank waste that envisions a phased approach to operation of the site’s Waste Treatment Plant, but largely stays within concepts that have been the works for several years.  The first phase would entail completing and initiating operation of the […]

Facing steep funding cuts to the Savannah River Site’s tank waste cleanup program, the site’s Citizens Advisory Board this week urged action from DOE in a number of recommendations. The recommendations were approved at the CAB’s full board meeting Tuesday. One called for DOE to include enough funding in its Fiscal Year 2015 budget request […]

Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions has reportedly been awarded a three-year contract extension, according to industry officials. The five-year base term of WRPS’ contract comes to an end Sept. 30, and the contract includes a three-year option followed by a two-year option. The Department of Energy largely declined to comment on its […]

Six Hanford workers were taken to the hospital in Richland yesterday morning as a precaution after an unknown liquid spilled on some of them. Workers were at the 242-A Evaporator building dismantling piping that had been previously drained and taken out of service, said Rob Roxburgh, spokesman for Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection […]