High-Level & Tank Waste

The Department of Energy needs to make additional progress securing spent fuel in the Savannah River Site’s L-Basin, according to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board technical report released last week. “The limited inspection data indicate that many of the cans have significant corrosion and that some have failed leading to fuel degradation. Gas is […]

Donna Busche, a senior contractor official at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, is escalating her efforts against Bechtel National and URS for allegedly conducting a campaign of retaliation against her for raising technical and safety concerns. Earlier this week, Busche, a URS employee who holds the position of Environmental and Nuclear Safety Manager at the […]

In the wake of the Department of Energy’s new disclosure that one of Hanford’s underground high-level waste tanks appears to be leaking, Washington state officials say they are considering new means to compel DOE to abide by existing cleanup obligations at the site. DOE’s disclosure “underscores the vital importance of a continued commitment by the […]

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will use his leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to make issues at Hanford a higher priority in the Senate, he said Tuesday. “There is not going to be a shortage of hearings as long as I am the chairman,” he said. He’ll be questioning the nominee for […]

The Department of Energy appears set to make a change in the Federal Project Director position for the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, WC Monitor has learned. The current FBD is Tony Polk, but the poor relationship between DOE project officials and executives with SWPF contractor Parsons have been the subject of […]

Management problems on the Waste Solidification Building being built at the Savannah River Site have led to a jump in the project’s price tag and nearly a year delay in the schedule for completing the facility. NW&M Monitor has learned that new estimates for the facility recently approved by the National Nuclear Security Administration indicate […]

The Department of Energy and Salt Waste Processing Facility contractor Parsons have agreed to defer resolution of a dispute over the return of $20 million in provisional fee until after the completion of contract discussions, which are expected to take several more months. DOE first demanded the return of the fee in an April letter […]

The price tag and schedule for the Waste Solidification Building has jumped for the second time in about a month and could go even higher as the project continues to recover from major management issues and design problems, the National Nuclear Security Administration told Congress yesterday. In a briefing on Capitol Hill, the NNSA said […]

Washington River Protection Solutions has completed waste retrieval activities at the tenth Hanford single-shell tank emptied to date, the Department of Energy announced yesterday. Waste retrieval activities began at the 530,000-gallon-capacity Tank C-109 in June 2007 using modified sluicing. By July 2008, bulk waste retrieval activities had been completed, leaving approximately 8,600 gallons of waste, […]

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu met last week with Bechtel Corp. Chairman and CEO Riley Bechtel to discuss, in part, Bechtel’s work on one of DOE’s largest projects—the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Exact details of what was discussed at the meeting, though, remain unclear. “Secretary Chu and Riley Bechtel have met regularly over the last […]

Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire is confident that Energy Secretary Chu working with the state will be able to resolve issues at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant before she leaves office in January, she said in a visit to the Hanford area Tuesday. She expects the plant to be on a path forward with no […]

Citing budgetary constraints, liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation yesterday announced that it is launching a voluntary separations program. “SRR has accomplished much since taking over as the SRS Liquid Waste contractor in July 2009. However, as some projects come to a close and budgets continue to be reduced, we have to realign our workforce […]

There continue to be weaknesses in the relationship between Salt Waste Processing Facility contractor Parsons and the Department of Energy officials at the Savannah River Site in charge of managing the project, a new DOE Construction Project Review of SWPF concludes. The review, completed earlier this month, has not been released, but DOE Senior Advisor […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling on the Department of Energy to upgrade the ventilation systems at Hanford’s double-shell tank farms to reduce the risks posed by flammable gases. In a formal recommendation sent to the Secretary of Energy in late September, and publicly released yesterday, the Board said that “safety-significant active ventilation” […]

A review of the slurry transport system to be used at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility has found a “substantial number” of safety issues that need to be resolved, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board warned in a letter sent to DOE cleanup chief David Huizenga Aug. 8. The Board’s review examined the […]

The Department of Energy late last week provided $40 million to contractor Parsons for construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility at the Savannah River Site, resolving near-term funding concerns raised by the contractor. “The $40M was a fourth quarter allocation of construction funds provided as committed in the baseline and the contract. It supports […]

A senior contractor official at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is making new allegations of harassment against her employer, URS. WTP Environmental and Nuclear Safety Manager Donna Busche has accused URS of unfairly refusing to provide her with paid time or time off to respond to a subpoena from attorneys for URS Energy and Construction […]

The Department of Energy hopes to be able to determine in the next several weeks if radioactive material detected in the space between the inner and outer layers of one of Hanford’s double-shell tanks is from an actual tank leak. Earlier this month, a video inspection conducted at Tank AY-102 found material in two locations […]

Jerry O’Leary has been tapped as the new acting waste program manager for CH2M Hill B&W West Valley, LLC, the cleanup contractor for the West Valley Demonstration Project. O’Leary replaces Ray Geimer, who was elevated to CHBWV Deputy General Manager when Dan Coyne was named as the contractor’s new General Manager earlier this summer. Prior […]

Recently prepared Department of Energy documents obtained by WC Monitor raise new concerns over aspects of Bechtel National’s performance at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. In a letter and report issued in mid-July, DOE issued Bechtel National a “Priority Level 1” finding regarding concerns over Bechtel National’s procurement program for WTP components. The July 16 […]

The Department of Energy’s engineering chief for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is calling for Bechtel National to be stripped of design authority on the project, asserting that the contractor has provided poor input on the massive project. In a scathing letter to top DOE Office of River Protection officials last week, Gary Brunson, director […]

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is tentatively expected to spend much of next week in the Hanford area, sequestered with a group of hand-picked experts. Chu and his team plan to take a fresh look at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, focusing specifically on its 18 black cells. The plant is planned to have enclosed concrete […]

Bechtel National is pushing back against recent allegations by a Department of Energy official at Hanford that the company is providing poor design work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Late last week, Gary Brunson, director of the WTP Engineering Division at the DOE Office of River Protection, issued a memorandum to top ORP officials […]

Challenges remain for completing Hanford’s tank waste feed delivery system, but DOE has made progress in completing the system that will allow the Waste Treatment Plant to operate, according to an audit by the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General. “We found the department completed a number of waste feed delivery sub-projects earlier than […]

Gary Brunson, the Department of Energy’s engineering chief for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, is reportedly retiring from DOE, likely by the end of this week. The move would come just one week after Brunson sent a scathing memorandum to top officials at the DOE Office of River Protection criticizing Bechtel National’s design work at […]

More than four months after the original request, the Department of Energy has yet to resolve a dispute over the return of about $20 million in provisional fee paid to Salt Waste Processing Facility contractor Parsons. DOE first asked for the return of the fee in an April 10 letter, stating that Parsons was set […]

More material has been found between the primary and outer shells of a Hanford double-shell tank, increasing concerns that Tank AY-102 may be deteriorating and leaking waste from its primary shell. In early August, radioactive material was found in two spots outside the tank’s primary shell, a first for one of Hanford’s 28 double-shell tanks, […]

Gary Brunson, the Department of Energy official behind a recent memorandum harshly criticizing Bechtel National’s performance at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, has decided to drop his plans to retire from DOE, WC Monitor has learned. While Brunson had submitted the necessary paperwork to retire and scheduled his last day for Aug. 31, he subsequently […]

Bechtel National is facing another round of criticism for its performance at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, with the Department of Energy late last week questioning the contractor’s effort to address management concerns. In a Sept. 5 letter, obtained by WC Monitor, DOE described as “not adequate” the corrective action plan Bechtel National developed in […]

The Department of Energy now does not expect to resume start-up activities at the Idaho Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility until sometime next year as it works to address technical issues that emerged during startup this summer, according to a DOE spokeswoman. In recent months, DOE and CH2M-WG Idaho have been investigating the cause of a “filter […]