High-Level & Tank Waste

After having its startup pushed back a number of times, the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site finally began operation yesterday. The facility is intended to treat the approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid waste by the end of this year to meet an Idaho Settlement Agreement commitment. According to DOE, […]

The Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office yesterday released the final version of an audit report looking into quality assurance issues with certain components at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The audit found that DOE had procured and installed vessels for the WTP’s “black cells” and other difficult-to-reach areas of the plant that did not […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is OK with the Department of Energy’s plans to improve the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. In a brief letter sent to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu March 2, the Board said DOE’s implementation plan is an “acceptable response” to DNFSB Recommendation 2011-1, which warned of […]

Washington River Protection Solutions has received a letter of enforcement following an evaluation for unreviewed safety questions it identified, including one involving a discrepancy in the tank farm waste transfer system design temperature. The unreviewed safety questions also included unanalyzed freezing during active waste transfer and unanalyzed potential failure of relief valves due to solids […]

The Department of Energy’s progress in improving the safety culture and overcoming technical issues at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is set to take center stage this week, as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board hits the road on Thursday for an all-day WTP hearing in Washington State near the Hanford site and key DOE […]

CH2M-WG Idaho has successfully completed its Operational Readiness Review for the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site, DOE said yesterday. The review, which ran from Feb. 27 to March 9, identified nine pre-start findings that DOE said related mainly to the “to the paper side of the review such as […]

A URS executive on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is alleging that URS sought to interfere with a Department of Energy investigation into safety concerns at the project. Donna Busche, who holds the position of Environmental and Nuclear Safety Manager, has alleged that a senior URS corporate official, Ellen Livingston-Behan, sought to interfere with her […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security believes URS management acted improperly in recently seeking to prevent a company employee from participating without supervision in an ongoing investigation into safety concerns at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. At issue is an allegation made by Donna Busche, who serves as WTP Environmental and Nuclear […]

While the Department of Energy is examining potential changes to Bechtel National’s contract for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant to include safety culture elements, a senior contractor official said late last week that incentives aren’t needed for Bechtel National to make improvements. DOE is examining Bechtel National’s contract for possible revision as part of efforts […]

The price tag for the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility is set to increase by approximately $400 million according to a new estimate Parsons has submitted to the Department of Energy, WC Monitor has learned. Senior DOE officials, including Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman, were briefed on the new estimate-at-completion yesterday. The new estimate […]

Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions earned almost all of its available fee for Fiscal Year 2011, according to information the Department of Energy released this week. In total, WRPS earned $33,126,746.90 out of an available $33,334,089.90. The contractor’s fee included approximately $32 million tied to a set of performance-based incentives, with a […]

As part of efforts to address safety culture concerns at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Bechtel National is bringing over Ward Sproat from Bechtel’s Power Global Business Unit to aid in efforts to help better align engineering and nuclear safety activities. In his new role at the WTP, which goes into effect Feb. 21, Sproat […]

The Department of Energy is now projecting that the Idaho Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility will begin operation by the end of April. The SBWT Facility, which has had a history of cost and schedule issues, is intended to treat by the end of this year the approximately 900,000 gallons of liquid waste remaining at DOE’s […]

The Department of Energy will look at better managing its Hanford Waste Treatment Plant contract to balance the demands of cost and schedule with a strong safety culture, according to DOE’s implementation plan for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s safety culture recommendations, which was submitted to the Board Dec. 27. The plan goes beyond […]

A Washington state judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Walt Tamosaitis, a former contractor official at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, against Bechtel National over allegations that Bechtel had interfered with his work on the WTP project. In a decision that ran slightly longer than one page, Judge Craig Matheson granted Bechtel National’s motion […]

The Department of Energy’s Office of Health, Safety and Security is set to release later this week the results of a new review of the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. While the review’s exact findings are still unknown, HSS is believed to have taken a more critical stance […]

Babcock & Wilcox is bringing on Chuck Spencer—who most recently served as the President of URS-led Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions—in a senior corporate position under B&W Technical Services Group President George Dudich, WC Monitor has learned. Spencer announced his retirement from URS and WRPS on Friday and his last day will […]

The watchdog group Hanford Challenge is calling for a halt to some work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the wake of a new Department of Energy report that warns that a significant number of personnel don’t feel comfortable raising safety concerns. “There are too many outstanding unresolved safety and design issues to justify […]

The USA Today examines the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in a hefty “special report” published today under the headline: “Problems Plague Cleanup at Hanford Nuclear Waste Site.” The full article is available here. “A USA TODAY investigation has found that the troubled, 10-year effort to build the treatment plant faces enormous problems just as it […]

The Department of Energy’s Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer, Glenn Podonsky, appears to be skeptical that changes in management personnel are needed to respond to safety culture concerns at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Earlier this month, Podonsky’s office issued a report outlining the results of a second review conducted on the safety culture […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is seeking more information from the Department of Energy on how it plans to address erosion and corrosion concerns at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. In a Jan. 20 letter, the Board outlined the results of a nine-month evaluation of the wear allowances specified by WTP contractor Bechtel National […]

Startup of the Sodium-Bearing Waste Treatment Facility at the Department of Energy’s Idaho site has been pushed back yet again, potentially putting DOE at risk of failing to meet a commitment to the state of Idaho to have the remaining liquid waste at the site treated by the end of the year. DOE and Idaho […]

Walt Tamosaitis, a former senior contractor official on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant who has alleged he was removed from the project for raising safety concerns, is taking his legal fight over his removal to federal court in a lawsuit set to be filed today. The suit will be filed against the Department of Energy and […]

A second senior contractor official on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant has filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor, alleging retaliation by WTP project contractor Bechtel National and subcontractor URS for raising safety issues. The complaint was filed late last week by Donna Busche, who works for URS and holds the position of […]

The Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is facing a new round of troubles, with DOE opening an official investigation into safety aspects of the plant’s design while acknowledging yesterday that the project is likely to go well above its current cost estimate of approximately $12.2 billion. In a letter sent to WTP contractor Bechtel National late […]

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to the Department of Energy yesterday with a host of questions over the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant project. Markey’s letter comes approximately a week after a second contractor executive on the project, Donna Busche, filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging retaliation […]

An independent team of nuclear safety experts is set to release today the findings of a study conducted on the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The team was commissioned by WTP project contractor Bechtel National earlier this year in response to a Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board recommendation urging improvements to the […]

Walt Tamosaitis, the former Hanford Waste Treatment Plant employee-turned alleged whistleblower, appears to have found at least one high-profile supporter in Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), chair of the Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight. During a subcommittee hearing yesterday, McCaskill offered words of support to Tamosaitis, an employee of WTP subcontractor URS who has […]

In a court filing obtained by WC Monitor yesterday, Bechtel National is seeking a dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Tamosaitis, who has alleged he was removed from the project for raising safety issues. In a motion for summary judgment filed late last month in the Superior Court of Washington for Benton County, Bechtel National […]

In order to make updates to salt waste disposal equipment at the Savannah River Site, liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation this week suspended salt waste operations at the site until August. The nine-month planned outage will not affect the schedule for tank waste closure at the site, as work on the 15 tanks currently […]