Vitrification & Grout

GAO Questions DOE’s Planning for New Hanford Vit Plant Facilities Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/8/2015 The price tag for key portions of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant long seen as being less difficult to accomplish may be set to significantly increase, with contractor Bechtel National having estimated that the work could cost up to almost […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 5/1/2015 The ongoing suspension of work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Pretreatment Facility appears to be taking a toll on the project’s various suppliers of components and materials, which pose “significant risks” to the entire project, according to an internal report by WTP contractor Bechtel National made public this week. […]

Bechtel Making Progress at Melters of WTP’s Low-Activity Waste Facility WC Monitor 3/27/2015 Bechtel National workers have finished placing refractory in the two 300-ton melters at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s Low Activity Waste Facility. Refractory is the fire- and heat-resistant brick that lines the inside of the melters, which will heat liquid radioactive waste […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/13/2015 Bechtel National received a slight uptick in fee for its work at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in the second half of 2014, according to information the Department of Energy released late this week. Bechtel National earned 65 percent of the award fee available for the six-month period, or $4.095 […]

DNFSB Raises Concerns Over Ventilation System at WTP Facility WC Monitor 2/6/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board expressed concern this week over the ability of the confinement ventilation system to be used at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility to effectively perform its safety function in the event of a seismic incident. […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Department of Energy is in talks with Bechtel National on a potential financial settlement to collectively resolve a number of outstanding safety findings at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, WC Monitor has learned. The settlement reportedly would entail Bechtel National agreeing to pay at least $1 million in fines […]

DNFSB Wants Info From DOE On Preventing Hydrogen Explosions at WTP WC Monitor 1/30/2015 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is questioning how the Department of Energy plans to prevent hydrogen explosions in some tanks holding high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The Board is asking for a written report in 90 […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is calling on the Department of Energy to provide more information on how it intends to prevent potential hydrogen explosions in a portion of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. Currently, the Safety Design Strategy for the WTP’s High-Level Waste Facility “does not define a nuclear safety control strategy for […]

Staff Reports WC Monitor 1/23/2015 The state of Washington is concerned that the Department of Energy may be planning to take longer to build the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and scale back on retrieving waste from single-shell tanks at the site to lower annual spending, according to new documents filed in federal court. DOE said […]

Wash. State Supports New LAW Pretreatment System WC Monitor 12/5/2014 The state of Washington supports the concept of a proposed new facility that would allow Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant to start treating some waste sooner, but has concerns about how the Department of Energy will pay for the facility. The proposed Low-Activity Waste Pretreatment System, […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/7/2014 With storage space running out for vitrified high-level waste canisters at the Savannah River Site, “double stacking” the canisters in the current storage building could be an interim solution, according to a proposal by the site’s liquid waste contractor, Savannah River Remediation. Currently the canisters are housed in a storage […]

Design Review Finds Vulnerabilities At a Number of Facility Systems Mike Nartker WC Monitor 9/12/2014 In a significant step forward toward completing one of the main portions of the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, Bechtel National has received approval to resume “full production engineering” at the vit plant’s High-Level Waste Facility. As a result, Bechtel National […]

Savannah River liquid waste contractor Savannah River Remediation is seeking companies able to propose improvements or alternatives for plans involving future storage of vitrified waste. Savannah River’s Defense Waste Processing Facility processes high-level tank waste into glass canisters, but space at the existing Glass Waste Storage Building is expected to run out in the coming […]

Despite Years of Effort to Improve Safety Culture, New Assessment Finds Little Progress Made Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/27/2014 Employees at the Department of Energy’s Office of River Protection do not appear to be fully on board with Manager Kevin Smith’s new, more collaborative approach to managing Bechtel National at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, […]

Despite years of effort by the Department of Energy and contractor Bechtel National to improve the safety culture at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, there has been little meaningful change and, in some instances, things appear to have gotten worse, according to the results of a new study the DOE Office of Independent Enterprise Assessment […]

Half of Bechtel National’s Fee Tied To Self-Identifying Issues Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/07/2014 PHOENIX, Ariz.—A new approach to how Bechtel National can earn fee at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant that seeks to encourage the contractor to do more to identify issues and concerns is paying dividends, Department of Energy and contractor officials said here […]

Is ‘War on Whistleblowers’ Underway at Hanford? Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/21/2014 In a move that’s prompted new calls for investigations into how the Department of Energy protects whistleblowers, URS this week terminated a key nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant who has alleged she has faced harassment and retaliation for raising […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/14/2014 Senior management at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant has not established a culture “in which quality is a core value,” an internal review has found. The results of a “common cause analysis” into the long-stand quality assurance issues at the WTP, chartered by project contractor Bechtel National, were outlined in […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 2/14/2014 Bechtel National is looking to conduct a significant reorganization of its management at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant that reportedly could see a key safety manager who has alleged she has faced retaliation for raising safety concerns moved out of her position, WC Monitor has learned. Many details of BNI’s […]

Board Warns Unresolved Safety Issues Still Exist Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/31/2014 The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board this week officially closed a formal recommendation from 2010 concerning the pulse jet mixing systems to be used at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, but also warned that there are still related safety issues that need to […]

Preliminary Conclusions Highlight Design Concerns With Various Facility Systems Mike Nartker WC Monitor 1/10/2014 As the Department of Energy gears up to begin resuming some long-paused activities at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant’s High-Level Waste Facility, a new review is highlighting design concerns with various facility systems that could impact how much work comes back online. […]

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hold a public meeting May 28 on safety culture, the Board announced Friday. It will be the first of two upcoming meetings on the subject. “In this first hearing, the Board will receive testimony from a recognized industry expert in the field of safety culture, with a focus […]

Bechtel Corp. has assigned its corporate head of quality to take over leadership of quality, engineering, procurement and other key functions at Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant. A new position was created for Michael Costas, and he will report directly to Peggy McCullough, project director of the plant. He will supervise construction, plant startup and safeguards […]

Donna Busche, a former nuclear safety manager at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, is looking to drop a lawsuit she filed against WTP contractor Bechtel National and subcontractor URS alleging she faced retaliation for raising concerns. Busche filed her suit in early 2013 after more than a year went by without the Department of Labor […]

While Parsons submitted a ‘best and final offer’ in late March for an agreement on commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, the Department of Energy is preparing to counter the offer, WC Monitor has learned. It is unclear whether Parsons will consider the counteroffer, or will stick to its final proposal. After […]

The state of Washington issued new demands Monday to hold the Department of Energy accountable for Hanford tank waste retrieval and treatment, proposing a lengthy and detailed list of changes to the 2010 court-enforced consent decree. The proposal would have DOE meet the existing final Tri-Party Agreement requirement to have all tank waste treated by […]

After protracted talks on a path forward for commissioning and startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, contractor Parsons has recently submitted to the Department of Energy a cost-share proposal that’s believed to be the company’s ‘best and final offer’ for the startup work, WC Monitor has learned. The proposal will be sent to DOE […]

Bechtel National earned only 48 percent of the fee available for the second half of 2013 for its work on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, according to information the Department of Energy released yesterday. In total, Bechtel National earned $3.025 million out of an available $6.3 million in award fee, according to a DOE award […]

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 […]

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 […]