March 17, 2014

DOE SAYS BECHTEL NATIONAL CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN AT WTP ‘NOT ADEQUATE’

By ExchangeMonitor

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 response to several Priority Level 1 findings the Department has issued concerning the contractor’s management performance. “DOE does not believe the causal analyses and resulting root causes are tied to a robust set of corrective actions that would fully address the issues identified in the DOE findings,” wrote Scott Samuelson, manager of DOE’s Office of River Protection. “We are committed to working with BNI to come to agreement on an acceptable root cause analysis and corrective action plan. However, until that agreement is reached, DOE does not have confidence that BNI’s plan to address these issues, including the Reliability Validation Process (RVP); will result in the necessary fundamental improvements.” 

In March, staff at the Office of River Protection developed a report outlining a set of performance issues that resulted in concerns of a “potential breakdown” in Bechtel National’s management performance at the WTP. The report outlined DOE concerns over how Bechtel National has managed safety and design margin at the WTP and other “significant” issues that could lead to “substantial” quality, cost and schedule impacts. “These issues, combined with a number of less important, but still representative, examples of less than adequate performance, indicates a systemic integrated management performance concern. These performance issues raise serious concerns with BNI’s integrated management system,” the report said.
 
Samuelson wrote in his letter last week that DOE plans to meet with Bechtel National management to “establish common expectations for acceptable root cause analyses, corrective action plans, and implementation of corrective actions moving forward” and to work with the contractor to develop “acceptable” corrective action plans for the various management concerns raised. However, Samuelson also warned that if DOE and Bechtel National cannot “gain alignment on mutually acceptable root cause analyses and corrective action plans” within 30 days, then DOE would direct Bechtel National to “suspend” implementation of corrective actions until approved by the Department. “We will not support implementing corrective actions without DOE concurrence that these actions are necessary and sufficient,” Samuelson wrote.

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NEW: Via public records request, I’ve been able to confirm reporting today that a warrant has been issued for DOE deputy asst. secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition Sam Brinton for another luggage theft, this time at Las Vegas’s Harry Reid airport. (cc: @EMPublications)

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