Hanford Site cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. received just 80 percent of its available fee for fiscal 2018, after the Department of Energy called it out for the second year in a row over its performance at the Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition.
CH2M is responsible for environmental remediation in Hanford’s Central Plateau, plus some remaining river corridor and groundwater cleanup at the former plutonium production complex in Washington state.
In a fee scorecard Monday, the Department of Energy said CH2M earned $10.2 million of nearly $12.8 million available. The previous year it earned 89 percent of a smaller fee available, or nearly $10 million of a potential $11.1 million. Pay is split between money available for completing specific scopes of work and a subjective evaluation.
The most recent scorecard shows CH2M earned just 53 percent of the $3.8 million available under its subjective performance measures, down from 64 percent the year earlier. Scorecards for both years discussed the spread of radiological contamination during demolition of the plant in June and December 2017. Demolition has been suspended since the second incident.
The fiscal 2018 subjective fee determination addressed the December spread of contamination outside posted radiological boundaries after corrective actions failed in the wake of the June spread. It also reflected the cost and schedule effects the continuing work at the Plutonium Finishing Plant has had on other Hanford projects as work has fallen behind the Tri-Party Agreement deadline to have the building demolished by September 2017.
However, DOE did say in the scorecard that CH2M had shown steady performance improvement in radiological controls, work planning, and supervisory oversight of work at the plant. CH2M currently is loading out some radioactive waste at the Plutonium Finishing Plant, with demolition not expected to restart until late February or March.
CH2M earned 91 percent of the fee, or $8.2 million of $8.9 million, for completing specific work in fiscal 2018, according to the scorecard.
