The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state has instructed only “essential personnel” to report to work effective immediately under a “temporary planning operations status” due to COVID-19.
“Unless contacted by your supervisor, all federal, contractor, subcontractor, and craft employees should not report to work,” according to a notice Sunday on a website for the former plutonium production complex that is now home to a massive cleanup job. Employees who are already telecommuting should continue to do so.
Roughly 9,000 people work at Hanford, and a Sunday article in the Tri-City Herald suggested thousands could stay home.
In the notice, Hanford management called the decision a “prudent response” to the novel coronavirus 2019 pandemic. Hanford has publicly acknowledged several site employees have been tested for the virus – and their work areas have either been disinfected or are being cleaned. To date, no Hanford workers have been reported testing positive for COVID-19.
For bookkeeping purposes, “this will be treated similar to a weather day,” according to the stay-home notice. This apparently means Hanford will treat this as a day when extreme weather keeps most workers home.
The action also provides time for DOE and the contractors to more fully assess stocks of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, “and other consumables, and develop strategies to conserve limited inventory,” according to the announcement. The notice contained no details on whether such supplies might be running low.
An Energy Department spokesman said Sunday night he could add nothing beyond what was in the notice.
One source said Monday morning that some Energy Department cleanup sites have quietly arranged to move some extra protective gear, such as masks, to regional healthcare authorities.
The announcement was also posted on a Facebook page for the Hanford Atomic Metals Trades Council, an umbrella group of unions serving several major contractors at the cleanup complex. On the social media page, several union members asked what would happen to their health insurance in the event of a major furlough or layoffs of personnel. They also asked whether DOE contractors will use seniority in deciding the order of any potential layoffs.
Meanwhile, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina said over the weekend all employees – except those approved for telework – should report to work as normal today. The SRS notice also said the site continues to take COVID-19 precautions and will likely soon make telecommuting more widely available.
