Hanford Vit Plant Comes in Second
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
5/23/2014
The Portsmouth D&D project has the most open Department of Energy investigations underway in the DOE cleanup program, according to documents WC Monitor obtained this week. The DOE Office of Enforcement is in the midst of three investigations—that could result in financial penalties— tied to incidents that have occurred at the Portsmouth site, followed by two investigation underway at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant. The circumstances of the investigations were outlined in a set of letters DOE released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request WC Monitor filed seeking information on “any and all” Office of Enforcement investigations underway at EM sites. DOE headquarters did not respond to requests for comment this week on the status of the investigations or when they are expected to be completed
Two of the three Portsmouth-related investigations center on the site’s D&D contractor, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, while the third deals with a subcontractor. DOE is believed to be in the very initial stages, though, of determining whether or not to exercise options in FBP’s current contract to keep in place at Portsmouth for up to five additional years, or to put the D&D contract out for rebid. In addition, a team led by Fluor is also in competition for DOE’s new contract to provide deactivation services at Portsmouth’s sister site, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The DOE Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office declined to comment this week. In a statement, FBP spokesman Jeff Wagner said, “Corrective actions were developed and implemented when these incidents were promptly reported and investigated over a year ago. Overall our safety culture and operations continue to improve while field work continues to increase. These events have proved to be valuable lessons and served to strengthen our decontamination and decommissioning program.”
Equipment Incidents, Falsified Documents
Of the three investigations underway at Portsmouth, two deal with a set of incidents involving mechanized material handling equipment that occurred in 2012. The incidents include an excavator arm/boom contacting de-energized overhead power lines, a mobile crane tipping forward and an excavator striking overhead fiber optic lines. DOE said last year that none of the three incidents resulted in injuries to Portsmouth workers. Along with FBP being under investigation for the incidents, the DOE Office of Enforcement has also launched an investigation into subcontractor Wise Services for its role in the “near miss” that occurred when the excavator struck overhead fiber optic lines, according to a Feb. 26, 2013 letter.
The third investigation at Portsmouth deals with “the facts and circumstances associated with documentation issues regarding the calibration of radiation survey meters” at the site, according to a Feb. 18, 2014, letter. Last spring, FBP fired 14 workers at the Portsmouth D&D project after an investigation found that records associated with radiation detectors had been falsified. The records appeared to have been changed to cover instances where the radiological monitors had been kept in service after failing a source check. FBP said at the time that there had been no evidence that contaminated items may have been improperly released from a radiological area as result of the use of detectors that did not pass source checks. The incident was also the subject of an investigation performed by the DOE Inspector General’s Office, the results of which have yet to be made public.
WTP Investigations Stretch Back to Fall 2011
At the Hanford vit plant, one of the two currently open investigations deals with “apparent vessel welding deficiencies,” according to an Aug. 12, 2013, letter from DOE. The letter notes, “These deficiencies were revealed through the extent of condition review initiated in response to vessel (RLD-VSL-0008) defects discovered on May 5, 2012.” The second, which was launched in the fall of 2011, deals with “potential nuclear safety noncompliances” with design work performed by WTP contractor Bechtel National, according to DOE. In the fall of 2012, the draft findings of DOE’s investigation were made public that said Bechtel National appeared to have committed “numerous violations” of DOE nuclear safety requirements at the WTP. DOE has yet to publicly release, though, the official findings of the investigation. Bechtel National declined to comment on the open investigations this week.