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Hanford's two newest major contractors officially took over work Wednesday, equipped with plans they believe will make cleanup of the nuclear reservation safer and more efficient.
Washington River Protection Solutions, under a $7.1 billion contract for up to 10 years, has hired 1,105 employees to manage and operate Hanford's tank farms and prepare for operations of the vitrification plant. Almost all of the tank farm workers for outgoing contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group who applied for jobs with the new contractor were hired.
And CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co., under a $4.5 billion contract for up to a decade, has hired 1,950 employees to clean up much of central Hanford, to clean up contaminated soil and ground water and to take over work at the K East and K West Reactors.
Any employees the plateau remediation contractor did not hire from Fluor Hanford will remain with Fluor as it continues to provide sitewide services until a new mission support contractor is in place. Fluor Hanford has about 1,700 employees remaining but is accepting applications for the second phase of voluntary layoffs.
The two new contractors will be ramping up work in the coming months, but they and DOE officials were ready to start talking about their plans Wednesday after meetings with Hanford employees.
Washington River Protection Solutions brings a breadth of experience from across the DOE complex in managing and successfully retrieving radioactive liquid waste, said Shirley Olinger, manager of the DOE Hanford Office of River Protection. The team has done similar work at sites in South Carolina, Idaho and West Valley, N.Y.
It also has valuable nuclear experience that will help as it prepares for operation of the vitrification plant being built to treat Hanford radioactive waste now stored in underground tanks, she said. Its duties include not only preparing waste for treatment but also training plant operators.
The contractor initially will finish work to empty radioactive waste from two of Hanford's 149 leak-prone single shell tanks, Tanks C-110 and C-104, using current Hanford technology, said Bill Johnson, president of Washington River Protection Solutions.
But it has plans to bring new technologies to the difficult problem of retrieving radioactive waste from underground tanks and will concentrate on building and testing a new mechanical system this fiscal year.
It will use a robotic arm that Olinger compared to a vacuum with end attachments that can be changed to go after different types of waste in the tanks. New technology has made robotic arms smaller, lighter and more able to withstand the harsh environment within the tanks.
Some tanks have required multiple systems to be installed in the tanks and then pulled out. But the robotic arms should require less rigging, fewer equipment entries into the tanks and less liquid to be added to help remove waste, Olinger said.
Limiting liquid is key, Johnson said. Adding liquid creates a risk of leaks in the old tanks and creates more waste that must be evaporated or stored in double shell tanks that are near capacity.
The new contractor also will be using a cleaning system that uses chemicals to help dissolve waste. It is expected to be able to remove more of the last waste remaining in the bottom of the tanks after mechanical removal methods reach their limits.
In hiring the second new contractor, DOE was looking for a company with cleanup experience to bring the same efficiency to the central Hanford and related work that Washington Closure Hanford has brought to cleanup of Hanford along the river corridor, said Dave Brockman, DOE Hanford manager of the Richland Operations Office.
CH2M Hill plans to use a zone approach to cleanup of central Hanford, said President John Lehew. It will tear down structures, clean up soil and put systems in place for cleaning up ground water at sites such as old processing plants in an integrated approach. The goal is to shrink the footprint of the portion of the site needing cleaning, reduce costs for maintenance and surveillance, and demonstrate progress to Hanford regulators and the Tri-City community, Lehew said.
This fiscal year, the contractor plans to complete an analysis of methods to treat the radioactive K Basins sludge and continue cleanup at the K Reactors. The remainder of the weapons-grade plutonium at the Plutonium Finishing Plant should be shipped to South Carolina this year and the new contractor will be ramping up cleanup of the plant.
It also will start work on preparing the interior of U Plant for its demolition. It is Hanford's first huge processing canyon planned to be cleaned up.
Among CH2M Hill's goals is more efficient handling of waste from work such as building demolition. It will package and survey waste at the point it is generated to reduce costs and risks to workers.
Benefits will change for new Hanford workers under the two new contractors. Although workers now accruing benefits for the traditional Hanford pension will continue in that program, new employees not on the pension plan will get an enhanced 401(k) plan. Contractors will pay an amount up to 9 percent of worker wages into the plan and workers also can choose to contribute a percentage of their wages.
Both contractors say they plan to support small businesses with initial goals of about 20 percent of the contract work performed by small firms.
