Bechtel National expects the Hanford vitrification plant construction site to have full power restored this morning.
Construction was stopped at the Waste Treatment Plant campus Monday and Tuesday because of a power outage, but workers were expected to return today.
Although progress was being made Tuesday to restore power, workers still were advised to call the employee hotline at 373-3333 before leaving for work this morning.
The power outage affected about 1,400 workers, but only the construction crews did not report to work Tuesday. Engineers and professionals were assigned to work or training in town.
The cause of the outage still was being investigated Tuesday. The problem occurred on the vit plant campus after the Mission Support Alliance, which manages Hanford utilities for the Department of Energy, had delivered power to the campus.
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Columbia Generating Station may start up Saturday
Columbia Generating Station may start up Saturday
Energy Northwest has begun to power up its nuclear power plant near Richland at the end of the longest outage in its history.
The reactor went critical Monday and if work goes well, the reactor could be supplying power to the electrical grid Saturday.
A few days after that, the plant could be operating at full power, said Brad Sawatzke, the plant's chief nuclear officer, after an Energy Northwest board committee meeting Wednesday.
Energy Northwest enters mediation on condenser lawsuit
Energy Northwest enters mediation on condenser lawsuit
Energy Northwest and the contractor it hired to replace the condenser at its nuclear power plant near Richland have agreed to mediation in a lawsuit filed by the contractor.
Judge Edward Shea has ordered a halt to proceedings in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court at least until spring at the request of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy, which filed the lawsuit, and Energy Northwest.
Mediation is expected to occur in mid-April, according to court documents.
Nuclear plant back on grid after long outage
Nuclear plant back on grid after long outage
The Columbia Generating Station reconnected to the Northwest power grid Tuesday after the longest refueling outage in its history.
The Energy Northwest nuclear plant near Richland connected to the grid when it was at 20 percent power. It will take several days to ramp up to full power, producing approximately 1,150 megawatts, or enough electricity for about 1 million Washington homes.
The nuclear power plant began its refueling outage April 6, expecting to be off line for about 80 days. However, the outage also was planned as a chance to replace the plant's 26-year-old condenser.
Contractor sues Energy Northwest
Contractor sues Energy Northwest
The contractor hired to replace the condenser at the Columbia Generating Station has sued, claiming it's Energy Northwest's fault that the work took far longer than scheduled.
Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy filed the breach of contract lawsuit in U.S. District Court. It claims that Energy Northwest failed to reveal important information about the work, costing B&W about $50 million.
"We have some differences of opinion regarding the facts," said Rochelle Olson, Energy Northwest spokeswoman. "We will defend our position in the best interests of the Northwest ratepayers."
RADIATION EXPOSURE: 17 Idaho workers exposed to plutonium (update)
RADIATION EXPOSURE: 17 Idaho workers exposed to plutonium (update)
IDAHO FALLS — At least 17 Idaho National Laboratory workers were undergoing full-body scans after being exposed to low-level radiation from plutonium while doing clean up at the nuclear research site on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
There was no evidence that radiation was released outside the facility, and there is no risk to the public or the environment, the laboratory said in a statement. The workers underwent initial decontamination procedures at their worksite and were taken to the laboratory’s medical center for evaluation.
Investigators were at the site, trying to determine what went wrong.
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