Possible roadblock raised in approving new leader for Hanford, DOE cleanup

Efforts to name a new leader for the Department of Energy’s environmental cleanup program at Hanford and across the nation may have hit a speed bump.

Thursday, the U.S. Senate and Energy Natural Resources Committee considered the nomination of Anne White of Michigan for the position of assistant secretary of energy for environmental management, or EM-1, as Hanford workers know the position.

The White House announced its pick for the position on Jan. 3. Just 15 days later White was answering Senate committee questions, including from the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

But at the hearing, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said he was prepared to withhold her confirmation until the Department of Energy ends a practice that puts its excess uranium on the market, which drives down the price of uranium mined in Wyoming.

White had met with Barrasso, and he said she had been unable to give him a firm answer that the practice would be halted. The senator said Energy Secretary Rick Perry supported ending the practice.

Cantwell pressed White to commit to safety improvements and to requesting adequate budgets for Hanford.

“If confirmed you will need to improve the safety culture at the site (and) ensure health and safety of our cleanup workers, in addition to making sure that we have adequate funding and keeping the cleanup effort on track to meet the cleanup milestones,” Cantwell said.

The Trump administration shortchanged Hanford in its budget proposal last year by more than $100 million, Cantwell said. But the past year should have served as a lesson to the administration on the need for adequate funding for the Hanford nuclear reservation, she said.

In May, a tunnel storing equipment with highly radioactive contamination was discovered partly collapsed, and demolition of the Plutonium Finishing Plant is currently halted after a second significant spread of radioactive contamination.

Completing the Hanford vitrification plant also will be a “very big challenge,” Cantwell said.

Construction on the plant to glassify radioactive waste for disposal started in 2002 and it could begin limited treatment of waste in 2022, reaching full plant operation in 2036, under a court order.

White said that safety is one leg, along with cost and production, of a three-legged stool on work to cleanup environmental contamination at the nation’s nuclear sites. Hanford made plutonium during World War II and the Cold War for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

Decisions have to be timely and made with an understanding of the long time-line involved, White said, referring to comments about waste that may remain radioactive for 1,000 years.

Decisions also must have a strong technical and a strong cost basis, she said.

When EM-1 makes a commitment or has a legal deadline to meet, if needs to be treated not as an option or an aspiration but a true obligation, she said.

She understands the importance of safety after starting her career working in the field and benefiting from protective equipment, including respirators, she said.

Cantwell asked her to commit to working with labor organizations, contractors and DOE officials at Hanford for safe working conditions, including supplied air respirators as protection against chemical vapors associated with waste held in underground tanks.

“As with any other safety device, there are pluses and minuses,” White said. “Should I be confirmed, I would be happy to work with the unions, the workers and your staff to determine the appropriate measures to take.”

Maintaining and building the trust of workers would be a priority, she said. She also would be “willing and eager” to talk with the public.

Asked by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., if she would hold DOE contractors accountable for requirements for subcontracting to small businesses, White pointed out that she has been the owner of a small business.

White has a master’s degree in nuclear engineering and started her career performing physical cleanup as a strategy to learn the environmental cleanup business in the most basic way, she said.

“That experience was informative and provided a sound basis to help form my consulting firm in 1995,” she said. “Since founding my firm, my years working within the commercial and government nuclear industry and the mentoring from well-respected industry experts have helped me grow into an experienced leader and innovative problem solver.”

The position for which White is nominated was held by Monica Regalbuto at the end of the Barack Obama administration. James Owendoff has filled the position in an acting capacity since June.

“It is important to have a permanent assistant secretary in place to move the Hanford cleanup mission forward, so I hope that she will be confirmed by the Senate very soon,” said David Reeploeg, vice president for federal programs at the Tri-City Development Council.

He said he appreciated her comments supporting meeting legal deadlines at Hanford and her commitment to worker safety.

Annette Cary: 509-582-1533, @HanfordNews

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Possible roadblock raised in approving new leader for Hanford, DOE cleanup."