1 Hanford contractor’s pay for a year’s work — $20 million

The Hanford sitewide-services contractor has earned almost $20.4 million in incentive pay from the Department of Energy for last year’s work.

Mission Support Alliance will be awarded about 94 percent of the $21.7 million available in taxpayer money for the fiscal year that ended in September, DOE announced Monday.

It’s the highest award earned by the company since its contract began in 2009, said Bob Wilkinson, Mission Support Alliance president.

In fiscal 2016 Mission Support Alliance was awarded $19.2 million, or 91 percent of the maximum incentive pay, and the fiscal year before that it was awarded $18.8 million, or 89 percent of the total available.

“This year’s successes highlight our commitment to delivering the right solution at the right time, and for the right value, which helps enable progress on Hanford cleanup,” Wilkinson said.

Mission Support Alliance provides the basic services that keep the nuclear reservation running, including security; fire protection; utilities; cybersecurity and information management; training; and vehicle and road maintenance.

It also provides portfolio management services for DOE, compiling technical data to help DOE understand costs and alternatives as it adjusts plans to meet environmental cleanup goals at Hanford.

Mission Support Alliance is owned primarily by Leidos, with Centerra Group owning the remaining 12 percent. Its 10-year contract, which is valued at about $3 billion, is set to expire in May 2019.

“The contractor met or exceeded the majority of performance goals and objectives,” DOE said in a summary of the pay award.

DOE found no significant deficiencies in its annual evaluations, it said.

But among areas where improvements are needed is driver safety, DOE said.

It is concerned about the number of both passenger and construction vehicle accidents. The number was not immediately available Monday.

“This has been a persistent issue from previous years, and corrective actions from previous events have not been fully effective,” DOE said.

DOE also raised the issue of a central Hanford sewer operation plan prepared by its contractor. The Washington state Department of Ecology, a Hanford regulator, rejected the initial plan based on its quality, DOE said

The list of Mission Support Alliance’s achievements was longer. Some of them included:

▪  The Hanford Fire Department “did an exceptional job” during a volatile fire season, DOE said.

The site had 20 wildland fires burn more than 22,500 acres on Hanford last summer through late September, compared to nine wildland fires the previous summer.

Firefighters did extensive work to reinforce established fire lines and to clear vegetation that could fuel fires, DOE said.

When a fast-moving fire jumped Highway 12, firefighters stopped it from burning into the 200 West Area of Hanford, which includes the Plutonium Finishing Plant and tanks storing radioactive waste.

▪  The contractor performed well after the discovery that a PUREX plant tunnel storing radioactive waste had partially collapsed in May.

It activated the Emergency Operations Center and operated it efficiently, DOE said.

The previous emergency training Mission Support Alliance provided paid off, highlighting the value of consistent training across Hanford, DOE said.

▪  The contractor responded and managed costs well in cases of increased demand for services.

Its roads program operated above DOE’s expectations when faced with the task of keeping roads cleared in an unusually severe winter.

It is keeping up with the increased demand to fill air bottles as the use of supplied air respirators at Hanford has increased. It is filling air bottles at a rate of 80,000 a year, up from 8,000 just four years ago.

This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 7:32 PM with the headline "1 Hanford contractor’s pay for a year’s work — $20 million."