Richland nuclear engineering firm sold

A long-time Richland engineering firm has been purchased by AVANTech Inc.

The South Carolina firm purchased Mid Columbia Engineering, a design-and-build company founded in 1975 in Richland.

Mid Columbia Engineering has done work not only at the Hanford nuclear reservation but also at Department of Energy projects in Paducah and Portsmouth, Ky., and Savannah River, S.C.

Its Hanford work has included helping with an autosampling system to remotely collect waste samples at the vitrification plant.

AVANTech plans to integrate the skills of Richland workers to help deliver products to the Hanford nuclear reservation and other West Coast sites.

The Richland firm will be a division of AVANTech and will continue to expand its Richland facility, AVANTech said. Mid Columbia Engineering chief executive officer Fred Yapuncich will serve as chief operating officer of the Richland division.

AVANTech, with a fabrication facility near Oak Ridge, Tenn., provides radioactive and industrial water treatment services.

The terms of purchase were not disclosed.

This story was originally published July 29, 2018 at 5:22 PM.