Small Richland business wins $25 million Hanford contract

A small Richland business has won a subcontract worth up to $24.5 million to do electrical construction at the Hanford tank farms.

The subcontract for the next 12 months was awarded to American Electric by Washington River Protection Solutions, the Department of Energy contractor at the nuclear reservation’s tank farms.

American Electric had previously done electrical work under an expiring contract at the tank farms and submitted the winning bid for the follow-on contract.

Hanford has 179 underground tanks in the center of the site to store 56 million gallons of radioactive waste from the past production of plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

Seventeen of the tanks have been mostly emptied.

American Electric will do work to maintain and improve the existing electrical infrastructure and to prepare to feed tank waste to the massive vitrification plant under construction.

Tasks will include trenching, laying conduit, pulling wire, putting up structural steel, installing equipment and pouring concrete.

This story was originally published August 21, 2019 at 12:49 PM.