Hanford workers to return to the nuclear site after 9 weeks at home

A phased return to work at the Hanford nuclear reservation will start the day after Memorial Day weekend, the Department of Energy announced Thursday.

Most workers are staying home for the ninth week now to control the spread of the new coronavirus.

About 60% of about 11,000 Hanford employees are working from home, and 10% to 15% have been reporting to the site to do mostly work considered essential for the safety of the public, workers and the environment.

Starting Tuesday, May 26, some workers will return to the site for high priority work or low risk work, which could include construction, training and medical evaluations, said DOE Hanford manager Brian Vance in a message to employees.

Most of the high priority work is expected to also be low risk.

“Most office workers will continue to telework, but senior leaders who have been teleworking will return to the office,” Vance said.

Masks required

Face coverings will be required unless employees are working alone. There also will continue to be restrictions on travel and gathering in large groups.

Workers are asked to monitor themselves for fevers or other symptoms that could indicate infection with the new coronavirus to decide whether they should report to work.

Mission Support Alliance, the Hanford contractor for services ranging from utilities to training, said that about 150 employees will return to work on Tuesday at the HAMMER training center and to do work management planning and to provide limited support to other Hanford contractors.

More than 500 of the contractors employees have been reporting to work as needed or regularly over the past nine weeks, it said.

Washington River Protection Solutions, the Hanford tank farm contractor, expects to see little change to its staffing next week.

“Additional employees should plan to return to onsite work in early June as part of this phased approach,” said John Eschenberg, the contractor president, in a message to employees.

At the Hanford vitrification plant, an additional 20 to 30 workers are expected to restart work next week for tasks that include grading for paving work, preparing personal protective equipment and inspecting and maintaining equipment and buildings.

“The vast majority of non-manual and craft employees will continue in a teleworking or ‘ready to serve’ status until otherwise notified in the coming weeks,” said Valerie McCain, Bechtel National project director for the vitrification plant project.

Phase 2

The second phase, with no starting date set, will require more personal protective equipment for workers.

Some work at Hanford requires gear such as gloves, clothing coverings and respirators to protect workers from any airborne radioactive particles as the do environmental cleanup at the nuclear reservation.

The site is contaminated from the past production of plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program during World War II and the Cold War.

Work in Phase 2 will only resume if personal protective supplies are adequate and don’t affect national needs, Vance said.

Those returning to work in the second phase will include any remaining employees whose jobs are best performed onsite, senior leadership and other senior-level program staff.

Some employees will continue to telework, and accommodations may continue to be made for those at most risk of a serious case of COVID-19 if infected with the coronavirus that causes the illness.

Phase 3

In Phase 3, all fieldwork may resume, with social distancing encouraged.

All remaining workers will report to work unless their supervisors agree that teleworking is appropriate. Accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis for those at high risk from the virus.

Almost all Hanford workers continue to be paid after Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., worked to get language that would allow pay in the stimulus bill signed by President Trump in March. They can receive pay up to 40 hours a week.

Only a few Hanford workers have reported being diagnosed with COVID-19 and most had not been on the reservation for weeks when they became ill.

The limited number of cases — four at last report — is “a clear indication that protective measures are working and that our workforce is following established health guidelines at home as well,” Vance said.

Cantwell gets safety assurance

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., asked Mark Menezes, the under secretary of energy, during a Senate hearing Wednesday how he planned to keep Hanford workers safe as the site restarts more work.

The hearing was part of the process to confirm Menezes as deputy energy secretary.

He said the restart of some work would be data driven, including data showing a downward trend of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases, and adequate medical resources in the community.

Restart also depends on whether social distancing requirements can be met, he said.

“I would like to reassure all the workers at Hanford that we are going to have adequate safety measures, because their safety and health are really our number one priority there,” he told Cantwell.

This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 11:42 AM.