What we know about Hanford’s new $45B contractor’s plans for workers, Tri-Cities

Two familiar faces at the Hanford site are among the leadership of the winning bidders to provide up to $45 billion of work at the nuclear reservation’s tank farms and start waste treatment at the vitrification plant.

H2C started the transition to become the new contractor Oct. 15 and last week released more information on its plans, including confirming its subcontractors and discussing plans for subcontracting to small businesses and its commitments to the Tri-Cities community.

The contractor, owned by BWX Technologies, Amentum and Fluor companies, will complete the transition from the current tank farm contractor in mid February.

Washington River Protection Solutions was awarded a 10-year tank farm contract in 2008, which was repeatedly extended while the Department of Energy worked to award a new contract and overcome legal challenges.

As H2C, short for Hanford Tank Waste Operations and Closure, brings in its own leadership team, it plans to hire almost all of the current tank farm workers, which numbered 2,800 at the start of the transition, including subcontractor employees.

It will begin operating the vitrification plant after contractor Bechtel National finishes commissioning the part of the plant that will initially treat the least radioactive waste in underground tanks. Commissioning with radioactive waste is expected to start in late summer 2025 and could take a year.

The Hanford site in Eastern Washington near Richland was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

HC leadership

H2C’s strong leadership team was a deciding factor for DOE as it awarded the contract, according to a federal court document.

The team includes:

▪ Carol Johnson, the H2C president and program manager, has been living in the Tri-Cities area. She was the president of Washington Closure Hanford from 2011 to 2013 as it worked to clean up most of the 220 square miles of Hanford near the Columbia River.

A chemist, she has 40 years of experience directing environmental cleanup, production operations and national nuclear security missions.

Her work has including leading Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in South Carolina and serving as infrastructure executive director at the Sellafield remediation project in the United Kingdom. She also has had key roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Idaho National Laboratory.

▪ Karthik Subramanian, currently the chief operating officer for the Hanford tank farm project, will be the H2C chief engineer and innovation manager. He will lead engineering execution of operational and capital project and champion ways to improve safety and efficiency.

▪ Phil Breidenbach, most recently president of Savannah River Remediation in South Carolina, is the H2C chief operating officer.

▪ Kliss McNeel, is the H2C environment, safety, health and quality manager, bringing to the job 34 years of experience leading environmental and regulatory compliance programs.

▪ Jeff Stevens, who most recently led the contract transition for the Savannah River Mission Completion Contract in South Carolina, is the H2C program integration manager.

Johnson said H2C is “ready to get started on this program of immense importance” to residents of Washington and DOE.

“We understand the significance of this effort, and we look forward to working closely with Hanford’s many stakeholders to achieve the end states that will benefit everyone in the area,” she said.

H2C small business opportunities

H2C will start its new contract by offering more than $300 million to small businesses in its first year, which is 18% of its contract value for the year.

It plans to increase that by 0.5% each year until fiscal 2027 to reach 20% of that year’s contract value.

H2C plans to subcontract for specific tasks, it indicated in a fact sheet.

DOE Hanford contractors are not allowed to limit bids on subcontracts to Tri-Cities area or Washington companies, but many local businesses have won substantial Hanford subcontracts from other contractors at the site.

Community commitment

Johnson said that in the coming months H2C will be engaging with community leaders to understand how it can best invest in the community.

H2C is interested in four areas of community engagement:

▪ Support diverse and inclusive education programs.

▪ Develop a robust pipeline for the future workforce.

▪ Build its regional supply chain by supporting small business.

▪ Conduct business in a manner that supports regional environmental sustainability.

H2C subcontractors

Four subcontractors have been picked to team with H2C owners. They are:

▪ DBD, which has one of its three offices in Richland, will provide advanced simulation and data capabilities needed to plan and optimize liquid waste cleanup and identify improvements to accelerate cleanup.

▪ Longenecker and Associates will provide independent mission and contractor assurance support for production and compliance activities, as well as regulatory and project management support.

▪ dss+, formerly DuPont Sustainable Solutions, is now an independent consulting firm that brings experience in advising on overall systems safety and safety protocols for chemical processing to optimize plant operations.

It has locations across the globe, including in Wilmington, Del., in the United States.

▪ Intera will provide regulatory and environmental integration supported by environmental modeling and risk assessment related to state and federal requirements. It has an office in Richland, along with other offices in the United States, Europe and Australia.

This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 11:40 AM.