Federal jobs not the only ones being cut at Hanford. Contractor has layoffs

Federal employees at the Hanford nuclear site are not the only ones being laid off recently.

A Department of Energy contractor, Navarro-ATL, laid off 15 of about 400 employees last week. The contractor operates the 222-S Laboratory, which analyzes radioactive and hazardous waste stored in underground tanks at Hanford.

“The decision to reduce staffing levels was based on a careful evaluation of our current situation and staffing, with consideration of future work scope and the skills required to meet our goals,” according to a message from Navarro-ATL General Manager Ray Geimer to workers.

The company said in a statement that the layoffs “affected a broad range of professional and management positions across the company.” It did not include union workers.

Staff had been notified that about 20 workers could be laid off, but the final count was 15.

Such contractor layoffs are not unusual as Hanford contractors change the makeup of its workforce to align to tasks required by DOE.

Navarro-ATL said that it is undergoing “workforce restructuring to enhance operational efficiency, improve productivity and align our resources with evolving business needs.”

Significant layoffs of DOE workers at Hanford are more unusual.

Hanford DOE layoffs

DOE workers direct and approve the work at the Hanford site that is mostly done by federally paid contractors, such as Navarro-ATL, and subcontractors.

About 13,000 people work at the site, which makes the site the largest employer in the Tri-Cities, if federal and multiple private company Hanford jobs are considered together.

As of earlier this month an estimated 55 to 75 DOE employees out of a staff of just over 300 at Hanford had lost their jobs. That includes some who took voluntary layoffs and others who were fired, as the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency have taken steps to reduce the federal workforce.

Agencies and local government officials who watch the Hanford site closely have differed on their estimates of DOE staff cuts.

Additional Hanford DOE workers are eligible to volunteer for layoffs, so the number of staff could continue to decline.

DOE has not released updated numbers of layoffs or firings at DOE’s Hanford offices in response to Tri-City Herald requests.

The last information released was that about 50 DOE workers at Hanford had lost their jobs since the start of the current Trump administration.

That information came from former Hanford DOE Manager Brian Vance when he was asked about staff cuts at a Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce presentation about the nuclear site.

The 580-square-mile Hanford site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington 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.

Now about $3 billion is spent annually to clean up the radioactive and hazardous chemical waste and contamination left from the work.

The 222-S Laboratory is a 70,000-square-foot facility with 11 hot cells where work is done with radioactive waste samples by operators outside the cells operating equipment inside the cells.

Identifying physical and chemical characteristics of the waste supports work to empty leak-prone underground waste storage tanks and test for potential threats to groundwater.

The lab also will play a major role in turning radioactive waste into a stable glass form at the Hanford vitrification plant, testing waste to ensure it is suitable for glassification.

This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.