Nuclear waste company with 400 Tri-Cities workers earns longer contract

Navarro-ATL has been awarded a one-year extension to its contract to operate and manage a key laboratory at the Hanford nuclear site in Eastern Washington.

The company won the Department of Energy contract for the 222-S Laboratory in 2020 and began work there in January 2021.

The contract, valued at its award at $389 million, was for five years with the possibility of two one-year extensions.

“DOE’s decision to exercise the first option year reflects their confidence in our consistent performance, positive relationships and our ongoing commitment to supporting the Hanford cleanup mission safely and efficiently,” said Mark Hughey, Navarro-ATL general manager, in a message to employees.

The contract includes facility operation and sample analysis works.

Navarro-ATL, formerly known as Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration, employs close to 400 workers.

The 222-S Laboratory is one of the few facilities in the nation capable of analyzing samples of highly radioactive waste and is the primary Hanford laboratory for analyzing the site’s radioactive waste samples.

Workers there perform analyses on a wide variety of air, liquid, soil, sludge and biological samples.

Among its work is studying the physical and chemical characteristics of waste necessary to ensure safe storage and retrieval of radioactive waste from leak-prone underground tanks.

It also supports the Hanford vitrification plant, which recently began immobilizing tank waste in a stable glass form that allows its radioactivity to safely dissipate over hundreds to thousands of years.

The lab includes 11 hot cells, where workers operate handling equipment from outside the cells and look through thick, leaded glass to work with radioactive waste samples within the hot cell.

The Hanford site adjacent to Richland produced nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War.

Among waste left from that work is 56 million gallons of radioactive waste held in underground tanks until it can be treated, either through vitrification or grouting, for permanent disposal.

This story was originally published December 9, 2025 at 11:32 AM.