BECHTEL PUSHES BACK AGAINST NEWSWEEK WTP ARTICLE

Bechtel executives have come out against a lengthy article Newsweek published yesterday on the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant headlined “America’s Fukushima?” The article examined the history of the project, the technical issues that have challenged its completion and safety culture concerns, among other topics. In a message to employees yesterday, though, Bechtel executives criticized the article, calling it “inaccurate” and “misleading.” Bechtel Systems and Infrastructure President Craig Albert said, “The implication that WTP could be the ‘next Fukushima’ is not only wrong, it ignores basic science and engineering principles. Working with DOE and outside experts, we continue to work to a design basis that ensures the WTP will protect the public, workers, the environment, and the facility from realistic potential risks.”

Bechtel National WTP Project Director Peggy McCullough said, “Despite considerable efforts to educate the reporter on the facts, the article includes information that is inaccurate and misleading regarding the safety of the WTP design and future operations. We are building the WTP to very high nuclear safety standards. WTP’s defense in depth includes redundancy in protection systems, robust design, and high standards of construction to address normal and abnormal operations, as well as accident scenarios.”