CHPRC ABRUPTLY CHANGES MGMT. AT HANFORD PLUTONIUM FINISHING PLANT

Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. yesterday abruptly changed out its manager for one of the main cleanup projects underway at the site—D&D of the Plutonium Finishing Plant. CHPRC President and CEO John Fulton now also holds the position of PFP Vice President, replacing Jerry Long, who is no longer on the project. The organizational change was announced in a brief message sent to employees. “Mike Swartz will remain PFP Deputy Vice President. Mike has the vision, experience, and collaborative mindset necessary to lead our workforce to safely and compliantly meet the TPA milestone for demolishing PFP by 2016,” Fulton said, adding, “I believe we have the right workforce to complete this complicated project, and together with the right leadership we will see this successful mission accomplishment.”

Neither CHPRC nor CH2M Hill’s corporate headquarters returned calls for comment on the change yesterday. The move comes, though, as CHPRC is believed to be making steady progress at PFP, with the Department of Energy saying last week that the contractor is on track to complete decommissioning on schedule and significantly under budget. DOE Richland Operations Office spokesman Geoff Tyree largely declined to comment on the management change yesterday, referring questions to CHPRC. He did say, though, that DOE had not directed the management change. “The contractor has named a very experienced manager to lead the project in the interim, and the Deputy Vice President has a great deal of experience in this type of work. DOE has confidence in their leadership,” Tyree said in a written response.