The number of active cases of COVID-19 among the workforce for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management rose to 98 as of Thursday.
That was up from 88 active cases cited a week ago by the nuclear cleanup office, which had dipped from 94 live cases the preceding week. Two people within the Environmental Management complex have died during the 2020 viral pandemic.
Environmental Management does not publicly report total number of infections by novel coronavirus 2019 across its 16 properties.
From available numbers, large numbers of cases have been reported at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Hanford Site in Washington state. Both house about 11,000 federal and contractor personnel.
The total case count at Savannah River through the pandemic stood at 302 as of Friday morning. That was up from 230 a week ago and 183 the preceding week. Along with EM operations, the complex near the South Carolina-Georgia border also does work for DOE’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration.
Within the total case count at Savannah River, 185 workers have recovered and been authorized to return to their jobs.
A current case count was not immediately available for Hanford, where less than 1% of the workforce has tested positive for the disease.
In updates throughout the week, Hanford did not report any new confirmed cases among its workforce. But there was a steady cycle of facilities that were placed under restricted access for disinfection, as personnel were being tested for potential infection. As of Friday morning, that covered two mobile offices and a couple other areas.
Meanwhile, a seventh case was confirmed this week among personnel for DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. This was the third known infection for an employee of WIPP management prime Nuclear Waste Partnership. The other four cases have involved subcontractors, the Carlsbad Current Argus reported.
In March, nearly all EM locations drew down to minimal on-site operations to help curb the spread of the disease. Since then, most workers have either worked remotely or received paid leave. The only exception was the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remediation Action (UMTRA) project in Utah, where workers already operate at significant distances from one another.
The Energy Department’s four-phase remobilization began in late May. Phase 0 focused on planning, with Phases 1-3 bringing back an increasing number of site staff until operations are at near-normal conditions.
There was no change in EM site phases Thursday from the prior week.
Hanford and Savannah River remain in Phase 1, along with a handful of other EM locations. Seven facilities are in Phase 2, including WIPP, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Paducah Site in Kentucky, and the Portsmouth Site in Ohio.
