Another new leader has been named for the Hanford Site’s Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) project as recovery continues from a spread of radioactive contamination from demolition in December.
John Lehew, president of Hanford cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC) from 2008 to 2012, has been named the new demolition manager. Workers at the plant were told he would take over March 16 and arrive on-site in mid-April.
Lehew left Hanford to serve as a CH2M senior vice president at its corporate office.
In late January, the Department of Energy ordered a change in management on the PFP demolition, which had been handled by CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. The contractor’s parent company, Jacobs Engineering, assumed direct control of the project.
Jacobs previously named another former CHPRC president, John Fulton, to serve as president at PFP initially in January. Lehew replaced Fulton as the project begins to transition from recovery from the contamination spread to preparing to resume demolition, according to a message to PFP workers.
Under Fulton, the draft root cause evaluation report for the contamination spread was completed; risk reduction and stabilization activities were initiated; and processes and procedures were strengthened, said Karen Wiemelt, Jacobs senior vice president and CHPRC board chairwoman, in the message to PFP employees.
No date has been set for the resumption of demolition. An expert panel formed by DOE now is reviewing CHPRC’s draft root cause report on the contamination spread. It also is expected to review a new demolition plan before teardown restarts. No details on a possible new demolition plan have been made public.
