The Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state confirmed three additional novel coronavirus 2019 infections over the weekend, with the latest reported Sunday.
The new cases were disclosed on DOE’s website for Hanford. They bring the total COVID-19 cases at the former plutonium production complex to 31, based on an informal count.
The Hanford Site des not release information on whether the infected individuals are federal or contractor employees or whether they felt ill prior to being tested for COVID-19.
There are roughly 11,000 government and contractor employees at Hanford, which remains in Phase 1 of the DOE Office of Environmental Management restart program.
Benton County, where Hanford is located, and neighboring Franklin County together have about 5,500 confirmed infections of COVID-19, according to the Washington state Health Department. That’s out of a combined population of roughly 280,000 for the two counties, which have been among the hardest hit across the state.
Like most of the 16 nuclear cleanup sites that report to the Office of Environmental Management, Hanford reverted to minimal operations and sent most of its workforce home – to either work remotely or collect paid leave – between late March and late May in order to slow the spread of the virus.
The Energy Department has a four-step plan for a return to full operations. It starts with planning in Phase 0. Phase 1 marks the incremental recall of key workers and those employed in roles that require little or no personnel protective equipment. More workers whose job is best performed on-site are brought back inside the fence in Phase 2, provided there is no surge in the rate of infections and there is sufficient PPE for the additional personnel. The process is supposed to culminate with Phase 3, where on-site employment returns to near pre-COVID levels.
As of Friday, there were 66 active cases of COVID-19 among personnel for DOE nuclear cleanup operations.
