Smoke from regional fires prompted management at the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state to tell some workers to stay home.
In an overnight notice published on the Hanford DOE website, management said swing and graveyard shifts for Sunday, along with the daytime for Monday morning, were cancelled for nonessential workers north and south of the Wye Barricade, including Richland.
Essential employees needed to maintain minimum safe operations are to follow their normal work schedule. Employees who are teleworking, or have been directed to telework, should continue to do so.
Cleanup operations at the former plutonium production complex are now in Phase 2 of DOE’s restart program to gradually resume pre-COVID-19 levels of operation. Sources have indicated that roughly 50% of Hanford’s normal 11,000 member federal-and contractor workforce are back working inside the fence, these days. Roughly 45% are still teleworker and the remaining 5% are on leave.
In addition, Brian Vance, manager of the Hanford Site, announced last week that the complex will likely remain in Phase 2 “for an extended period.” Phase 3 is the point where the nuclear cleanup properties overseen by the DOE Office of Environmental Management will resume something akin to pre-virus operations levels. None of the 16 Cold War sites has reached Phase 3 yet.
