The Department of Energy on Monday transferred management of the troubled Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition at the Hanford Site in Washington state to Jacobs Engineering Group, the new owner of cleanup contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. (CHPRC). The change came after another spread of radioactive contamination at the plant was identified Friday, when a radioactive particle was found on a worker’s car.
“DOE expects the new corporate leadership will work diligently to rebuild DOE’s, workers’ and stakeholders’ confidence in their ability to manage the situation and protect employees and the public,” said Doug Shoop, manager of the DOE Richland Operations Office, in a message sent to employees late Monday.
Jacobs completed its $3.27 billion acquisition of CH2M in December.
John Fulton, a former CHPRC president, was at the Plutonium Finishing Plant on Monday after being appointed by Jacobs to lead the recovery project. Fulton retired from the contractor in September 2014 after working at Hanford off and on since 1979. As CHPRC president from 2012 to 2014 he led work to prepare the Plutonium Finishing Plant for demolition.
CHPRC President Ty Blackford will continue to manage other the company’s other environmental remediation projects at Hanford, Shoop said. These include moving cesium and strontium capsules to dry storage; relocating radioactive sludge from the K West Basin to dry storage; cleanup of the highly radioactive spill beneath the 324 Building; operating groundwater treatment plants; and operating the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.
The latest concerns at the Plutonium Finishing Plant were triggered by the spread of specks of radioactive contamination following the demolition of most of the plant’s Plutonium Reclamation Facility in mid-December. Analysis of air samples collected from late October through at least December turned up unexpected airborne contamination, some of it well beyond the plant’s boundaries.
Surveys in mid-December found suspected contamination on the exteriors of seven employee vehicles parked at the plant, although Hanford officials later said three of the cars appeared to have naturally occurring radon rather than radioactive specks from demolition.
One worker declined to remove his vehicle from the plant’s parking lot after it was decontaminated, Shoop said. It has been moved several times since then to accommodate recovery activities. A follow-up survey on Friday, conducted as plans were made to return the vehicle to its owner, turned up a speck of contamination, Shoop said. Additional contamination was found on the vehicle on Sunday.
All demolition at the Plutonium Finishing Plant and work to load out demolition rubble piles has been stopped until DOE determines plans are in place to safely continue work. Work continues to make sure the parts of the plant that remain standing and the rubble piles are stable and to prevent further spread of contamination.
