Between now and 2025, the Department of Energy envisions having a single operations office at the Hanford Site in Washington state rather than the current two, according to a procurement-related document.
Although they have separate budgets approved by Congress, the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection have reported to the same boss, site manager Brian Vance, for more than two-and-a-half years.
Vance formally became manager of the entire site in July 2020 after filling the role on an acting basis since February 2019, when Richland operations boss Doug Shoop retired. Vance was already running the Office of River Protection and then-Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said Vance would act as the sole executive for both.
In 1999, Congress created the Office of River Protection to focus on the tank waste treatment mission. Federal law preserved the office through fiscal year 2024, according to DOE. Hanford has about 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste held in 177 underground tanks. The waste is left over from decades of plutonium production.
That is included in Hanford’s Three-Phase Plan, a 12-page slide presentation included in the cache of documents posted online in recent weeks since the final request for proposals (RFP) was published last month on the $45-billion Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract.
Phase 1 of the Hanford plan runs from fiscal 2021 through 2025, Phase 2 from fiscal 2026 through 2036 and Phase 3 from fiscal 2037 and beyond.
By the end of fiscal 2025, the Waste Treatment Plant being built by Bechtel should be converting in excess of 1-million gallons per year of low-activity tank waste into a solid glass form and treating “up to” 2-million gallons per year if possible, according to the document.
There are 56 million gallons of radioactive waste now held in 177 underground tanks at Hanford. Amentum-led Washington River Protection Solutions has a roughly 15-year, after various extensions, $7.9-billion agreement to oversee tanks through September 2023. Bechtel has a $14.7-billion contract that started in December 2000 and runs through December 2022 to build the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.
The new integrated contract, with a 10-year ordering period, would meld tank management with operation of the vitrification plant.
According to the three-phase plan, “One Hanford DOE Office” is targeted for the end of Phase 1, which notionally runs from 2021 through 2025. Likewise, transition of the Hanford Reach National Monument, to the Department of Interior. The Hanford Reach National Monument is a 195,000-acre wildlife refuge designated by then-President Bill Clinton for federal protection in June 2000.
Questions from prospective bidders on the $45-billion Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract are due 11:59 a.m. Eastern Time this Thursday. Questions should be emailed to [email protected].
Barring an extension, bids are due Dec. 20.
