Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
11/21/2014
Three years after the Department of Energy began a safety investigation at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, the investigation remains open, there is no sign of resolution and it remains unclear whether any violations or potential penalties may be issued to project contractor Bechtel National. DOE’s Office of Enforcement began its investigation into concerns with Bechtel National’s design work at the WTP in mid-November 2011, and while the investigation’s preliminary findings were made public in 2012, since then there have been no further public developments and DOE has largely been silent on the topic. DOE did not respond this week when asked about the status of the investigation, when the Department expects to complete its work and release the final findings or why the investigation has taken so long to complete. Bechtel National spokesman Todd Nelson declined to comment late this week, referring questions to the Department.
In an interview with WC Monitor this spring, Glenn Podonsky, head of DOE’s Office of Enterprise Assessments, which includes the Office of Enforcement, did not go into detail on the investigation, but did defend the time DOE has taken to complete the work. “I can tell you that the enforcement folks work diligently on the enforcement investigations. They are committed to a careful and thorough review. They’re taking the time necessary. And while you and I may look at this and say this is a long time, they have to carefully consider all the facts and circumstances of each of the cases and complete, you know, very complex, deliberative evaluations. Because when they speak it’s a very serious result. And so I would just say they’re doing due diligence to do the job.
Draft Findings Included ‘Significant Number of Potential Noncompliances’
DOE’s investigation, launched at the request of an employee at the Office of River Protection, examined potential nuclear safety noncompliances with Bechtel National’s processes for designing, procuring and installing systems and components used in the WTP. According to a report WC Monitor obtained in the fall of 2012 that outlined the preliminary findings of DOE’s investigation, the Department’s efforts entailed an analysis of a number of Bechtel National-prepared Project Issue Evaluation Reports (PIERs) related to the issue of misaligned safety basis and design, which Bechtel National first reported to the DOE Noncompliance Tracking System in late November 2011. According to the report, HSS identified “a significant number of potential noncompliances” with DOE’s quality assurance and safety basis requirements in Bechtel National’s efforts at the Hanford vit plant.
The report said, “The potential noncompliances include: (1) failure to provide sufficient resources for the work; (2) failure to train personnel to perform the assigned work; (3) failure to identify, control and correct items and processes that do not meet established requirements; (4) procedural inadequacies and failure to follow procedures; (5) failure to conduct management and independent assessments; and (6) failure to establish and maintain the safety basis of facilities,” the report says. The report also said, “The Office of Enforcement and Oversight considers the issues discussed in this report to be collectively of high safety significance and believes that, if uncorrected, these issues will reduce assurance of safe operations and/or lead to further delay in WTP commissioning.”
DOE Enforcement Chief Had Sought ‘Clarification’ From GC on Basis for Possible Action
Last year, Podonsky, then head of DOE’s Office of Health, Safety and Security, asked the Department’s General Counsel to weigh in on whether the Department’s requirements for contractors to adequately maintain safety basis documents for facilities apply to preliminary documented safety analyses (DSAs). In an April 22, 2013, letter, obtained by WC Monitor, Podonsky asked the GC for “clarification” on the issue, citing an unnamed contractor that “recently asserted that its failure to maintain a Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis for a facility undergoing design and construction is not enforceable” under DOE regulations.
Concerns over the adequacy of PDSAs were among the issues identified in the preliminary findings of the enforcement investigation. The 2012 report said that “it is clear that the current facility specific PDSAs do not sufficiently analyze and document the hazards of the facilities and the controls necessary to address the hazards.” The report also said, “PDSAs often lack the necessary safety SSC functional requirements and performance criteria. In addition, there are numerous inconsistencies between the current facility design and the facility-specific PDSA.” To date, DOE has not publicly provided information on what response, if any, the General Counsel’s Office provided on the matter.
At Least Two Enforcement Investigations Underway
There are currently at least two DOE enforcement investigations underway at the Hanford vit plant. Along with the 2011 investigation into design concerns, the Department launched an investigation last summer into potential vessel welding deficiencies. That investigation is also still ongoing and its findings have not yet been released.
