With transition under way, new Hanford liquid-waste introduces public to leadership

The BWX Technologies-led team taking over the Hanford Site on Wednesday made public introductions of five senior leaders.

After getting the go-ahead from the Department of Energy last week, Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) began the four-month process of formally taking over management of Hanford’s liquid-waste programs from the Amentum-led incumbent, Washington River Protection Solutions.

In a press release, lead H2C partner BWX Technologies (BWXT) said the contractor began the transition on Monday. That includes bringing aboard the five key personnel who will lead the team under the new Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract, which with options could be worth $45 billion and potentially keep H2C working on site for 15 years.

Key H2C personnel are:

Carol Johnson, president and program manager. Johnson will be the top H2C executive at the site. Johnson was most recently president and CEO of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the Fluor-led management and operations contractor for the Savannah River Site.

Phil Breidenbach, chief operating officer, most recently president of Savannah River Remediation, the site’s liquid-waste cleanup contractor.

Kliss McNeel, environment, safety, health and quality manager. 

Karthik Subramanian, chief engineer and innovation manager, who according to BWXT “leads engineering execution of operational and capital projects.” Subramanian is currently the chief operating officer for the Hanford tank farm project.

 Jeff Stevens, program integration manager, “responsible for strategic planning, risk management, and end-state integration activities,” BWXT said. Stevens will also be the point of contact at H2C for other site contractors. 

H2C also launched a new website.

The Hanford Integrated Tank Disposition Contract was hotly contested in federal court by an Atkins-led team that twice sued to stop the award to H2C. DOE awarded the work for the second time to H2C in February. That followed a second competition spurred by months of litigation brought by Hanford Tank Disposition Alliance, the losing bidder and H2C’s only rival for the contract.