(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the award of $68 million in incentive pay to three contractors for work done at the Hanford nuclear reservation in fiscal year 2022.
The biggest money award goes to Washington River Protection Solutions, which has worked at the site’s tank farm since 2008. DOE reported that the company earned 87% of incentive pay this year.
WRPC, which is owned by Amentum and Atkins, will be awarded nearly $46 million for its performance. That percentage is down from fiscal year 2021, when the company scored 94% of available pay, records show.
Two newer contractors showed improvement, reported DOE.
Hanford Mission Integration Solutions earned nearly 90% of its incentive pay – $20 million – up from 87% for its initial eight months at the nuclear reservation.
Hanford Laboratory Management and Integration earned 92% of pay available, up from 75% for its first four months on the job. The company receives just under $2.5 million for 2022.
The monetary awards followed release of the 2022 Year in Review report from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The report highlighted significant cleanup steps taken at the Hanford reservation near Richland. Topping the list was workers undertaking the first large-scale treatment of radioactive waste from large underground storage tanks, which has been a top priority.
“For the first time in our site’s history, we are treating a significant amount of tank waste on an industrial scale in our cesium removal system,” stated Brian Vance, manager of the Office of River Protection and Richland Operations Office, in a statement. “This is an exciting new era in our cleanup mission as we prepare for 24/7 operations to treat waste from our large underground tanks through the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste Program.”
The newly operational Tank-Side Cesium Removal System removes radioactive cesium and solids from tank waste. Once treated, the waste will be immobilized in glass when the plant comes online.
“In addition, our team continued to deliver taxpayer value in 2022 by safely progressing projects and conducting operations that reduce risks to our workforce, our community, and the environment of the Pacific Northwest,” said Vance. “Given the exceptional accomplishments over the last few years, and especially this last year, I am very optimistic about our site’s future.”
The site also completed construction of a protective enclosure, or “cocoon,” around K East Reactor in 2022, and treated more than 2 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater for the eighth consecutive year.
DOE is tasked with what officials call “one of the great public works of this century” at Hanford. The agency is responsible to clean-up the aftermath of more than 40 years of plutonium production. DOE’s Office of River Protection is responsible for safely retrieving, treating and disposing of 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste stored in Hanford’s 177 underground tanks.
Site work is conducted by a federal and contractor workforce of roughly 10,000 personnel, according to DOE.
DOE reports that taxpayers spend about $2.5 billion a year on environmental cleanup of radioactive and other hazardous chemical waste at the Hanford site.
Read More: Energy Dept. awards $68M incentive pay to three Hanford contractors | Washington