Safety News

During a visit to Hanford last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm highlighted DOE’s commitment to addressing the environmental legacy near communities such as the Tri-Cities, Washington, that supported national defense programs for many decades.

EM’s progress is transforming more than the landscape; it’s also changing an important map in Oak Ridge.

Following completion of demolition and other cleanup work at the former Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) at the Hanford Site, EM contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) recently finished disconnecting decades-old lines.

Workers have successfully deactivated another high-hazard cell of the Main Plant Process Building, moving the facility closer to demolition, an EM 2022 priority at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP).

EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) recently overcame unique challenges and successfully finished deactivating a highly contaminated cell resembling an elevator shaft in the Main Plant Process Building.

When preparing to use heavy equipment to decontaminate and demolish (D&D) Cold War-era buildings and structures, EM's cleanup contractor at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site believes practice makes perfect.

EM Office of River Protection tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is preparing to begin retrieving chemical and radiological waste from another massive underground storage tank at the Hanford Site.

An association recently named the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) as a recipient of the 2022 Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Outreach Award.

An area of land in Oak Ridge will be added to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park thanks to EM’s cleanup efforts there.

Engineers and operators supporting the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the DOE Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site have taken the facility to new heights in its recently completed confirmatory run.