Employees with CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company hold the awards they received from the Columbia River Basin Chapter of the Project Management Institute. From left, Jeff Broussard, Dan Wood, Ketra Evans, Matt St Germaine, Neal Sullivan, Ty Blackford,
Employees with CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company hold the awards they received from the Columbia River Basin Chapter of the Project Management Institute. From left, Jeff Broussard, Dan Wood, Ketra Evans, Matt St Germaine, Neal Sullivan, Ty Blackford,

RICHLAND, Wash. – For the third consecutive year, the Columbia River Basin Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) recently honored a Hanford project at its annual awards gala. EM’s Richland Operations Office (RL) endorsed the winning entry.

   The PMI chapter presented the Project of the Year award to contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) for a project to retrieve, package, and transfer highly radioactive sludge from a water-filled storage basin to safe interim storage in the central part of the Hanford Site, reducing a significant threat to the environment. CHPRC also won the People’s Choice Award for the same project.

   Following years of preparation, sludge transfer began in June 2018 and will continue through December 2019, meeting regulatory deadlines.

An engineered container filled with radioactive sludge is prepared for transport from the 105-K West Annex to safer storage in the central part of the Hanford Site. Sludge removal from the basin is expected to be complete by the end of the year, reducing
An engineered container filled with radioactive sludge is prepared for transport from the 105-K West Annex to safer storage in the central part of the Hanford Site. Sludge removal from the basin is expected to be complete by the end of the year, reducing

“Moving the radioactive sludge out of the K West Reactor Basin will eliminate one of the largest remaining risks along the Columbia River,” said Brian Vance, manager of RL and the Office of River Protection. “After the sludge is out of the basin, we will be able to store this material safely until it is treated for disposal.”

   In 2017, another Hanford contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, earned the prestigious Global Project of the Year award for the Double-Shell Tank AY-102 Recovery Project.

   Last year, CHPRC won the Project of the Year award for successfully grouting Tunnel 1 of the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant following a partial collapse.