Hanford Hosts National Advisory Board Chairs Meeting

Members of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board and their federal and contractor support staff toured the Hanford Site and learned about its history and recent cleanup mission accomplishments. Stops included the Central Plateau Water Treatment Facility and Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center. The flame shown in the first photo is from one of Hanford’s training props.

RICHLAND, Wash. — Hanford recently served as the host site for the annual spring meeting of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Site-Specific Advisory Board.

Chairs and vice chairs from citizen advisory boards in Idaho, Nevada, Oak Ridge, Paducah, Portsmouth, Savannah River and Washington state attended. They started with a daylong tour of the 560-square-mile Hanford Site, including the state-of-the-art Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center. HAMMER stands for Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response.

Board members then held meetings for a day and a half that included a welcome from Hanford Site Manager Ray Geimer and a briefing from EM Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Joel Bradburne. The group also shared accomplishments and challenges from their respective sites. Other briefings included an overview of the proposed EM cleanup budget and presentations on a complex-wide recycling initiative, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

The board members also prepared a recommendation to DOE to continue utilizing and enhancing the Reuse and Recycle Community of Practice. The draft letter now goes back to each local chapter for concurrence.

“Bringing together board members from communities across the country strengthens their ability to provide meaningful recommendations to the Department, which help guide DOE’s efforts to restore and revitalize sites for future use.” said Designated Federal Officer Kelly Snyder.

The board will hold its next Chairs' meeting virtually this fall.