Collaboration in long-term stewardship at DOE Hanford Site
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site comprises approximately 1,517 km{sup 2} (586 mi{sup 2}) of land in southeastern Washington. The site was established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. As the Cold War era came to an end, the mission of the site transitioned from weapons production to environmental cleanup. As the River Corridor area of the site cleanup is completed, the mission for that portion of the site will transition from active cleanup to continued protection of environment through the Long-Term Stewardship (LTS) Program. The key to successful transition from cleanup to LTS is the unique collaboration among three (3) different DOE Programs and three (3) different prime contractors with each contractor having different contracts. The LTS Program at the site is a successful model of collaboration resulting in efficient resolution of issues and accelerated progress that supports DOE's Richland Office 2015 Vision for the Hanford Site. The 2015 Vision for the Hanford Site involves shrinking the active cleanup footprint of the surface area of the site to approximately 20 mi{sup 2} on the Central Plateau. Hanford's LTS Program is defined in DOE's planning document, Hanford Long-Term Stewardship Program Plan, DOE/RL-2010-35 Rev 1. The Plan defines the relationship and respective responsibilities between the federal cleanup projects and the LTS Program along with their respective contractors. The LTS Program involves these different parties (cleanup program and contractors) who must work together to achieve the objective for transition of land parcels. Through the collaborative efforts with the prime contractors on site over the past two years, 253.8 km{sup 2} (98 mi{sup 2}) of property has been successfully transitioned from the cleanup program to the LTS Program upon completion of active surface cleanup. Upcoming efforts in the near term will include transitioning another large parcel that includes one of the six (6) cocooned reactors on site. These accomplishments relied upon the transparency between DOE cleanup programs and their contractors working together to successfully transition the land while addressing the challenges that arise. All parties, the three different DOE Programs and their respective prime contractors are dedicated to working together and continuing the progress of transitioning land to LTS, in alignment with the Program Plan and compliant with contractual requirements. This paper highlights the accomplishments and collaborative efforts to address the challenges faced as work progresses from the cleanup to transitioning of land parcels to LTS Program.
- Research Organization:
- Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC06-09RL14728
- OSTI ID:
- 1060384
- Report Number(s):
- HNF-54378-FP-Rev.0; TRN: US1300277
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2013 - Waste Management Symposia, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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