CLOSING IN ON CLOSURE PERSPECTIVES FROM HANFORD & FERNALD AN UPDATE
In World War II, the arms dramatically changed from machine guns and incendiary bombs to nuclear weapons. Hanford and Fernald, two government-run sites, were part of the infrastructure established for producing the fissile material for making these weapons, as well as building a nuclear arsenal to deter future aggression by other nations. This paper compares and contrasts, from a communications point of view, these two Department of Energy (DOE) closure sites, each with Fluor as a prime contractor. The major differences between the two sites--Hanford in Washington state and Fernald in Ohio--includes the following: size of the site and the workforce, timing of closure, definition of end state, DOE oversight, proximity to population centers, readiness of local population for closure, and dependence of the local economy on the site's budget. All of these elements affect how the sites' communication professionals provide information even though the objectives are the same: build public acceptance and support for DOE's mission to accelerate cleanup, interface with stakeholders to help ensure that issues are addressed and goals are met, help workers literally work themselves out of jobs--faster, and prepare the ''host'' communities to deal with the void left when the sites are closed and the government contractors are gone. The 12-months between January 04 and January 05 have seen dramatic transformations at both sites, as Fernald is now just about a year away from closure and FLuor's work at Hanford has made the transition from operations to deactivation and demolition. While Fernald continues to clean out silos of waste and ship it off site, Hanford is dealing with recent state legislation that has the potential to significantly impact the progress of cleanup. These changes have even further accentuated the differences in the content, distribution, and impact of communications.
- Research Organization:
- Fluor Hanford, Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-96RL13200
- OSTI ID:
- 835538
- Report Number(s):
- HNF-23860-FP, Rev.0; TRN: US0500079
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Conference title not supplied, Conference location not supplied, Conference dates not supplied; Other Information: PBD: 22 Dec 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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