A Hanford tank farm contractor will receive 88 percent of the incentive pay possible for fiscal 2015, according to the Department of Energy.
The pay of $13.7 million out of a possible $15.6 million is in addition to the performance pay that Washington River Protection Solutions earned for the year that ended Sept. 30. It earned 100 percent of $14.4 million available for completion or progress on specific projects, such as emptying waste from leak-prone single-shell tanks and evaporating liquid waste to create more space in double-shell tanks.
The $13.7 million award is for subjective ratings by DOE about how well its contractor managed work, kept costs down and maintained safety, among other goals.
“We appreciate the Department of Energy’s recognition of our strong fiscal year 2015 performance,” said Mark Lindholm, Washington River Protection Solutions president.
Improvements seen
Its performance was rated better than in fiscal 2014. Then it received 83 percent of the incentive award available, or $10.5 million out of a possible $12.6 million.
In fiscal 2015, the contractor “exceeded many of the significant award fee criteria and has met overall cost, schedule and technical performance requirements,” DOE said.
Washington River Protection Solutions was rated in eight areas, receiving an overall rating at the top of the range considered “very good.” It received ratings of very good in all categories, except two that were rated as “excellent.” They were management of the tank system, worth up to $2.7 million, and nuclear safety, worth up to $1.2 million.
The largest portion of the possible award, $4.5 million, was available for cost performance, with the contractor ranked in the “very good” range. DOE released only a one-page fee determination scorecard on the pay award, which did not include the amount awarded for each category.
DOE listed three key areas for improvement on the score card, all of which were ongoing issues identified before fiscal 2015. There were “challenges with work integration, command and control of nuclear operations, and ongoing equipment failures,” the scorecard said.
Safety issues reportedly have involved procedures to make sure electrical service is locked off before work proceeds on equipment. No injuries resulted in fiscal 2015.
The contractor also has struggled with equipment performance in the harsh environment within underground tanks holding a mix of hazardous chemical and high-level radioactive waste. The custom equipment has to withstand high heat, radiation and chemical corrosion, sometimes throughout heavy use.
Leadership cited
A year ago work had stopped with the Mobile Arm Retrieval System, or MARS, the contractor’s largest and most robust system for retrieving waste from underground tanks because progress was so slow using a vacuum attachment.
Although MARS was restarted, work with the system has stopped again because hoses failed due to heavy use.
DOE said the key successes for the year were the contractor’s leadership in taking over responsibilities for the Effluent Treatment Facility and implementing recommendations from an independent study to better protect workers from chemical vapors. DOE also praised efforts to integrate work among the tank farms, the vitrification plant being built to treat the waste and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and other national labs conducting research on tank waste treatment.
The Effluent Treatment Facility and related waste water facilities were transferred from CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. to Washington River Protection Solutions because they will be needed when treatment of tank waste starts. The tank farm contractor also plans to use it to support some tank farm work.
The independent study coordinated by Savannah River National Laboratory resulted in a phased plan to better protect workers from vapors with better monitoring, new technologies and investigations of long-term health effects.
“Moving forward, we are actively addressing our opportunities for improvement, as well as vapors issues and equipment reliability,” Lindholm said. “We’re committed to improving our performance in fiscal 2016.”
Successes in fiscal 2015 included completing the retrieval of waste from a 14th leak-prone single-shell tank in Hanford’s C Tank Farm, he said.
