Ecology fines DOE, CH2M Hill for failure to identify powder in PUREX plant

The Washington State Department of Ecology has imposed a $16,000 fine against the Department of Energy and Hanford clean-up contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation.

The penalty stems from failing to identify a white powder that was found in the PUREX plutonium production plant, according to Randy Bradbury with Ecology. The substance was first discovered in 2015 and the state Department of Ecology required the DOE and clean-up contractor CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation identify the substance.

"They responded they weren't going to do that because it is inside the plant, and there is no threat to human health inside the plant," says Bradbury.

In November of 2016 the Department of Ecology says they then cited the DOE and CHPRC for failing to identify the powder. Since then Ecology says the DOE and CHPRC has refused to identify the powder or take any action to clean it up. In April 2017, Ecology says officials re-inspected and documented that no action had been taken.

In a statement John Price, the compliance section manager for Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program, said it is important to get the powder cleaned up before it spreads, "We want to avoid delays that cause a bigger cleanup with increased worker risks and higher costs."

Bradbury adds this fine is not related to the tunnel collapse near the PUREX plant this past May.

Before it was closed down in the 1980s, the PUREX plant produced a substantial portion of the plutonium used in the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal.