October 2015

Review of Engineering Processes at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Project

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environment, Safety and Health Assessments, within the independent Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA), conducted a review of engineering processes at the Hanford Site Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project.  EA evaluated the effectiveness of engineering process improvements implemented by the contractor engineering organization in response to significant issues identified by the DOE Office of River Protection (ORP).  Over a period of time beginning in 2011, ORP had identified a number of technical and performance issues with the engineering and construction contractor (Bechtel National, Incorporated (BNI)) on WTP.  Those issues led to major work stoppages and resource intensive recovery efforts which were documented by BNI in a Managed Improvement Plan (MIP).  The MIP was a complex compilation of commitments and deliverables to be accomplished over a multi-year effort.  BNI completed MIP commitments related to engineering processes in 2014.