Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) is about two months into managing the challenging and rewarding tank waste mission on the Hanford site. I have the privilege of leading the team of about 2,800 employees and subcontractors in executing H2C’s vision statement of “solving the Department of Energy’s largest environmental challenge in order to provide a positive legacy for future generations.”

I lived here for a number of years, working as president and project manager of the River Corridor cleanup contract. I learned what an amazing workforce there is across the site. I also learned how much the local communities support the Hanford cleanup mission and the expertise they can bring to our work. It’s good to be back!

H2C is comprised of parent companies BWXT, Amentum and Fluor, bringing well-regarded and successful nuclear operations, tank operations and project management experience to the site. That will allow us to execute our mission of delivering exceptional performance in safely removing, treating and disposing of tank waste.

Workers unloading equipment to pretreat radioactive and chemical tank waste. 

| Courtesy H2C

Making history

Since I left the site in 2013, the progress the One Hanford team, including former tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, has made is remarkable. New technologies and ways of working have made the job safer. More tanks have been retrieved, and new and upgraded facilities have pretreated more than 800,000 gallons of radioactive and chemical waste. Ensuring we have a steady supply of pretreated waste ready for immobilization is a key priority for us, as the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant plans to begin vitrification this summer.

In doing this, we will make history in the grandest sense: fully treating Hanford’s tank waste for disposal and removal from the state of Washington. There is nothing in the DOE complex more environmentally significant.

This accomplishment will be a testament to years of success that H2C is inheriting, thanks to our skilled workforce, valuable contractors and key community partners. H2C will build on those relationships by demonstrating our six values and behaviors: live safely, listen first, act with integrity, commit to the mission, own it, and make it better.

Our value of “live safely” is a topic deeply personal to me, having been directly involved in a workplace injury early in my career. This certainly means understanding and mitigating hazards on the site, but also caring about our coworkers and family and friends, as we take safety home with us. This mindset will build upon an already stellar safety record and will promote a holistic approach to safety. 

Contract transition

H2C began the contract transition with outgoing contractor WRPS in October 2024. Since then, members of the H2C leadership team have made it a point to talk to as many incumbent employees as possible, “listening first,” before we make any significant changes. I hold monthly meetings with small groups of employees and union leadership, asking for their input and taking their feedback. I expect each H2C employee to “own it” and “act with integrity” – and to let me know how we can improve. 

Work is underway on the site’s 23rd single-shell tank to be retrieved to transfer radioactive and chemical waste to a double-shell tank for eventual vitrification. 

| Courtesy H2C

Small businesses

Small businesses play a major role in our ability to “commit to the mission” of reducing risk and liability. H2C will integrate small businesses to deliver innovation, efficiencies and savings. We will offer 18% of the year-one contract value (more than $300 million) to small businesses, increasing that by one-half percent each year until Fiscal Year 2027 when we reach 20% of that year’s contract value.

Our commitment to “make it better” is not limited to the Hanford site. Our parent and affiliated companies have an established community commitment strategy. We will focus on supporting education programs that develop a robust pipeline for the future workforce, building our regional supply chain by supporting small business and conducting business in a manner that supports regional environmental sustainability.

We’re just getting started. I am so excited to have the opportunity to help provide a positive legacy for all those who call this area home and for the benefit of our entire nation. I look forward to reporting on the future progress that we’ll make together. 

Carol Johnson is the president and program manager of Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C).