We have one mission at the Hanford site: safely getting waste out of tanks. And our 2,500-person Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure (H2C) team is doing just that.

Since beginning our contract about a year ago, we completed field retrieval activities on one single-shell tank (SST) and are on track to finish two more this year. This critical work reduces risk as we treat that waste and transfer it to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) for vitrification, or immobilizing the waste in glass for safe, long-term storage.

Historic first waste transfer

The most historic moment for us this year was enabling Hanford site history when we made the first transfer of treated waste to WTP for vitrification to begin. This is a tremendous achievement, decades in the making, for Hanford and our community.

But at H2C, it’s not just what we do, it’s how we do it. We are now closely integrated with WTP and the other contractors at Hanford to ensure a steady supply of treated waste for vitrification. We are creating the culture to support this new, continuous operations mission as part of the One Hanford enterprise.

As a new contractor, we knew we would lead an organization with diverse cultures and varying experience. More than 40% of our workforce has less than five years of experience, so it was essential to adopt a strategic leadership framework that sets clear expectations, promotes consistent communication and supports ethical practices across the organization.

A team installs equipment to remove radioactive and chemical waste from the Site’s 23rd underground, single-shell tank.

| Courtesy H2C

6 core values

To guide us, we established six core values, each with corresponding behaviors that we discuss daily: living safely, listen first, act with integrity, commitment to the mission, own it, and making it better. These values are the foundation of our decisions and the basis for our success.

By “living safely,” we maintain one of the lowest injury rates across the U.S. Department of Energy complex. We’ve implemented systems to rapidly and clearly share information about incidents so we can learn and improve. Our workforce is engaged and committed to caring for one another, taking safety personally 24/7.

“Listen first” fosters respect, empathy and teamwork. We’ve hosted more than 20 sessions where I meet with small groups of employees to hear their thoughts and concerns. We also launched structured mentoring programs to grow the next generation of leaders and gain valuable insight into our workforce. We’ve listened – and we’re acting – on much of the feedback received.

“Act with integrity” means doing the right thing, always. We’ve increased collaboration with our customer and regulators, updated policies to give employees more flexibility for work-life balance, and improved communication through the organization.

H2C employees Caroline Willis, from left, Jesse Zamora and Iris Mendoza, in October 2025 make the first-ever pretreated tank waste transfer to the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. 

| Courtesy H2C

Owning it and making it better

Our “commitment to the mission” is evident. Beyond retrieving and treating waste, we operate critical support facilities. At the Effluent Treatment Facility, we broke a production record by processing 7 million gallons of wastewater from site operations. H2C sends treated waste to WTP and manages wastewater created during the vitrification process — showing how interconnected our work truly is. Since October, we’ve received nearly a million gallons of wastewater resulting from vitrification.

After years of upgrades, we restarted the 242-A Evaporator, which removes water from tank waste to recover valuable space. Last year, the team created 1 million gallons of tank space – another record!

We also made progress on capital projects to expand our tank waste treatment capability, paving the way for construction this year and preparing to incorporate commercial grouting to treat tank waste from the 200 West Area.

We’re improving performance measurement and monitoring through structured improvement plans, yielding positive results across the organization.

Our commitment to the mission extends to the community, where we’ve invested in organizations and efforts that will transform lives and grow a stronger workforce.

“Own it” is another value. When we weren’t satisfied with our performance last year, we took time to focus on procedure compliance and communication. Work teams signed posters reflecting continuous improvement goals. Our performance improved significantly, and we built on that success by renewing our commitments earlier this year.

Owning it also means celebrating achievements. Positive recognition is vital to encouraging and reinforcing the performance we expect. We hosted 55 events to honor accomplishments aligned with our values and created a program for coworkers to recognize each other.

Finally, we’re committed to “making it better.” We established an Office of Strategic Transformation, which has led more than two dozen Lean-related events with 145 improvement actions across every organization. Lean methodology is a management and operational approach focused on maximizing value while minimizing waste.

Our new Make it Better suggestion program generated nearly 400 employee ideas, with 70 approved for implementation. We’re also enhancing hands-on training, leadership development, and workforce development to prepare for the future.

H2C President and Program Manager Carol Johnson delivers commemorative certificates to the team at the 242-A Evaporator for recovering 1 million gallons of tank space, reflecting H2C’s Value of Own It and celebrating successes. 

| Courtesy H2C

Building history together

After 40 years in this industry, it’s been a privilege to witness history at the Hanford site this year. I can’t take credit for these achievements – the credit belongs to the workforce, past and present, many of whom worked for previous contractors. Together, we will build on this success, guided by our values. By focusing on how we do things, we’ll make what we do safer, easier, and more efficient.

Carol Johnson is the president and program manager at Hanford Tank Waste Operations & Closure.