nuclear-news

A slap on the wrist for Bechtel’s negligence about radiation safety at Hanford

there are mistakes, but not the type of mistakes that come with every project, but incompetent blunders. When workers are not trained and safety regulations are being violated when dealing with radioactive waste, is an inexcusable offence.

‘it is the governments fault for making everything harder for us to do anything because there are all these rules to follow so people don’t get hurt.’

 The corporate executives live in another world that is secluded to ours, in which the rules don’t apply and that any regulations that protect people from something as serious as radioactive material, is government taking away freedom from them.

Corporate Radiation http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/26/1164819/-Corporate-Radiation, 26 Nov 12, Another story of corporate incompetence has surfaced. The Bechtel Corporation is in hot water due to failing safety guidelines, not training workers up to standard, and failing to follow procedures at the Hanford Nuclear plant outside of Richland, Washington.

Some of the major projects the Bechtel Corporation has done includes:
the Hoover Dam, the Hong Kong Airport and the Channel Tunnel in the
U.K. however Bechtel is an all too familiar corporation in today’s
world: They are big, powerful, and the great-grandchildren of the
founder who have only known wealth their whole lives, run the company
and they feel that they are not responsible for the violations that
have occurred at Hanford. The recent project at Hanford is important
especially when it comes to safety. Ralph Vartabedian of the Seattle
Times reports:

“The Hanford plant is being built to treat and estimated 56 million
gallons of radioactive waste created from about a half century of
nuclear weapons production.
The waste is stored in underground tanks. At least some of those tanks
are leaking radioactive sludge, posing a threat to the nearby Columbia
River and making the 12.3 billion treatment plant one of the most
urgent environmental projects in the nation.
Bechtel had failed to follow procedures, maintain safety margins, train workers and correct items that did not meet requirements, among other problems.”

Yet there are mistakes, but not the type of mistakes that come with every project, but incompetent blunders. When workers are not trained and safety regulations are being violated when dealing with radioactive waste, is an inexcusable offence. Bechtel though of course
does not want to be blamed for this and instead puts the blame on
someone else. Ralph Vartabedian of the Seattle Times again explains:
“An email last week to senior DOE officials from Bechtel executive
Frank Russ, which was obtained by the LA times, laid some of the blame
for the problem on the government.
Russo cited ‘a lack of clear scope and a lack of clear requirements in
the construction project’”

In translation that is saying, ‘it is the governments fault for making everything harder for us to do anything because there are all these rules to follow so people don’t get hurt.’
This case is a case upon many others that are happening. The corporate executives live in another world that is secluded to ours, in which the rules don’t apply and that any regulations that protect people from something as serious as radioactive material, is government
taking away freedom from them.

These finding were a part of an “initial internal investigation” by
the DEO. The DOE at this time want to schedule a conference with
Bechtel.

It will be disappointing if Bechtel walks away with a penalty like the
ones that have happened in the recent past to other big corporations,
which are at times equivalent to regular people paying a $20 ticket.

Breaking safety guidelines anywhere is not a popular thing to do,
especially when it comes to ingredients to assemble a nuclear missile,
but if you’re corporation like Bechtel, it is only slap on the wrist
for you.

November 28, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA