Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation systems engineering project management

Lockheed Martin Hanford Corporation is developing and implementing an integrated technical baseline for cleaning up environmental contamination at the Hanford Site in Washington State. The Hanford Site is located in Washington State and has been referred to as one of the largest Environmental Cleanup challenges in the US. It became contaminated with radioactive and dangerous wastes during the 40+ years it was being used to produce weapons grade plutonium in support of the US nuclear weapons program (See Figure 1). The US Department of Energy (US DOE) is responsible for cleanup of the Hanford Site with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) both providing regulatory oversight. The US DOE, EPA and Ecology entered into an agreement in 1989 (Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, commonly referred to as the Tri-Party Agreement) that provides the framework for cleanup of the Hanford Site. However, since the inception of the Tri-Party Agreement, there have been numerous changes due to technical issues, funding issues, and priority changes within the cleanup mission. As a result, progress on the definition and execution of the cleanup work has been slower than anticipated and has resulted in some false starts, missed milestones, and milestones that have been completed that did not further the Site cleanup. The absence of a clearly defined mission resulted in a high percentage of projects that were canceled during construction or abandoned after completion and approximately $900 million spent on projects that did not bring cleanup or disposal any closer.