222-S Laboratory Award

The Department of Energy has awarded a contract to operate its primary laboratory for highly radioactive samples at the Hanford Site to Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International Inc. The five-year contract for Hanford analytical and testing services at the 222-S Laboratory is valued at $58 million.

"We evaluated ATL's proposal in the procurement process and found it to be the best value to the government," said Roy Schepens, manager of DOE's Office of River Protection in Richland, Washington.

”The determination was based on safety and health, technical and management approach, experience and past performance, key personnel, and cost," he said.

"DOE contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group, which will continue to perform some work at the lab and order tests from ATL, is pleased with the commitment ATL has shown to safety," said Ed Aromi, CH2M Hill president.

"I want to follow the improvements made by CH2M Hill in 222-S and bring further enhancements and long-term stability to the analytical work force at the Hanford Site," said Jou Hwang, ATL president and project manager for the lab. He plans to move to Richland from Maryland.
"Most of the 70 employees at the lab will transfer to ATL. The majority are vested in the Hanford retirement plan and will continue in the plan for the five years of the contract," Schepens said.
The 222-S complex includes a 70,000-square-foot laboratory and several support buildings in the 200 West Area in central Hanford. It has 11 hot cells for handling and analyzing radioactive samples.

The majority of samples analyzed in the lab are from Hanford's underground tanks holding 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste. The waste is left from the separation of plutonium from irradiated fuel at Hanford for the nation's nuclear weapons program.

Analyses are needed to determine what's in the waste, maintain control of the chemistry of the wastes in the tanks, and prepare for turning the waste into a stable glass form in the $5.8 billion vitrification plant under construction at Hanford.

In October 2003, responsibility for the lab was switched from the Richland Operations Office to the Office of River Protection, which is responsible for tank waste. Before the transfer, the laboratory was operated by DOE contractor Fluor Hanford.

"The work performed at 222-S is an important part of our strategy for retrieving and treating the waste in Hanford's tanks," Schepens said before signing the contract Monday. "I'm pleased we were able to select a small business with the critical technical and management capabilities to operate this laboratory." "DOE wanted to transfer work that matched ATL's areas of expertise," Schepens said.

The company has operated a radiochemistry and analytical laboratory in Gaithersburg, MD, since 1997. It also provides safety management support for DOE chemical and nuclear facilities in Los Alamos, NM.

"The business started 10 years ago with an annual revenue of $300,000. That has grown to $10 million annually," Hwang said. The company has offices in Tennessee and New Mexico, besides Maryland and Washington.

ATL focuses on environmental and waste management, safety, management consulting, safeguards and security, and information technology services. Clients, in addition to DOE, include the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and commercial customers.

"ATL and its subcontractors are nationally recognized commercial laboratories and laboratory management firms," 222-S Laboratory employees were told Monday in a memo from Schepens and Aromi.

Subcontractors are Battelle, which runs Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland; Severn Trent Laboratories, which has a Richland laboratory and others across the nation; and Environmental Quality Management, in Richland.

"Most of the work at the lab will be done by ATL employees," Hwang said.