Report Warns of Adversarial Relationship Between DOE, SRS Salt Waste Facility Contractor

Relations have soured between the Department of Energy and construction contractor Parsons at the Savannah River Site, a recent department report suggests, with the company alleging DOE favoritism toward other contractors and both parties citing poor communication in managing the over-budget Salt Waste Processing Facility project.

Salt Waste Processing Facility. Source: SRS"The value of safety is a high priority throughout the SWPF project. However, the consistently negative perceptions by individuals expressed in interviews, focus groups and in the electronic survey data regarding many of the behaviors and processes being implemented by Parsons [are] resulting in an adversarial relationship between the parties," read a recent assessment of safety at the plant conducted by a separate DOE office. It suggested that a third party or management changes may need to be considered to improve cooperation on the project.

DOE issued the contract to Parsons in 2004 to design, build and operate for one year a facility that will remove cesium and actinides from 31 million gallons of Cold War-era tank waste at the site. It was scheduled for completion in 2015, but project officials acknowledged in the report that start up is likely to be delayed and will require additional funding. The Augusta Chronicle has reported that new estimates have pushed its opening back to 2018.

The effects of project delays and uncertainty over future funding have weighed on the project. Further, contractors interviewed alleged the DOE office overseeing the project subjected Parsons to "slanderous and abusive" comments. Contractors also alleged that the agency excluded the company from project team meetings and has assigned oversight tasks to its competitors.

For their part, DOE officials on site said "incentives for the contractor on cost and schedule are now gone due to the overruns and that cost is now a very big pressure for the project."