Bechtel National is making improvements to its safety program for hazardous energy controls after eight problems in eight months at a $12.2 billion plant under construction to treat radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state, where the U.S. produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.
It filed a report in November citing a recurring problem, according to a recently released weekly report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
No one was harmed in the incidents, but problems in following procedures to shut off energy sources -- such as the electrical supply or pressurized systems -- when work is being done has the potential to injure workers, the report said.
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