Last week, the Waste Treatment Plant received a 2012 Safe-in-Sound award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Hearing Conservation Association. Each year, this award honors companies that have demonstrated

1. NEWS Bechtel National, Inc.
2435 Stevens Center Place
Richland, WA 99354
February 28, 2012
Hanford Waste Treatment Plant receives national safety award
for excellent hearing loss prevention programs
MEDIA CONTACT:
Suzanne Heaston, Bechtel National, Inc., (509) 371-2329
Richland, Wash. -- Last week, the Waste Treatment Plant, also known as the “Vit Plant,”
received a 2012 Safe-in-Sound award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) and the National Hearing Conservation Association. Each year, this award
honors companies that have demonstrated dedication to hearing loss prevention through their
workplace programs and practices.
The Vit Plant, which is being designed and constructed by Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), is the
first construction project to receive the award. It was recognized for its innovative strategies to
address challenges in the areas of noise monitoring, risk evaluation and risk communication; for
adopting the NIOSH-recommended exposure limits; for promoting active involvement of the
workforce; and for encouraging the adoption of their strategies across Bechtel.
“Safety, at all levels, is a value at the Vit Plant, and we remain committed to ensuring the
health and welfare of all our employees,” Frank Russo, BNI project director, said. “This
recognition demonstrates that our comprehensive safety program, which includes an extensive
hearing-loss prevention program, is viewed as effective and fully embraced by our employees.”
The Vit Plant is one of three 2012 Safe-in-Sound recipients. Other recipients include Colgate-
Palmolive, a global company with 35,000 employees in 200 counties, and the 3M Hutchinson
Plant in Minnesota, the largest 3M manufacturing plant in the U.S. Awards were presented at the
37th Annual Hearing Conservation Conference in New Orleans.
More information on the award can be found on the NIOSH website at
http://www.safeinsound.us/.
Bechtel National, Inc. is designing and building the world’s largest radioactive waste
treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in southeastern
Washington state. The $12.2 billion Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as
the “Vit Plant,” will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste currently stored in 177
underground tanks using a process called “vitrification.”
Vitrification involves blending the waste with molten glass and heating it to high
temperatures. The mixture is then poured into stainless steel canisters. In this glass form, the
waste is stable and impervious to the environment, and its radioactivity will dissipate over
hundreds to thousands of years.
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2. NEWS Bechtel National, Inc.
2435 Stevens Center Place
Richland, WA 99354
The Vit Plant will cover 65 acres with four nuclear facilities -- Pretreatment,
Low-Activity Waste Vitrification, High-Level Waste Vitrification and Analytical Laboratory -- as
well as operations and maintenance buildings, utilities and office space.
Construction of the Vit Plant began in 2001 and is now more than 60 percent complete. The
project is scheduled to complete construction in 2016; will reach commissioning in 2019 and
achieve full operations in 2022.
NR12-01 ###