Former Hanford contractor Westinghouse could take on one of its old roles at the nuclear reservation, helping manage cleanup of the Plutonium Finishing Plant and the work there to convert tons of scrap plutonium to safer forms.

B&W Hanford Co. has managed PFP, but Fluor Hanford chose to rebid its contract. Fluor is negotiating with Westinghouse Safety Management Solutions, based in Littleton, Colo., for management and technical support for plutonium stabilization and cleanup at PFP.

"We've been in discussions with DOE for several months on our plan to accelerate the pace at which we achieve cleanup results," said Ron Hanson, Fluor Hanford president and chief executive officer.

The schedule for neutralizing plutonium slipped after a series of handling mistakes in late 1996 and early 1997 led to an increased chance of a potentially fatal burst of radiation being released.

As a result of the mistakes, DOE fined Fluor and B&W Hanford $112,500.

B&W Hanford, a subcontractor of Fluor, took over the plant from Westinghouse Hanford Co. in late 1996.

B&W Hanford voluntarily halted the conversion work. It began overhauling procedures and training in January 1997.

Work has since resumed at the plant, and the tentative completion date for neutralizing the 4.4 metric tons of leftover Cold War plutonium has been moved from May 2002 to October 2004.

Fluor Hanford officials gave no details on the proposed contract, but said they want the winner of the new PFP contract to bring significant corporate resources and relevant experience to management support of the plant.

Fluor also is looking for innovation and new processes capable of meeting a shortened cleanup schedule.

PFP has been baking scrap plutonium in "muffle furnaces" about the size of microwave ovens to neutralize it.

That process works for plutonium in crystallized or powdery forms.

It recently also began work with another process to convert plutonium-laced liquids to a safer powder.

Until recently, employees at PFP worked for B&W Hanford Co. A reorganization of Fluor Daniel Hanford's corporate team this fall transferred most of the employees working for Hanford's major subcontractors to Fluor.

When Fluor took over managing Hanford in 1996, the company coordinated six major subcontractors in its team plus several extra semi-independent subcontractors.

The massive reorganization this fall was meant to eliminate extra layers of management, extra overhead costs, a shaky polygamous marriage of several corporate cultures and Fluor not being effectively responsible for the subcontractors of its subcontractors.