Hanford trains more employees than are needed to enter radiologically controlled areas, according to a recent federal report.

By keeping a tighter watch on who receives this training, Hanford could save almost $1.2 million a year, according to a September report issued by the Department of Energy's Inspector General's Office.

At Hanford, DOE agrees with this conclusion, said Colleen Meyers, DOE's contractor training oversight manager.

The Inspector General's audit concluded 1,630 Hanford employees over the past two years have received some radiological or hazardous materials training that they did not need. The report said those 1,630 people either had no reason to enter a controlled area, or were escorted by trained people on the rare occasions they went into such areas.

The report said Hanford needs to save money and stretch resources, which means cutting back on unnecessary training.

The Inspector General's Office concluded the unnecessary training cost roughly $550,000 in tuition and expenses, and about $610,000 in time the trainees could have worked on something else, the report said.

Meyers said DOE's Hanford operations began studying this matter in early 1999, and have already started trimming training for people who never or rarely went unescorted into restricted areas.

She said when the Inspector General's Office estimated an extra $1.2 million was spent annually on unneeded training, it did not account for the time taken by the trained employees to escort untrained people in special areas.