Bechtel National officials say they have taken measures to avoid a repeat of an October error in which not enough steel reinforcement bars were used in concrete at Hanford's waste glassification project.

In the incident, Bechtel discovered workers installed 41 fewer steel rebar than the design called for in two places in the massive treatment plant. Follow-up inspections failed to discover the error until additional construction began.

Bechtel is designing and building the complex in central Hanford where much of the site's radioactive tank wastes are to be melted into glass.

Bechtel spokesman John Britton said the problem occurred in the pretreatment plant portion of the project. He said workers did not use the most current plans for placing the rebar reinforcement for walls in two rooms when the concrete floor was poured.

One room was short 20 rebar and the other was short 21, Britton said.

Follow-up inspections did not discover the problem, but workers did as they began installing more rebar for the walls. Britton said the problem was fixed by drilling 41 holes in the concrete floor and installing the missing rebar.

Britton said company officials are unhappy that the most current designs did not reach the workers, and that the inspections failed to find the problem. Because of that, some procedures have been changed.

"This will get a lot more attention if this happens a second time," he said.