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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the 300 Area of Hanford?
   • Hanford's 300 Area is a Manhattan Project and Cold War era legacy on the south end of the Hanford Site that is comprised of aging facilities, mostly built in the 1950s.
   • The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for the ultimate decontamination and demolition of these facilities as part of its overall mission to clean up Hanford. EM has initiated actions to accelerate this activity to reduce costs and speed cleanup in the 300 Area.
   • Under this accelerated schedule, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) must vacate facilities it still occupies in the 300 Area.
2. How does this accelerated cleanup impact PNNL?
   • PNNL occupies 16 facilities and associated outbuildings, or almost 550,000 square feet of space within the 300 Area, representing nearly 50 percent of its experimental laboratory space.
   • The Laboratory already has moved out of several 300 Area facilities totaling about 143,300 square feet. Those buildings have been vacated and transferred to DOE's EM for demolition.
   • About 1,000 of the national laboratory's 4,200 staff are supported by work currently performed in the 300 Area.
   • About one-third, or $200 million, of the Lab's R&D and support activities occur in these buildings.
   • Work in these facilities is in the areas of advanced analytical chemistry, physical sensing, microbial biology, materials chemistry, dosimetry, fresh-water aquatic ecology, and nuclear and radiological research.
   • Clients for this work include DOE's Office of Science (SC), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), as well as the intelligence community.
3. How does PNNL plan to address impacts to these capabilities?
   • PNNL is proposing that several new facilities be constructed on its main campus in north Richland to replace the soon-to-be lost 300 Area capabilities.
   • The laboratories are proposed to be built using a mix of public funding from SC, NNSA and DHS as well as private and third-party sources. This funding approach, which is supported by DOE, recognizes a tight federal budget and PNNL and Battelle's long history of providing private facilities at the Laboratory. Battelle operates PNNL for DOE.
4. Is DOE planning to keep some of the facilities in the 300 Area for PNNL or will the Laboratory be vacating all of its buildings?
   • Yes. The DOE Office of Science is evaluating options for the major effort to build replacement laboratory facilities at PNNL. The foundation of the new labs is the Physical Sciences Facility, or PSF. When the PSF is combined with selected 300 Area buildings and third-party financed buildings, the Capability Replacement Laboratory (CRL) project will give PNNL the necessary facilities to maintain core scientific capabilities.
5. If DOE is keeping some of the buildings in the 300 Area, why not just consolidate all research efforts and stay there? Would a CRL project be required if EM was not cleaning up the 300 Area?
   • PNNL cannot simply consolidate into existing facilities and achieve the CERCLA site clean-up commitment. The Laboratory can responsibly select facilities that have no immediate impact to the clean-up goals and use them for the foreseeable future. New facilities eventually would need to be built on the current PNNL campus. The facilities being replaced by the CRL project provide critical research capabilities associated with energy security, homeland security, environmental stewardship and national security. At some point, these capabilities would outgrow the existing 300 Area facilities and / or would require the facilities to be replaced simply due to age.
6. Why would DOE consider keeping the old facilities located in the 300 Area?
   • In December 2005, DOE approved proceeding with the design phase of the federally funded PSF and established a target cost of $224 million. This was a target, with a cost and schedule baseline expected to be established in May 2007.
   • As PNNL progressed from conceptual to preliminary design, it became clear that meeting the target cost and schedule established would be very difficult. This is caused, in part, by projected escalation of construction costs raised to 17.5% by the midpoint of the project in 2009, due principally to higher transportation and materials costs impacting this country as well as world-wide. Subsequently, PNNL commenced with evaluation of options to ensure that PNNL not only would have the best possible laboratory space but would make wise use of taxpayers' dollars.
7. Which buildings will be retained in the 300 Area and why?
   • Four research buildings and ancillary support buildings would be retained, Buildings 318, 325, 331 and 350. These facilities are in relatively good material condition, but require some upgrades. The research capabilities currently located in those buildings will enable PNNL to meet the research needs of federal clients-DOE, NNSA and DHS-for the next 20 years.
   • The 325 Building, the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, is where PNNL performs analytical radiochemistry verification and research support for complex issues requiring chemical or radiochemical analysis.
   • The 331 Building, the Life Sciences Laboratory, is where PNNL performs a variety of research related to the life sciences.
   • The 318 Building, the Radiological Calibrations Building, is where PNNL performs calibration of radiation detection instruments and radiation dosimeter development.
   • The 350 Building Plant Operations and Maintenance Facility is a shop for crafts staff.
   • Ancillary support buildings or communications and emergency response, such as the LAN building and fire station, also will be retained.
8. Which buildings will be decommissioned and destroyed and why?
   • All buildings in the 300 Area other than those slated for retention will be destroyed. Other buildings occupied by PNNL would not be adequate to continue to support vital research in the coming years. One example is Building 320. The existing space available in 320 has never been enough to house all the staff and research equipment needed to deliver the mission. Renovations were considered in 2002 and because of the way the building was originally constructed, there was no way to do renovations without severe impacts to the research mission. Buildings 326 and 329 house specialized research that supports homeland security, and the required building modifications to support the mission objective could not be accommodated by their existing configurations. Analysis demonstrated that replacing the capabilities of these major research facilities in the new PSF would be more cost effective. Building new facilities to achieve the commitments of the national mission was critical.
9. Why does PNNL need to vacate the 300 Area so soon?
   • The DOE Richland Operations Office is required under the Tri-Party Agreement to complete surplus facility disposition and remedial action clean-up of the 300 Area by 2015. To meet this commitment, SC must vacate the surplus facilities on a timeline that allows the cleanup to proceed on schedule. Vacating the facilities cannot be initiated until new space is ready to accommodate the occupants and capabilities. Even with the planned interim moves, if construction of the PSF does not begin in 2007 as scheduled, SC will not be able to vacate the surplus facilities in a timely way and may delay cleanup by EM in that area.
10. How much federal funding has been allocated to date for this effort?
    • In fiscal 2004, Congress reprogrammed $1.6 million from its budget to help fund conceptual designs for PNNL facilities.
    • In fiscal year 2005:
      • Congress allocated $10 million to PNNL to fund design activities for 300 Area replacement facilities.
      • PNNL selected CUH2A, an architecture engineering and planning firm headquartered in Princeton, N.J., to develop conceptual designs.
      • DHS allocated $2 million to help PNNL plan for the transition.
      • The Washington State Legislature allocated $5 million to the city of Richland to bring infrastructure improvements - water, sewer and power - to the Tri-Cities Science and Technology Park at the north end of Richland, which includes PNNL and one if its proposed new facilities.
    • In 2006, Congress allocated $18 million to fund definitive designs for PNNL replacement facilities. (This was an increase of $10 million over the President's 2006 request.)
    • In 2007, SC signed a Memorandum of Agreement with NNSA and DHS to provide funding for the CRL project lifecycle through 2011.
11. What construction activities are planed in FY 2007 and 2008?
    • DOE will make the next milestone decision for the CRL project in May 2007. This decision is referred to as Critical Decision 2a/3a. The PSF, the cornerstone of the CRL project, must be completed and ready for occupancy by February 2011. To meet this schedule, PNNL must begin an "early start" construction of the PSF on the Horn Rapids Triangle. Early start can be accomplished by creating three early start construction packages and have them ready to award by the time Critical Decision 2a/3a is approved in May 2007. These construction packages include one for civil site work, one for laying foundations and one for procurement of structural steel. By having these packages prepared early, the project will gain several months in overall schedule performance and maintain schedule contingency for the remainder of the project.
12. What are the major risks to the project? How does PNNL plan to mitigate those risks?
    • The top five risks are associated with the stability of the CRL project funding and the activities which address extending the operational life of Building 325, the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory. Funding risks are mitigated by establishing a signed Memorandum of Agreement for the CRL project between the three funding sponsors-SC, NNSA and DHS-and by maintaining the project's performance in accordance with baseline commitments. The risks associated with the extension of the operational life for Building 325 are mitigated by: 1) investing in building upgrades that provide for meeting contemporary operating standards, 2) using sound technical arguments to define and accept the operational conditions of the RPL nuclear facility, and 3) getting an early start on identification of the necessary physical modifications to the building. PNNL will retain such that they can be phased to avoid conflicts with existing research commitments.
13. How will the upgrades to the 300 Area Building 325 impact on-going work? Will the facility be available and operational while upgrades are being implemented?
    • The facilities will be available and operational through the duration of the project and outages will be coordinated as necessary to avoid significant impacts to ongoing research. All upgrades will be performed in accordance with existing procedures for Building 325 and other 300 Area facilities. Research operations are a primary consideration when implementing these procedures which balance safety, financial efficiency and schedule performance. The specifics of outages and other discrete work actions which may interrupt research for short periods of time will be coordinated with occupants of the facilities. There are no wholesale interruptions of research program activities expected or planned for the upgrades envisioned.
14. Does PNNL now have the ability to retain capabilities that would have been divested by staying in retained 300 Area facilities? For instance, fresh water aquatics research and the wind tunnel?
    • By retaining these four facilities, PNNL will have the ability to make this ancillary research area available to clients. However, because these are not core to the mission capabilities of the funding sponsors, the CRL project will not upgrade these areas for a 20-year life extension.
15. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION:
    • Why are deactivation and demolition activities occurring while PNNL staff are still working in the 300 Area?
      • Cleaning up the 300 Area by 2012 is a requirement of the Tri-Party Agreement between DOE, the state of Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency. It also is a requirement of the DOE River Corridor Closure Contract with Washington Closure Hanford. To meet the established date for cleanup, work must start now.
      • Unfortunately, PNNL does not have replacement office and laboratory space available right now. Until the new facility space being built as part of the Research Campus of the Future is available for occupancy, PNNL must safely co-exist in the 300 Area with the ongoing Hanford cleanup activities.
      • The River Corridor Closure contractor, Washington Closure Hanford, is working with PNNL to minimize the impacts to staff. WCH will focus its early activities on taking buildings down to ground level, and not begin below-grade contaminated waste site remediation in earnest until later in the schedule when few, if any, PNNL staff remain in the 300 Area.
    • What is PNNL currently proposing to build? PNNL currently proposes to build three new facilities by the end of 2011. These buildings include:
      • Physical Sciences Facility - a 200,000-square-foot, $224-million laboratory that will be jointly funded by SC (44 percent), NNSA (31 percent) and DHS (25 percent). The PSF will house radiological, materials science, and chemical research capabilities. It will be located on federal land just north of PNNL's current campus on the north side of Horn Rapids Road. Flad and Associates, a national architectural and engineering firm based in Madison, Wis., is designing the new federal laboratory and office building. PNNL expects to break ground on the PSF in 2007.
      • Biological Sciences Facility - a privately funded building that PNNL will lease. The BSF will house biological and nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory space used for microbial and cellular biology and analytical interfacial chemistry research. The BSF will be located on private land on PNNL's campus.
      • Computational Sciences Facility - a privately funded facility that PNNL will lease. It will host information analytics capabilities, computer laboratories, and electronic and instrumentation labs. These capabilities are critical for future DHS and other government missions. The CSF will be located on private land on PNNL's campus.