I just received my annual TCP-1 letter from LLNS and a summary of the LLNS Pension Plan. Looked in pretty good shape in 2013. About 35% overfunded (funding target attainment percentage = 134.92%). This was a decrease from 2012 where it was 51% overfunded (funding target attainment percentage = 151.59%). They did note that the 2012 change in the law on how liabilities are calculated using interest rates improved the plan's position. Without the change the funding target attainment percentages would have been 118% (2012) and 105% (2013). 2013 assets = $2,057,866,902 2013 liabilities = $1,525,162,784 vs 2012 assets = $1,844,924,947 2012 liabilities = $1,217,043,150 It was also noted that a slightly different calculation method ("fair market value") designed to show a clearer picture of the plan' status as December 31, 2013 had; Assets = $2,403,098,433 Liabilities = $2,068,984,256 Funding ratio = 116.15% Its a closed plan with 3,781 participants. Of that number, 3,151 wer...
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“DOE is committed to the safety of the workers, public and the environment. One very important aspect of that commitment is strong oversight of the construction of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at the Hanford Site. The Department recently identified that the quality assurance records needed to demonstrate the pedigree of the safety significant structural steel used in WTP facilities were not adequate. The Department directed Bechtel National Inc. to gather the necessary documentation and provide it to the Department. When received, DOE will determine whether the documentation meets applicable quality assurance standards for the steel being used in the WTP facilities. The Department takes its oversight and mission execution responsibility seriously, and will continue to provide strong, safety-focused oversight of the WTP project.”
http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/feds-demand-documents-contractor-safety-hanford-steel
Hanford... who is in charge of that? Oh Bechtel, what could go wrong with that. Best put them in complete control of Los Alamos.
https://www.srs.gov/general/news/factsheets/srr_dwpf.pdf
The game is to come up with reason after reason why it should not finish. Change the requirements or make a ridiculous requirement like "able to process any possible thing in the tanks that we don't know what is in them" (DOE does not even have a consensus on what is in the tanks and has not sufficiently sampled in the past 20 years), DOE rejects the technology provided by the DOE to Bechtel during the BNFL transition in the early 2000s (pulse jets), DOE stores the worst constituents in the worst tanks and stores LLW water in the best tanks, etc. It will never finish until the citizens freak out due to contamination in mass quantities hitting the river. When it can get done in South Carolina but not Washington and it is the same tech, one must examine the other variables like politics.