Six students interning at Central Plateau Cleanup Company last year walked away with more than just some real-world work experience.  

They also got jobs. 

Four became full-time employees of the Hanford contractor, known as CPCCo, which is leading environmental remediation of the site’s Central Plateau and River Corridor. The other two moved into the company’s cooperative employment program, allowing them to take advantage of reduced hours and flexibility to finish up their college studies. 

The internship program is one of multiple ways CPCCo is working to build up its employee pipeline. It’s the same story with other contractors and agencies operating at – or working in support of – the nuclear site north of Richland.  

As many longtime employees begin to reach retirement age, and as some operations and activities at the site ramp up, maintaining and bolstering the Hanford workforce – which numbers more than 11,000 people – is a mission-critical endeavor, officials said. 

“CPCCo and the other One Hanford contractors are committed to building the next generation of the nuclear cleanup workforce,” the company said in a statement to the Journal of Business. “With thousands of Hanford workers eligible for retirement in the coming years, it’s imperative that we recruit students and prepare them to carry on our critical cleanup mission.” 

Silver tsunami

A so-called “silver tsunami” has been looming at Hanford for years. 

“For well over a decade now, there’s been talk about a (retirement wave) coming to the Hanford workforce – and not only the Hanford workforce, but other industries in the Tri-City area and across the (Department of Defense) cleanup complex throughout the country,” said David Reeploeg, vice president of federal programs at the Tri-City Development Council, or TRIDEC, an economic development organization.  

For a time, it didn’t materialize, “however, it does seem to be hitting now to some degree, and it’ll probably continue for a while,” he said. 

Meanwhile, some activities at the Hanford site are ramping up, such as work at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, or vitrification plant.  

The plant will immobilize tank waste in glass. 

During a planned maintenance outage, workers changed out spent 27,000-pound filter columns in the Tank-Side Cesium Removal System.

| Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy

Now hiring 

About 2,850 employees are working on that project today, with 184 open positions at the end of March. “These open positions range from careers in engineering, industrial safety, construction and more. We continue to see a need for roles in procurement and the trades,” according to a statement from Bechtel, which designed, built and is commissioning the vit plant. 

Other contractors also are looking to fill open jobs. 

CPCCo, for example, which has about 1,600 direct employees, estimates that it posts 10 to 15 new positions a week, from engineering roles to accountants, craft workers, human resource specialists, safety experts, scientists, radiological workers and more. 

HMIS, the site services contractor, employs about 1,980 people and also posts 10 to 15 jobs a week, from firefighter EMTs and paramedics to industrial hygienists, project controls specialists and safety specialists. 

Navarro-ATL, which operates the 222-S Laboratory, has about 350 employees. It was looking to fill 18 open positions the week of March 25. 

“The most common types of positions we have posted recently include scientists, engineers, project controls engineers, chemical technicians, and health physics technicians,” the company said in a statement. 

Demand doesn’t appear likely to slow down; the Benton-Franklin region is poised for continued job growth in the coming few years. 

Regional workforce needs

Nonfarm employment in the Benton and Franklin county region is projected to increase from about 126,000 jobs in the second quarter of this year to 129,000 jobs in 2026 and 137,300 jobs by 2031, according to data from the Washington State Employment Security Department. 

That includes Hanford jobs and non-Hanford jobs alike. 

“What keeps me up at night is just knowing there’s so many jobs out there, but do we have enough bodies? And it’s not just the growth that we’re having in the Tri-Cities market, but in our surrounding areas,” said Traci Jao, director of business and community relations for TRIDEC. 

She pointed to the recently-announced Rockwool plant coming to Wallula and Darigold and Amazon projects in Pasco as examples. 

Combined with Hanford needs, that makes the regional workforce issue a pressing one. TRIDEC works to address workforce development on multiple fronts, including holding an annual economic outlook and workforce summit. 

TRIDEC also is seeking a federal Community Capacity Building Grant, an aim of which is to build up the workforce in communities next to cleanup sites. 

“Our focus is building up that workforce and utilizing (the grant) as a platform to (figure out), how do we get Hanford employees? What’s that method that’s going to work best for that? And then how can we translate that and copy it over into the next industry that we’re working on?” Jao said. 

Workforce pipeline efforts

Numerous efforts are in place locally to bulk up the Hanford pipeline. 

Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities have programs and/or degree paths that position students for careers at the nuclear site, and Tri-Tech Skills Center has offerings that can serve as a conduit to Hanford, including pre-electrical and construction trades. 

Contractors have internships and co-op programs, and they send representatives to job fairs, career days and other events that put them in touch with students and job seekers. HMIS has hosted STEM learning days for high schoolers, giving them a taste of job opportunities at the site. 

CPCCo is working with local unions on an apprenticeship readiness program offering accredited pre-apprentice training for construction trades. 

CPCCo and Washington River Protection Solutions teamed up on a seminar series at WSU Tri-Cities to connect with business and engineering students, highlight work at the site and attract potential employees.  

Bechtel recently contributed $150,000 to a Bechtel Tutoring Center at the Richland university. “This center plays a pivotal role in providing students with essential resources, including access to research materials, tutoring services, study spaces, and opportunities to engage with faculty outside the traditional classroom setting,” the company said in a statement. 

The list goes on. 

At TRIDEC, officials are optimistic about the workforce development efforts paying off. 

The Tri-City community is all about ingenuity and innovation, said Karl Dye, TRIDEC president and CEO. “We have, as a community, created examples of doing exactly that going back to World War II, the Manhattan Project,” he said. “That’s who we are as a community. That’s our culture. We know that we can tap into that and come up with really good solutions for our community.”