Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington State Ecology and the federal Department of Energy are looking into concerns raised by a top design manager at Hanford's Vitrification Plant.

The nuclear reservation’s "vit plant" is a massive factory being built to turn radioactive sludge into more stable glass logs.

Bechtel is the lead contractor designing and building the vit plant. It's the largest federal capital project under construction in the country.

For years Bechtel has said it's handling any possible problems with design.

But one man, who is in a good position to know, has raised serious concerns about the design of the project.

Walter Tamosaitis was a research and technology manager for a subcontractor working on the plant. He’s written a letter to the federal watchdog on nuclear issues, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.

Tamosaitis has asked the agency to investigate his concerns.

Bechtel says it maintains what it calls a, "questioning culture" among it’s subcontractors and takes Tamosaitis' concerns seriously.