A contractor responsible for managing a tank farm holding millions of gallons of radioactive waste at the Hanford nuclear site has agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle allegations it overbilled the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for labor hours in violation of the False Claims Act, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Washington River Protection Solutions LLC (WRPS), the contractor at the heart of the scandal, allegedly inflated labor charges from October 2017 through December 2024, billing the government for unproductive time — including hours spent watching TV, gaming, and socializing.
A Costly Pattern of Deception
While the cost-plus-award-fee contract allowed WRPS to be reimbursed for certain legitimate expenses, the federal government contends the company systematically abused this flexibility by padding labor hours. This conduct echoed previous allegations: WRPS paid $5.275 million in 2017 for similar fraudulent activity.
“As a result of its past record and recent conduct, WRPS has had to admit wrongdoing and now pays over twice what it took from DOE and the taxpayers,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Richard R. Barker of the Eastern District of Washington. “This is appropriate, especially when the inflated labor charges stemmed from WRPS’ failure to assign sufficient work.”
Of the $6.5 million, prosecutors confirmed $3 million will go toward restitution. The whistleblower — a WRPS employee who filed a qui tam complaint in 2022 — will receive nearly $1.5 million as part of the settlement for bringing the misconduct to light.
