Fired Hanford nuclear whistle-blower who raised safety concerns settles for $4.1 million



SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Lawyers for a whistle-blower on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation say he has reached a $4.1 million settlement with his former employer.

Walter Tamosaitis was a former manager at Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant, where he worked for URS Inc., which is now known as AECOM.

He was removed from his position in 2010 after raising safety concerns about the construction of the giant plant. He was eventually fired in 2013.

AECOM officials did not immediately comment on the settlement, which was announced Wednesday. It followed years of legal fights in state and federal courts. A jury trial had been scheduled for 2016.

Hanford, located near Richland, Wash., for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and now is engaged in cleaning up the nation's largest collection of radioactive waste.