Bechtel National Selects Plateau 4 LMS to Manage Learning at Department of Energy's Hanford Site

Bechtel National will use Plateau 4 LMS to manage online and classroom training for radioactive waste cleanup from U.S. nuclear weapons program

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- March 31, 2003 Plateau Systems, a provider of enterprise software that manages all of an organization's learning and knowledge, today announced it has been selected to manage Web-based and classroom learning for thousands of employees at one of the largest environmental cleanups in the United States: the treatment of all radioactive waste in underground storage tanks at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford site in the Pacific Northwest.

Bechtel National Inc., in charge of designing and building a multibillion-dollar facility to clean up high-level radioactive waste along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington, will be implementing Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) to schedule, deliver and manage all mission-critical training for its employees. Bechtel National has a $5 billion, 10-year contract with DOE to design and build the world's largest radioactive waste treatment plant. Most of the plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program was produced at nine reactors in southeastern Washington State, which were all shut down by 1989. The legacy of this Cold War weapons production is 53 million gallons of highly radioactive and chemical waste stored in 177 aging underground tanks within several miles of the Columbia River. The section of the Columbia flowing through Hanford site is the last remaining free-flowing stretch of the river, and has been designated as a National Monument.

Using Plateau 4 LMS, Bechtel National will be able to manage and track all the training qualifications of employees and contractors working to remove and treat nuclear waste - alerting them automatically by email when new training requirements are created, and allowing them to launch Web-based training to meet those requirements in real time. This automation reduces learning cycles, increases productivity and greatly enhances quality control and safety.

Plateau's learning management system gives us great flexibility and ease of use as we deploy our mission-critical training, said a Bechtel National training staff spokesman. Using Plateau 4 LMS, we'll be able to manage physical classroom and online learning on a single platform, and tailor instruction to the specific needs of thousands of individuals or groups of individuals across the project.

Hanford's Office of River Protection is the fourth Department of Energy complex to select Plateau 4 LMS in the last year. The other sites include:

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: a DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Co. facility, SPR maintains 575 million barrels of oil for the U.S. It's using Plateau 4 LMS to manage learning and competencies for employees, customers, partners and suppliers.
Pantex Plant: a BWXT Pantex facility responsible for assembling and disassembling all U.S. nuclear weapons, it's replacing legacy training systems and automating its learning processes with Plateau 4 LMS.
Kansas City Plant: a defense systems manufacturing plant operated by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, it has successfully implemented Plateau 4 LMS to automate its manufacturing training processes and enhance quality control.

Plateau 4 LMS is the only enterprise-class LMS built on Web-based, J2EE architecture, considered the industry standard for enterprise software. Government officials have cited J2EE as the preferred architecture for all of the federal government's e-Gov initiatives because of its scalability, flexibility and ability to interoperate with other software systems.

Plateau is extremely proud to add the Hanford project to its work with the Department of Energy, said Paul Sparta, Plateau's Chairman and CEO. This project is ensuring the health and viability of the Columbia River for future generations. Bechtel is a leading global engineering and construction firm, and Plateau intends to provide it with a software platform that enhances productivity, quality control and safety for all of its employees and contractors as they protect one of our nation's great waterways.

About Plateau: Plateau's enterprise-class software manages all of an organization's learning and knowledge on one scalable platform. Plateau 4 Learning Management System (LMS) is built on Web-based J2EE/EJB architecture, and is the engine behind the largest e-Learning initiatives in the corporate, non-profit and government markets. Plateau 4 LMS automates the management and delivery of online and classroom learning, organizational knowledge and competencies for clients including the American Red Cross, Motorola, Union Pacific and the U.S. Air Force. Plateau is listed as a leader in LMS evaluations from Gartner Inc. and META Group. The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.

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