Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 1/30/2015 Oak Ridge National Laboratory has extended its American Centrifuge Technology Demonstration and Operations contract with Centrus Energy Corp. through Sept. 30. The $41.7 million deal was expected after the Fiscal Year 2015 omnibus spending bill included $97.2 million for domestic uranium enrichment research, development and demonstration. Under the agreement, Oak […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 1/30/2015 In a record environmental settlement, the U.S. government and Kerr-McGee Corporation  subsidiary Anadarko Petroleum Corporation finalized a $5.15 billion settlement last week, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced. Of the $5.15 billion, $985 million will go toward the cleanup of radioactive contamination at approximately 50 abandoned […]

The Department of Energy and Belgium’s National Institute for Radioelements have signed a statement of intent on potentially processing highly enriched uranium targets that are residue from the production of Molybdenum-99 for medical use, the National Nuclear Security Administration confirmed late last week. The Department has explored whether the material could be processed in Savannah […]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has extended its American Centrifuge Technology Demonstration and Operations contract with Centrus Energy Corp. through Sept. 30. The $41.7 million deal was expected after the Fiscal Year 2015 omnibus spending bill approved last month included $97.2 million for domestic uranium enrichment research, development and demonstration. Under the agreement Oak Ridge National […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 1/23/2015 While a Savannah River National Laboratory study has concluded that processing a difficult batch of German highly enriched uranium at the Savannah River Site is feasible, no decision will be made on accepting the fuel until a final environmental assessment is issued this summer, a Department of Energy  spokesman said […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 1/16/2015 Y-12 contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security is seeking a source for up to 6,800 metric tons of high purity depleted uranium metal and related material and services, the company said last week as it released a sources sought notice, though it’s unclear what the material might be for.  In the Jan. […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is gearing up for the procurement for a new contract to operate DOE’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants, announcing Dec. 8 that a draft Request for Proposals for the contract is expected to be released within 45 days. DOE also released this week a draft […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes after industry […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes after industry […]

The Department of Energy is planning to develop a new secretarial determination regarding its uranium transfers to cover cleanup work at Portsmouth and the downblending of highly-enriched uranium, releasing last week a request for information from the public about potential impacts on the uranium markets. The move comes as uranium conversion company ConverDyn has filed […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 12/5/2014 Honeywell’s Metropolis Works uranium conversion plant is slated to enter a 90-day “routine maintenance shutdown” in early January to make facility upgrades. While the facility last month experienced a uranium hexafluoride release as a result of equipment failure, the maintenance had been scheduled before that in September. “We have had […]

Companies interested in bidding on the new Paducah infrastructure contract are getting a little extra time to submit questions on the Request for Proposals to the Department of Energy. In a notice issued Nov. 24, DOE said it is reopening the Q&A period through noon on Dec. 1 to “allow Offerors to submit questions to […]

Companies looking to bid on the new Paducah infrastructure contract now have an additional week to prepare and submit proposals. The Department of Energy extended the bid deadline to Dec. 12, from Dec. 5, in an amendment to the Request for Proposals for the new contract issued Nov. 21. The new contract is being set-aside […]

Honeywell’s Metropolis Works uranium conversion plant is slated to enter a 90-day “routine maintenance shutdown” in early January to make facility upgrades, Plant Manager Jim Pritchett told employees late last week. While the facility last month experienced a uranium hexafluoride release as a result of equipment failure, the maintenance had been scheduled in September, before […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 11/21/2014 The United States should take another look at its policy of excluding low-enriched uranium from foreign-owned companies from its tritium production efforts, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released late last week. In a report requested by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), the GAO noted […]

Facing Tight Funding, Site Looks at Balancing Progress Toward D&D Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 11/21/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, responsible for the Portsmouth D&D project, is awaiting the next step from Congress to see if it can avoid hundreds of layoffs next month, officials said this week. Despite facing a funding shortfall of $110 million at […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 11/21/2014 Centrus Energy is looking at further corporate downsizing as its focuses on the American Centrifuge project and its uranium broker business, executives said in an investor call late last week. The shift comes after last month Centrus returned control of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to the Department of Energy. […]

The Department of Energy yesterday issued a second amendment to the Request for Proposals for the new Paducah infrastructure services contract. The amendment makes a number of technical changes to the RFP, but does not change the date proposals are due, which currently stands at Dec. 5. Details of the new amendment can be found […]

The U.S. should take another look at its policy of excluding low-enriched uranium from foreign-owned companies from its tritium production efforts, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Friday. In a report requested by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), the GAO noted that conditions have changed drastically since the […]

As Centrus Energy continues its search for a new chief executive officer, the company is also looking at further corporate downsizing as its focus centers on American Centrifuge and its uranium broker business, executives said in an investor call Friday. The shift comes after last month Centrus returned control of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 11/14/2014 Uranium firm TENAM has named Curt Steel as acting president after its general director was charged with conspiracy and extortion related to an alleged kickback scheme last month. Vadim Mikerin, general director of TENEX subsidiary TENAM USA, allegedly received more than $1.6 million in payments from officials from Transport Logistics […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 11/14/2014 With Congress back in session beginning this week, the White House’s choice to serve as the next head of the Department of Energy’s cleanup program appears set to continue to face a tough road to full confirmation. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is maintaining a hold he has placed on Monica […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 11/14/2014 Potential bidders on the new Paducah infrastructure services now have an additional two weeks to prepare proposals thanks to an amendment to the final Request for Proposals for the new contract issued late this week. The amendment pushes back the due date for bids to Dec. 5, from Nov.  20, […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 11/14/2014 The reorganization of USEC into Centrus Energy has been a boost for the company, with Centrus reporting this week a net income of about $419 million for the third quarter of 2014 compared to a net loss of $44.3 million the same quarter last year. The company’s costs have dropped […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 11/14/2014 While Honeywell restarted operations at its Metropolis uranium conversion facility this week after a recent release of uranium hexafluoride, the company’s initial response to the event has been questioned and the plant remains embroiled in a dispute with the United Steelworkers labor union. The Oct. 26 leak originated at a […]

In its first earnings call since changing its name from USEC and emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, Centrus Energy will hold its third quarter earnings call tomorrow at 9 a.m. The company plans to release its earnings report beforehand for the period that ended Sept. 30. Centrus completed its restructuring at the end of […]

The United Steelworkers yesterday filed unfair labor practices charges against Honeywell regarding the Aug. 2 lockout of workers at the Metropolis Works plant in Illinois. USW Local 7-669 filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming that the lockout was illegal. “The union alleges Honeywell threatened to permanently replace its union workforce; illegally […]

Russian uranium firm TENAM has named Curt Steel as acting president after its general director was charged with conspiracy and extortion related to a kickback scheme last month. Vadim Mikerin, general director of TENEX subsidiary TENAM USA, allegedly received more than $1.6 million in payments from officials from Transport Logistics International for noncompetitive transport contracts […]

Honeywell is awaiting a confirmatory action letter from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after taking corrective actions at its Metropolis facility following an Oct. 26 uranium hexafluoride leak. The cause of the leak at the Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility in Illinois was traced to an equipment failure near the end of the production process. “The […]

WC Monitor 11/7/2014 IN DOE The Department of Energy has awarded a $3.6 million grant to Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet for regulatory oversight of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The grant covers a period from Nov. 1 through Oct. 31, 2015, with options for four one-year extensions. The grant aims to have Kentucky “provide […]