Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/18/2014 Babcock & Wilcox has entered the fray in ConverDyn’s lawsuit against the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, arguing that stopping transfers scheduled to occur this month would cause significant harm to its downblending business as well as U.S. national security and nonproliferation goals. B&W subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services is the […]

Legal Fight Continues Over Use of Uranium Transfers to Help Fund Work Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/18/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, officially announced this week plans to cut the workforce at the Portsmouth D&D project by approximately one-third due to budget issues. As WC Monitor first reported in late June, FBP is looking to eliminate a […]

DOE Opens Enforcement Investigation Into Asbestos Concerns Mike Nartker WC Monitor 7/18/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, recently terminated an employee over a new instance of data falsification. The move marks the second time in slightly over a year where FBP has fired employees for falsifying information on […]

Babcock & Wilcox has entered the fray in ConverDyn’s uranium transfer lawsuit against the Department of Energy, arguing that stopping uranium transfers scheduled this month would cause significant harm to its downblending business as well as U.S. national security and nonproliferation goals. B&W subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services is the sole source of highly enriched uranium […]

A group of 18 Republican lawmakers are calling on the Department of Energy to provide additional information as to how it determined that its latest plans to transfer stocks of excess uranium for other purposes won’t have an “adverse material impact” on the domestic uranium industry. In a letter sent earlier this week to Secretary […]

In a move that could lead to financial penalties, Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, is coming under investigation for potential violations of the Department of Energy’s asbestos requirements. The DOE Office of Enforcement informed FBP of its decision to open an investigation into “potential programmatic deficiencies” of the […]

Responding to the Department of Energy’s arguments for continuing uranium transfers, uranium conversion company ConverDyn believes the Department’s Secretarial Determination was “fatally flawed from the outset,” according to a court filing this week. Last month ConverDyn filed in federal court a request for a preliminary injunction to block transfers scheduled to start this month, claiming […]

The Department of Energy on provided an additional $5.4 million in funds for the program supporting the American Centrifuge technology, enough to cover work through Aug. 5, USEC said in a financial filing yesterday. Since May the company has been performing work under a subcontract with Oak Ridge National Laboratory with an aim to preserve […]

Amid reports of potential layoffs at the Portsmouth D&D project, Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown (D) and Rob Portman (R) are seeking answers from the Department of Energy as to whether the project has sufficient funding. In a July 11 letter to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, Brown and Portman said they have received “correspondence from […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 7/11/2014 Pushing back against an effort by ConverDyn to stop the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, DOE this week told a court that suspending the transfers would force it to halt the highly enriched uranium downblend program and cleanup work at Portsmouth. Last month, uranium conversion company ConverDyn filed in federal […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 Pushing back against an effort by ConverDyn to stop the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, DOE this week told a court that suspending the transfers would force it to halt the highly enriched uranium downblend program and cleanup work at Portsmouth. Last month uranium conversion company ConverDyn filed in federal […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 7/11/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration created a new position of Uranium Program Manager this week to oversee all efforts to maintain the agency’s uranium manufacturing capabilities. Tim Driscoll from NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs has been named to fill the new position, which “will be responsible for overseeing all program […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 7/11/2014 The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware this week approved USEC’s disclosure statement for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, paving the way for a vote by USEC’s creditors for final approval of the plan. Votes are due by August 11, and a court hearing to confirm approval is […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration recognized two companies yesterday for their efforts to eliminate the use of highly enriched uranium in the production of medical isotopes. The NNSA recognized United Pharmacy Partners, LLC., (UPPI) and Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., (LMI) for their efforts to increase the use of non-HEU-based molybdenum-99. The NNSA has spent the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration has created a new position of Uranium Program Manager to oversee all efforts to maintain the NNSA’s uranium manufacturing capabilities. The move, announced yesterday, comes in response to one of the recommendations made by the Red Team created to analyze the Uranium Processing Facility project. The Red Team “recommended that […]

Pushing back against an effort by ConverDyn to stop the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, DOE this week told a court that suspending the transfers would bring to a halt cleanup work at Portsmouth and the highly enriched uranium downblend program. Last month uranium conversion company ConverDyn filed in federal court a request for a […]

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware yesterday approved USEC’s disclosure statement for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, paving the way for a vote by USEC’s creditors for final approval of the plan. Votes are due by August 11, and a court hearing to confirm approval is scheduled for Sept. 5. “We have […]

Bobby Russell has been named the new chief engineer of B&W Conversion Services, LLC, which operates the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plants. Russell previously served as division engineering manager of B&W Pantex, according to a BWCS release issued yesterday. He replaces Kent Fortenberry, who left BWCS at the end of […]

After being rescheduled several times, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware is scheduled to hold a hearing today at 11:00 a.m. on USEC’s disclosure statement in relation to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. It had first been originally scheduled for April 21, then was rescheduled to May 20, and was later postponed to June 9. The […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 7/3/2014 USEC’s stock share price saw a rapid rise this week, quadrupling on the heels of notice of additional $2.5 million in funding for American Centrifuge, though the program still only has enough money for about another week. USEC’s share price stood at about $11 at the July 2 market close, […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 7/3/2014 USEC’s stock share price saw a rapid rise this week, quadrupling on the heels of notice of additional $2.5 million in funding for American Centrifuge, though the program still only has enough money for about another week. USEC’s share price stood at about $11 at the July 2 market close, […]

USEC’s stock share price more than doubled yesterday–it stood at $3.05 at yesterday’s open and closed at $7.39, an increase of 144 percent. Last Friday USEC said that it received an additional $2.5 million in funding from the Department of Energy, which will fund until July 11 the current American Centrifuge program that is being […]

Senate appropriators are looking to provide $110 million to the Department of Energy in Fiscal Year 2015 to continue supporting the American Centrifuge technology, according to draft legislation obtained by WC Monitor. In May the Department launched a new $118 million program aimed at preserving the American Centrifuge technology while USEC undergoes bankruptcy proceedings. The […]

Could Deactivation Contract be Awarded Soon? Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/27/2014   The Department of Energy and USEC have set an Oct. 1 date for completing the turnover of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant back to the Department. That schedule would require DOE to award the new Paducah deactivation contract by next week to have […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/27/2014 The Department of Energy officially asked Congressional appropriators this week to reprogram about $33 million in National Nuclear Security Administration funds to support the American Centrifuge Project through the remainder of the fiscal year.  USEC is currently continuing work on the American Centrifuge Project under an 18-month subcontract with Oak […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/27/2014 The Department of Energy officially asked Congressional appropriators this week to reprogram about $33 million in National Nuclear Security Administration funds to support the American Centrifuge Project through the remainder of the fiscal year.  USEC is currently continuing work on the American Centrifuge Project under an 18-month subcontract with Oak […]

Following a recent lawsuit seeking to halt the Department of Energy’s uranium transfers, uranium conversion company ConverDyn this week asked a court to immediately stop upcoming transfers. ConverDyn filed suit earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for D.C. raising legal issues with the DOE transfers, which notably fund much of the cleanup work […]

The Department of Energy this week told lawmakers it aims to reprogram $30 million for the American Centrifuge Project from National Nuclear Security Administration’s Weapons Activities account, and also transferred an additional $2.9 million in nonproliferation funds, according to the NNSA. The Fiscal Year 2014 omnibus spending bill passed early this year gives DOE up […]

The Department of Energy yesterday awarded a $2.9 million task order to KPMG LLP to perform audit services for DOE’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office in Lexington, Ky. The task order has a two-year performance period. “KPMG will provide audit services that include, incurred costs audits, disclosure statement reviews and cost impact evaluations of the Portsmouth/Paducah […]

The Department of Energy has launched its procurement for a follow-on contract for the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facilities Project at the Paducah and Portsmouth sites, releasing yesterday a sources sought and a draft performance work statement. B&W Conversion Services, LLC, is currently operating the facilities under a contract set to expire on Jan. 1, […]