Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

URENCO USA Says Significant Inventory On Hand Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/21/2014 While the Nuclear Energy Institute is warning lawmakers of the potential impacts of sanctions under consideration on Russian low enriched uranium, URENCO USA says there is significant inventory on hand. The White House is considering including LEU among sanctions against Russia, and this […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 3/07/2014 USEC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week after reaching an agreement with the majority of bondholders and investors on its financial restructuring plan. The moves comes after the company announced in December it planned to file for bankruptcy due to a market downturn, but it would need to convince […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 2/28/2014 In a another step in a proposal to construct a new laser enrichment plant at the Paducah site, Global Laser Enrichment intends to submit a license application by September to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company told the NRC last week. “GLE expects to submit the license application for the […]

The Department of Energy over the weekend provided an additional $1.7 million USEC to continue work on the American Centrifuge Project under a subcontract with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, bringing total funding so far up to $13.5 million, according to a USEC financial filing. Currently USEC’s American Centrifuge project is under a new 18-month DOE-funded […]

The Department of Energy and USEC are aiming to complete turnover of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant by Oct. 1, meaning the new deactivation contract will need to be awarded in the next week in order to meet the 90-day transition period in the request for task proposals. Last week USEC and DOE signed an […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 After years of trying, the Department of Energy may be moving closer to realizing a goal of getting new funding for the federal Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund, which helps cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites. The Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and […]

Some Employees Say More Significant Changes Needed Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, is working to make improvements to its non-destructive assay program in the wake of a recent assessment that identified concerns, and expects to be able to resume by the end of […]

The following interview with Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Poneman, who announced this week plans to leave DOE in the fall, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications Editor-in-Chief Mike Nartker. RW Monitor 6/20/2014 As the Department of Energy looks to move forward with a consent-based approach to siting new interim and permanent facilities for high-level waste, how […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/20/2014 Uranium conversion company Converdyn has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy in an effort to stop the Department’s uranium transfers, which the company claims will cost it $40.5 million in lost revenue over the next two years. In May, a DOE Secretarial Determination declared that its ongoing uranium […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/20/2014 Uranium conversion company Converdyn has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy in an effort to stop the Department’s uranium transfers, which the company claims will cost it $40.5 million in lost revenue over the next two years. In May, a DOE secretarial determination declared that its ongoing uranium […]

The U.S. nuclear industry is pushing back against a provision in the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill that would reauthorize new contributions to the federal Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund, which is used to cover cleanup costs at the Paducah, Portsmouth and Oak Ridge sites. The Senate bill would […]

House appropriators are pushing back against the Department of Energy’s current plan to put the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant into a long-term surveillance-and-maintenance state once it’s returned from USEC, and instead are directing the Department to submit information that “clearly describes” DOE’s anticipated time line for decommissioning the plant. “The Department is obligated to decommission […]

Uranium conversion company Converdyn has filed suit against the Department of Energy in an effort to stop the Department’s uranium transfers, which the company claims will cost it $40.5 million in lost revenue over the next two years. In May a DOE Secretarial Determination declared that its ongoing uranium transfers would have no negative impact […]

Kenny Fletcher NS&D Monitor 6/13/2014 House appropriators are looking to rescind more than a billion dollars associated with the privatization of USEC still remaining. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, reported out of subcommittee this week, would rescind the roughly $1.6 billion in the United States Enrichment Corporation […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 6/13/2014 John Woolery has been named the new President and General Manager of B&W Conversion Services, LLC, the contractor responsible for the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants, effective July 1. That’s the same day that B&W Pantex, which Woolery currently heads, is set to be replaced by […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 6/13/2014   The four recent Department of Energy uranium transfers that supported USEC totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars may have been done illegally, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week that sparked strong disagreement from DOE. The Department undertook the transfers in 2012 and 2013 […]

Kenneth Fletcher NS&D Monitor 1/31/2014 USEC and the Department of Energy this week launched a nearly three-month extension of a cost-share program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology during which additional tests will be performed. The extension, running from Jan. 29 until April 15, will use about $5.9 million of USEC funds and $23.05 million in […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/13/2014 The four recent Department of Energy uranium transfers that supported USEC totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars may have been done illegally, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week that sparked strong disagreement from DOE. The Department undertook the transfers in 2012 and 2013 largely […]

The Department of Energy yesterday issued a draft Performance Work Statement for the new Portsmouth infrastructure support services contract. In addition, DOE said it has “tentatively scheduled” a pre-solicitation conference for the new contract the week of July 14. The new contract is being set-aside for small businesses, and is set to run for up […]

The Department of Energy yesterday issued for industry comment a draft Request for Proposals for the new Paducah infrastructure support services contract. The new contract is being set-aside for small businesses that do not exceed a $35.5 million size standard, and is expected to run for up to five years—consisting of a one-year base period […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/04/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week that DOE is looking to award the new contract for deactivation services at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in September. During a joint House subcommittee hearing this week, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) questioned plans for the contract given USEC’s upcoming return of […]

Pro2Serve Accusing FBP of Improperly Trying to Take Away Work, Employees Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/04/2014 Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve) is accusing Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, of improperly trying to take away its work at the Portsmouth D&D project—a move Pro2Serve alleges could put its “ongoing viability” at risk. Last week, Pro2Serve filed a lawsuit against FBP […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 4/04/2014 The Department of Energy and Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth site, are in an apparent dispute over what costs, if any, FBP will be responsible for from an incident that occurred last year involving falsified records. DOE has warned FBP that costs related to the incident […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 3/28/2014 Planned shipments of liquid highly enriched uranium from Canada to the Savannah River Site for processing have been delayed again, and now appear to be slated for September 2015. Officials said in late 2012 that the proces-sing of the material could start in 2013 and end in 2016, but officials […]

Unclear Who Will Head DUF6 Contractor BWCS Going Forward Mike Nartker WC Monitor 3/14/2014 George Dials, a senior executive at Babcock & Wilcox, is leaving the company at the end of this month. Dials first joined B&W in 2006, when he served as president and CEO of B&W Y-12, LLC, and since late 2010 he has […]

There are numerous “legal concerns” with several recent Department of Energy uranium transfers that supported USEC, according to a Government Accountability Office report released yesterday that sparked strong disagreement from DOE. The Department undertook four uranium transfers in 2012 and 2013 largely to help fund USEC’s American Centrifuge technology, as well as provide enriched uranium […]

The Department of Energy would need to notify Congress 30 days before making any uranium transfers, and would need to conduct a new uranium market impact study if when the transfers take place the uranium value “is more than 10 percent lower than the gross fair market value on the date the most recent determination […]

Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson WC Monitor 6/6/2014 Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) late last week criticized the Department of Energy’s latest determination that its transfers of uranium for cleanup and other purposes are not hurting the domestic uranium industry. Noting that the Department’s latest market analysis shows a 10 percent drop in the spot price […]

Kenneth Fletcher RW Monitor 6/6/2014 A court hearing on USEC’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has been postponed a third time, with the disclosure statement hearing now scheduled to take place July 7 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The hearing had been originally scheduled for April 21, then was rescheduled to […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 6/6/2014 The Army has begun seeking a disposal site for depleted uranium-contaminated materials. This week, the Army Contracting Command-Rock Island issued a Sources Sought notice to help determine  “the availability of contractors who have a licensed facility and are able to provide low level radiological waste.” Responses to the notice […]