Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

USEC announced yesterday that it has completed construction of a full cascade of 120 centrifuge machines, a major milestone in a research, development and deployment cost-share program with the Department of Energy supporting the American Centrifuge Project. The cascade is “the centerpiece” of the program, according to a USEC release, and aims to demonstrate the […]

The Department of Energy has cancelled a solicitation seeking a small business to monitor the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for its future viability. The Department posted the solicitation on Feb. 15, and on Feb. 21 posted an amendment cancelling the solicitation without providing an explanation. The Department’s Oak Ridge office, which handled the solicitation as […]

GE-Hitachi is proposing building a SILEX laser enrichment plant at the Department of Energy’s Paducah site in response to an expressions of interest from DOE. Responses were due Thursday for an EOI from DOE seeking future uses of the site and its materials, including its large stockpile of depleted uranium hexafluoride, as plant operator USEC […]

The Department of Energy last week heralded the completion two months ahead of schedule of the demolition of the C-340 Metals Complex at the Paducah Site. The effort by Paducah cleanup contractor LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky began in September 2012 and covered a plant totaling about 1.5 million cubic feet.  “This is a major […]

The Government Accountability Office earlier this month launched its investigation into the Department of Energy’s support for USEC in response to a request last June by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Michael Burgess (R-Texas). The GAO is still in the planning phase of the effort and is determining the scope and schedule moving forward, but […]

The Department of Energy is planning to release a draft Request for Task Proposals within 60 days for deactivation of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant under the nationwide unrestricted Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery contracts, according to a notice posted by the Department yesterday. As first reported in WC Monitor in October, the task would be the […]

Senate appropriators last night released their version of a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government until the end of the fiscal year, maintaining an anomaly that would continue to boost funding for the NNSA’s weapons program but decreasing funding for USEC’s American Centrifuge Project. The Department of Energy’s cost-share program supporting the ACP enjoyed […]

The Department of Energy late last week issued a new amendment to the Request for Proposals for the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract. The amendment contains revised language for some evaluation criteria, including the addition of, “DOE intends to consider work performed under traditional (non-M&O) cost reimbursement and fixed-price contracts that emphasize contract management, […]

The Department of Energy is exploring whether to sell or transfer its stockpile of depleted uranium hexafluoride at the Paducah and Portsmouth sites, in addition to an ongoing effort to lease or sell land and facilities at Paducah. The Department is anticipating a major transition at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, as plant operator USEC […]

As the Department of Energy prepares for the likely return of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant from operator USEC later this year, it issued a Feb. 15 solicitation Feseeking a small business to monitor the future the plant for its future viability. “During the fiscal year, the contractor [subject matter experts (SME)] will continue on-site […]

Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, appears to have received the equivalent of a “B” grade from the Department of Energy for its work at the Portsmouth D&D project in Fiscal Year 2012, with the contractor having earned approximately 86.5 percent of the fee available for the year. For FY 2012, FBP earned approximately $6.85 million out of […]

B&W Conversion Services, LLC, which operates the Department of Energy’s two depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion plants, earned the bulk of the available fee in its last evaluation period, according to information DOE released yesterday. For the period of March 29, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2012, BWCS earned approximately $3.7 million out of an available $4.3 […]

The URENCO Group reported positive financial results in its half-year unaudited financial results Friday, including record sales of enrichment services and a €170 million ($217.5 million) increase in revenue. During that period, URENCO invested €295 million ($377 million) in new enrichment and deconversion capacity in both the Netherlands and at the URENCO USA facility in New […]

House appropriators yesterday unveiled their version of a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government for the first six months of Fiscal Year 2013, and the draft stopgap measure includes exceptions that would boost funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration and USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant project. While most federal programs—including the bulk of the […]

The full House passed legislation Friday that would reform the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program in a vote of 245 to 161, but the “No More Solyndras Act” would still leave USEC eligible for a $2 billion loan guarantee. Though the bill eventually aims to phase out the program, it would still allow loan […]

A Continuing Resolution that would boost funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program and USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant Project for the first six months of Fiscal Year 2013 awaits President Obama’s signature after it was passed by the Senate late Friday. The Senate cleared the measure by a vote of 62-30 on Friday, […]

The Department of Energy late last week issued an amendment to the Request for Proposals for the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract. The amendment includes several changes to proposal preparation instructions, including increasing the page limitation for relevant experience; as well as changes to the language in the evaluation criteria. Bids are still due […]

B&W Conversion Services, LLC, has reached an operational milestone at the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion plant located at the Department of Energy’s Paducah site. All four of the Paducah facility’s production lines have run “continuously and simultaneously” for two weeks, from Sept. 4 through Sept. 18, the contractor announced yesterday. The Paducah plant’s sister […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday issued a license to General Electric-Hitachi for construction and operation of a proposed laser enrichment plant in North Carolina. The issuance comes after an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board authorized the move last week. GE-Hitachi subsidiary Global Laser Enrichment has yet to make a decision on whether or not […]

Bidders on the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract have received an extra two weeks to prepare their proposals, with the deadline for bids now Oct. 14. The extension was contained in a brief amendment to the Request for Proposals for the new contract issued yesterday. Late last week, DOE issued the questions-and-answers received for […]

After more than two years of review, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday gave final construction license for International Isotopes’ depleted uranium deconversion and fluorine extraction facility. The final Environmental Impact Statement was published Aug. 31, and the Safety Evaluation Report approval was issued in May. INIS applied on Dec. 30, 2009 for a license to […]

Dennis Carr, as widely expected, has been officially tapped as the new head of Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, effective Aug. 18. Carr, who currently serves as deputy program manager, will replace Jamie Jameson as Program Manager as Jameson’s initial two-year commitment comes to an end. Carr has also previously held senior management positions at Savannah River […]

The Washington Business Journal has ranked USEC CEO John Welch one of the most overpaid executives in the D.C. region, though the company said in a response that “executive compensation numbers are not always what they seem.” The Journal ranked Welch one of the two most overpaid executives in the area, citing a total compensation in […]

A book that hits the shelves today on President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan claims that White House officials put pressure on the Department of Energy to grant a $2 billion loan guarantee to USEC. Matt Rogers, the former DOE Senior Advisor in charge of Recovery Act implementation, said he “once encountered White House pressure,” when […]

Workers at the Portsmouth D&D project represented by the United Steelworkers labor union ratified a new contract with Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, Aug. 14. The new contract was ratified by a margin of 3 ½ to 1, according to USW Local 689. “We are happy about the outcome of the USW ratification vote and we look […]

URENCO USA yesterday announced the startup of the first of the new TC-21 centrifuge machines at the facility in Eunice, N.M. The TC-21 is expected to be more efficient and have a greater production capacity than the 21 cascades of TC-12 centrifuges already online as part of Phase One of the plant’s construction. “This also […]

Should USEC receive funding in the Continuing Resolution that is set to fund federal agencies in lieu of FY 2013 appropriations when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1? The financially troubled uranium enrichment company says yes, but so far House and Senate appropriators don’t appear receptive.  USEC has made no secret of the fact […]

Despite promising news in recent months on its proposed depleted uranium deconversion and fluorine extraction facility, International Isotopes Inc did not fare well in the second quarter of 2012, and has experienced a down year to date, the company wrote in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Overall revenue during the second quarter […]

The Department of Energy earlier this week issued the final Request for Proposals for the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract. The new cost-plus-award-fee contract is set to run for up to five years, consisting of a three-year base period and one two-year option period, and is estimated to be worth $55-65 million, according to […]

The Department of Energy has finalized a new uranium holding agreement with LES URENCO USA, according to officials. The agreement is a necessary part of DOE’s use of its excess uranium to help fund cleanup activities. “This is simply an agreement with LES to allow DOE to send material to them and for us to […]