March 17, 2014

DOE EXPLORING SELLING PADUCAH AND PORTSMOUTH URANIUM

By ExchangeMonitor

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 plans to cease operations there later this year, leaving DOE with additional costs at the site. Yesterday, DOE released a notice seeking Expressions of Interest from companies interested in the uranium or Paducah facilities. “The intent of this request for EOIs is to identify opportunities to create value for the U.S. government while lowering overall program costs for surveillance and maintenance and/or disposal of uranium materials,” states the EOI, which calls for responses by Feb. 21.

In recent years there has been a push from some to sell DOE’s valuable stockpile of depleted uranium tails, which measures 300,000 metric tons at Paducah and 110,000 metric tons at Portsmouth and are currently slated to be disposed of at waste. Last year, DOE arranged a deal with utilities and USEC to keep the Paducah plant operating another year through reenriching a portion of the tails. However, plans to introduce additional uranium into the market have been met with stiff opposition from the uranium mining industry. “The impact on the uranium industry is a very important consideration for DOE,” DOE Office of Environmental Management spokeswoman Kristen Ellis said in a written response. “The EOI request specifically states that evaluation of any proposal concerning the uranium tails will take into consideration the potential for any adverse material impact on the domestic uranium market associated with the sale or transfer of the material.”

Last summer DOE held an industry day in Paducah seeking future uses of the site’s facilities, which, however, did not mention the sale of uranium. “This Expression of Interest is a continuation of that effort and has been expanded to include some of the inventory of uranium tails that is owned by DOE,” Ellis said. “Commercial interest was expressed during the industry day event not only in the operations and facilities of the PGDP but also in the inventory of uranium tails that is owned by DOE. The EOI is divided into two parts such that commercial entities may submit responses for either the facilities and operations of the GDP or the Uranium tails, or both.”

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