March 17, 2014

ENERGYSOLUTIONS MOVES TO BUY OUT PARTNERS ON U-233 PROJECT

By ExchangeMonitor

EnergySolutions is moving to buy out its other two partners on the uranium-233 disposition project at Oak Ridge—B&W and Burns and Roe, WC Monitor has learned. The three companies together make up Isotek Systems, LLC, an arrangement led by EnergySolutions that the company is looking to modify by having B&W and Burns and Roe instead serve as fixed-fee subcontractors, according to industry officials. EnergySolutions did not return calls for comment on the negotiations yesterday.

The uranium-233 project is intended to disposition a total of 450 kilograms of fissile material stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Building 3019 in response to safety concerns at the aging facility. Isotek Systems had originally planned to modify Building 3019 to install process equipment to downblend all of the material and the construction of a separate facility, dubbed the ‘annex,’ to handle packaging of material for eventual disposal. Earlier this year, though, the Department of Energy modified its approach and now intends to disposition approximately half of the uranium-233 inventory through transfer to other DOE programs for reuse or through direct disposal. An analysis of alternatives for downblending the other half of the inventory is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

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