Merrick & Co. has opened a new office in Aiken, S.C., to get its foot in the door of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s expanding plutonium mission, the Greenwood, Colo., nuclear, defense, and infrastructure contractor said.
Bill Taylor will manage the new Aiken office, the company said in a press release. Taylor spent the last 15 years at CB&I Project Services: the contractor for the now-canceled Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken.
“The newly formed office will support the nation’s Plutonium Sustainment Program along with other missions,” according to the press release.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to convert the MFFF into a facility to annually produce 50 fissile nuclear-weapon cores called plutonium pits by 2030. Congress must still fund the plan.
Merrick & Co. employs about 550 people, according to its website. Among other things, the company has designed and fabricated glove boxes for the NNSA.
“Our Aiken presence will allow our clients in the southeast region of the U.S. easy access to our expertise related to nuclear facilities and specialized equipment design for our [country’s] Strategic Materials Programs which include Plutonium, Uranium, Tritium, and Lithium materials,” Tony Wampler, business development manager for Merrick’s Nuclear Services & Technology branch, said in the release.
