Over 1,000 containers of DUF6 converted to oxide in fiscal 2025

The Department of Energy said this week more than 1,000 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) were converted into a more stable oxide form at two former gaseous diffusion plant sites during fiscal 2025.

The work took place at DUF6 conversion plants located at the DOE’s Paducah Site in Kentucky and the Portsmouth Site in Ohio, the department said in a Tuesday press release. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

DUF6 is left over from decades of uranium enrichment work at Portsmouth and Paducah as well as the demolished facility at Oak Ridge, Tenn., DOE said in the press release. Converting DUF6 into an oxide form for disposal or transport reduces the material’s environmental risk, DOE said.

DOE’s Office of Environmental Management had set a fiscal 2025 goal of converting at least 1,000 cylinders, according to the release.

“Every cylinder we convert brings us one step closer to a safer future for the communities around Paducah and Portsmouth, and for the nation as a whole,” Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS) Project Manager Dutch Conrad said in the release. Mid-America is a contractor team made up of Atkins, Westinghouse and Fluor.

Prior to a 2020 suspension of operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, DOE had converted about 10% of the 67,000 DUF6 cylinders in its inventory, according to a July 2022 report by the Government Accountability Office.

In November, DOE awarded the 10-year, $2.3-billion Operations & Site Mission Support Contract, which includes DUF6 conversion at Portsmouth and Paducah, to another Atkins-led group,  Mission Conversion Services Alliance. In addition to AtkinsRéalis’ US, other members of the new contract team are Westinghouse Government Services and Jacobs Technology, which is now part of Amentum.