Archive

Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant

The Portsmouth site near Piketon, Ohio, enriched uranium by gaseous diffusion and is now undergoing decontamination and decommissioning. Coverage tracks process building demolition, the on-site waste disposal facility, groundwater remediation, cleanup contracts, and the site’s reindustrialization for future missions.

  • Wrap Up: Pike County Meeting Set to Discuss Portsmouth Contamination Sampling

    The Scioto Valley Local School District in Ohio plans a community meeting Saturday to discuss radioactive contamination concerns at a middle school located about 2 miles from the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site. Zahn’s Corner Middle School will be tested for radioactive byproducts released into the air by the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant during past uranium […]

  • Pike County Meeting Planned to Discuss Portsmouth Contamination Sampling

    The Scioto Valley Local School District in Ohio plans a community meeting Saturday to discuss radioactive contamination concerns at a middle school located about 2 miles from the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site. Zahn’s Corner Middle School will be tested for radioactive byproducts released into the air by the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant during past uranium […]

  • Correction

    An article in the July 26 issue of Weapons Complex Monitor, “Dueling Findings by DOE, University at Odds Over Safety of Ohio School,” should have said Energy Department dust samples taken during Memorial Day weekend detected no radioactivity above naturally occurring levels at a school near the Portsmouth Site.

  • All Options ‘On the Table’ at Fluor After $555M Loss: CEO

    “All options are on the table” at Fluor after the company’s $555 million loss in the second quarter of 2019, CEO Carlos Hernandez said Thursday. The government contractor is becoming more selective about what projects it bids on, and will consider asset sales and staff reductions, Hernandez said during a teleconference call with Wall Street […]

  • Jacobs Rumored to be Interested in Acquiring Fluor

    Three industry sources said recently Fluor’s government services group, if not the entire company, could be an acquisition target for another player in the nuclear cleanup industry, Jacobs Engineering. Such a deal could further consolidate Jacobs’ hold on the business of environmental remediation for the U.S. Department of Energy, following its December 2017 purchase of […]

  • Dueling Findings by DOE, University at Odds Over Safety of Ohio School

    Conclusions drawn by Northern Arizona University (NAU) researchers and the Department of Energy provide opposing views of whether a middle school near the Portsmouth Site in Ohio is safe for students to attend this fall. Local officials, citing analysis by NAU, said Thursday dust samples taken over Memorial Day weekend at Zahn’s Corner Middle School […]

  • Jacobs Rumored to Be Interested in Buying Fluor

    Three industry sources said recently Fluor’s government services group, if not the entire company, could be an acquisition target for another player in the nuclear cleanup industry, Jacobs. Such a deal could further consolidate Jacobs’ hold on the business of environmental remediation for the U.S. Department of Energy, following its December 2017 purchase of CH2M. […]

  • Centrus Energy CFO Departs Company

    Marian Davis has resigned as chief financial officer of uranium fuel broker and enrichment technology company Centrus Energy Corp., according to a regulatory filing. Davis submitted her letter of resignation June 7 and was expected to leave the company after it filed its 10-Q report on quarterly earnings for the period ended June 30, according […]

  • Ohio County Seeks Corrected DOE Air Sampling Reports From Portsmouth

    The Pike County, Ohio, General Health District wants the U.S. Department of Energy to provide it with corrected air sampling reports from 2001 through 2017 after a federal official acknowledged last month a contractor under-reported potential contamination around the Portsmouth Site. Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar said in a June 6 letter to Pike […]

  • Centrus Begins Work on New Enrichment Cascade Under Letter Contract From DOE

    Centrus Energy Corp. has started work on a next-generation uranium enrichment cascade that could give the company a leg up in the competition to build the next domestic enrichment facility for national defense, according to a document published Wednesday by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a June 27 letter to the federal regulator, the […]

  • Ohio County Seeking Corrected DOE Air Sampling Reports From Portsmouth

    The Pike County, Ohio, General Health District wants the U.S. Department of Energy to provide it with corrected air sampling reports from 2001 through 2017 after a federal official acknowledged last month a contractor under-reported potential contamination around the Portsmouth Site. Energy Undersecretary for Science Paul Dabbar said in a June 6 letter to Pike […]

  • Second Lawsuit Filed Over Portsmouth Site Contamination Claims

    Two class-action lawsuits have now been filed against companies doing work at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio since a nearby middle school was closed due to the potential spread of radioactive contamination. On June 28, two individuals who have long lived within 2 miles of the former gaseous diffusion plant filed suit against […]

  • Ohio Recommends Local Firm for Portsmouth-Area Sampling

    The Pike County, Ohio, General Health District recommends using Solutient Technologies for an independent third-party assessment of contamination levels around the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site. The program is an effort to allay public concerns that in may led to temporary closure of a middle school near the nuclear remediation operation. The Canton, Ohio-based firm is […]

  • Another Lawsuit Filed Over Portsmouth Site Contamination Claims

    Two class-action lawsuits have now been filed against companies doing work at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio since a nearby middle school was closed due to the potential spread of radioactive contamination. On Friday, two individuals who have long lived within 2 miles of the former gaseous diffusion plant filed suit against Centrus […]

  • Trio of DOE Tech Services Contractors Get Another Mini-Extension

    The Department of Energy has extended three technical support services contracts through Sept. 30 for cleanup operations at its Paducah Site in Kentucky and Portsmouth Site in Ohio. Further details about the contract extensions were not immediately available. The department has indicated it could extend the contracts in three-month increments from April 1 to Dec. […]

  • Energy Dept. Tech Services Contractors Get Another Extension

    The Department of Energy has extended three technical support services contracts through Sept. 30 for cleanup operations at its Paducah Site in Kentucky and Portsmouth Site in Ohio. Further details about the contract extensions were not immediately available. The department has indicated it could extend the contracts in three-month increments from April 1 to Dec. […]

  • Wrap Up: Ohio Senators Commit to Solutions for Portsmouth Off-Site Contamination

    Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said this week he has been unable to persuade the White House to take a direct interest in addressing findings of off-site radiological contamination near the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth cleanup project in his state. “I’ve begged the Department of Energy and I tried to get the president of the United […]

  • Ohio Senators Commit to Solution for Portsmouth-Area Contamination

    Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said this week he has been unable to persuade the White House to take a direct interest in addressing findings of off-site radiological contamination near the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth cleanup project in his state. “I’ve begged the Department of Energy and I tried to get the president of the United […]

  • Error Led to Energy Department Under-Reporting of Portsmouth Rad Contamination

    The Department of Energy acknowledged last week that a “minor miscalculation” by contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth resulted in the under-reporting of doses of some radioactive contaminants for many years around the agency’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. That said, the radioactive dose rates “remain far below” the point of being a health and safety concern, DOE Undersecretary […]

  • Error Led to Energy Department Under-Reporting of Portsmouth Rad Contamination

    The Department of Energy acknowledged last week that a “minor miscalculation” by contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth resulted in the under-reporting of doses of some radioactive contaminants for many years around the agency’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. That said, the radioactive dose rates “remain far below” the point of being a health and safety concern, Undersecretary of […]

  • Portsmouth Advisory Board Won’t Seek to Reopen Decision on Waste Cell

    For the second time in a year, an advisory board to the Department of Energy has rejected a member’s request to urge the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its decision on the On-Site Waste Disposal Cell being built at the the Portsmouth Site in Ohio During a meeting Thursday, the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board voted against […]

  • Energy Dept. Makes Case for Non-Compete Centrus Contract for HALEU

    The Energy Department published its justification May 31 for contracting a Centrus Energy subsidiary to demonstrate high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) production without competitive bidding. The federal government wants to deploy a 16-machine cascade at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to demonstrate production of 19.75% enriched uranium fuel by June 2022 using domestic technology. Centrus’ […]

  • Departing Nuclear Cleanup Chief Praised by DOE Brass, Others

    Supporters of the departing Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White say she refocused the Energy Department’s $7 billion nuclear cleanup office on completing work, rather than just safely maintaining 16 Cold War sites. But when Energy Secretary Rick Perry confirmed in a Friday email to DOE staff White has resigned effective June 14, […]

  • Local Residents Sue DOE Contractors Over Portsmouth Contamination

    A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court this week accuses current and former Energy Department contractors of failure to prevent radioactive contamination from spreading beyond the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The case was initiated by two families in Pike County, where the former uranium enrichment complex is located. One of the families has a child […]

  • DOE Nuclear Cleanup Chief Formally Resigns

    Assistant Energy Secretary for Environmental Management Anne Marie White has resigned effective June 14. In an email obtained by Weapons Complex Monitor, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Deputy Secretary Dan Brouillette confirmed widespread industry chatter that White is leaving the agency after less than two years. The same email, distributed to a DOE mailing list, confirmed longtime […]

  • Results of Latest DOE Sampling at Portsmouth-Area School Expected in June

    It should take anywhere from two to four weeks to fully analyze the Energy Department’s new sampling for radioactive contaminants at a middle school near the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The results should be publicly provided as soon as they are available, Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster said in a Wednesday email. A team […]

  • Results of Latest DOE Sampling at Portsmouth-Area School Due Within Weeks

    It should take anywhere from two to four weeks to fully analyze the Energy Department’s new sampling for radioactive contaminants at a middle school near the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The results should be publicly provided as soon as they are available, Pike County Health Commissioner Matt Brewster said in a Wednesday email. A team […]

  • Fluor Brings Back Retired CFO as Management Makeover Continues

    Fluor is bringing back a retired chief financial officer, Michael Steuert, to permanently fill the role again as current CFO Bruce Stanski assists the Dallas-area company’s new chief executive with a strategic review. The international engineering, procurement, and construction company also announced Monday that Mark Fields will become the new president of its energy and […]

  • Energy Dept. Team Collects Piketon Samples Over Holiday Weekend

    A team of certified health physicists from the Energy Department spent the Memorial Day weekend in Piketon, Ohio, collecting air samples that will be analyzed for signs of radioactive contamination at a local middle school. Forty-four air samples were collected both inside and outside of Zahn’s Corner Middle School, about 2 miles from DOE’s Portsmouth […]

  • Locals Want Detail on New DOE Contamination Sampling Near Portsmouth

    The U.S. Energy Department is conducting additional sampling to detect any radioactive contamination at a school near its Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio, while local officials seek to be kept in the loop. Energy Secretary Rick Perry dispatched a technical team to do an assessment of the school, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday. Energy […]