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.
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Cleanup & Remediation
Senator Questions Planned DOE Uranium Enrichment Contract
A New Mexico lawmaker questioned Tuesday why the Energy Department plans to issue a $115 million sole-source contract for Centrus Energy to build new uranium enrichment equipment at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) posed the question to Energy Secretary Rick Perry during a hearing DOE’s budget request for fiscal 2020. Heinrich […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Perry Still Skeptical of Using Uranium Barter to Help Fund Cleanup
Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested Tuesday he is ready to again suspend his agency’s past practice of bartering excess government uranium to help pay for environmental remediation at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. “I agree with you,” Perry told Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a vocal opponent of the practice, during a Senate Energy and Natural […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Portsmouth Contractor Takes Another Go at Voluntary Separations
After its first effort fell short of its goal, Department of Energy cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth is reviving its voluntary separation program in hopes of finding 29 more workers ready to take early departure. The decontamination and decommissioning contractor for the Portsmouth Site in Ohio in December first issued its offer in hopes of persuading […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Centrus Energy Suffers Revenue Loss for Quarter, Year
Centrus Energy on Thursday reported a decline in revenue for both the fourth quarter of 2018 and the year in whole. The Bethesda, Md.-based nuclear fuel provider reported revenue of about $84 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, and $193 million for 2018, down respectively from $117 million and $218 million for the corresponding […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Key Senators Cool to Revival of DOE Uranium Barter Program
The $6.5 billion fiscal 2020 budget request for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would resume the practice of “bartering” excess government uranium in order to defray cleanup costs at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, helped win […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Centrus Energy Suffers Revenue Loss for Quarter, Year
Centrus Energy on Thursday reported a decline in revenue for both the fourth quarter of 2018 and the year in whole. The Bethesda, Md.-based nuclear fuel provider reported revenue of about $84 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, and $193 million for 2018, down respectively from $117 million and $218 million for the corresponding […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Senators Cool to Revival of DOE Uranium Barter Program
The $6.5 billion fiscal 2020 budget request for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management would resume the practice of “bartering” excess government uranium in order to defray cleanup costs at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, helped win […]
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Transuranic Waste
Energy Dept. Budget Would Trim Funding for Some Cleanup Sites
A number of nuclear cleanup sites would make due with less money under the Department of Energy budget plan for the next fiscal year. On March 11, the agency rolled out the broad outlines of its fiscal 2020 budget, with nearly $6.5 billion planned for the Office of Environmental Management — down by over $700 […]
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Decommissioning
Work Resumes in X-333 at Portsmouth After Uranium Equipment Fire
Demolition preparations have resumed at the X-333 Process Building at the Department of Energy’s shuttered Portsmouth Site in Ohio after a piece of old uranium-enrichment equipment caught fire there last week, an agency spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The fire ignited at about 10:30 p.m. on March 14, after personnel with site cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth cut […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Canada Probe of SNC-Lavalin Not Sure Red Light on U.S. Business
By John Stang and Wayne Barber While it faces a potential 10-year ban on contracts with the Canadian government, SNC-Lavalin’s legal woes north of the border do not appear to automatically translate to similar troubles in the United States. The Montreal-based engineering and construction multinational is the parent company to Department of Energy contractor Atkins […]
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Commercial Low-Level Waste
Utah Low-Level Waste Disposal Bill Becomes Law
By John Stang Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) said Monday he allowed a bill to become law without his signature that would ease the path for acceptance and storage of depleted uranium in the state. The law becomes effective March 28. “I have had reservations about how this legislation came forward. Nonetheless, I recognize the […]
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Decommissioning
Work Resumes in X-333 at Portsmouth After Uranium Equipment Fire
Demolition preparations have resumed at the X-333 Process Building at the Department of Energy’s shuttered Portsmouth Site in Ohio after a piece of old uranium-enrichment equipment caught fire there last week, an agency spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The fire ignited at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, after personnel with site cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth cut open the […]
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Decommissioning
Energy Department Plans Demolition of Portsmouth X-326 Building in 2020
The Energy Department and its contractors expect demolition of the X-326 Process Building at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to begin in July 2020, federal managers said March 7 at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz. Most deactivation work has been completed at the building built in the 1950s to enrich uranium, first for […]
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Decommissioning
Energy Department Plans Demolition of Portsmouth X-326 Building in 2020
The Energy Department and its contractors expect demolition of the X-326 Process Building at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio to begin in July 2020, federal managers said March 7 at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz. Most deactivation work has been completed at the building built in the 1950s to enrich uranium, first for […]
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Decommissioning
Work on Portsmouth Disposal Cell Advances
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in recent weeks approved the final design for a new On-Site Disposal Cell at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio. The Department of Energy received the approval within the past month or so, Joel Bradburne, deputy manager for DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, said Thursday on the sidelines of the Waste Management […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Pushing Hard to Hit Procurement Schedule for End-State Awards
PHOENIX, Ariz. – While the Energy Department and its nuclear cleanup contractors acknowledge they are learning on the job, both sides Wednesday stressed the urgency of meeting deadlines for the first set of solicitations issued under the agency’s overhauled approach to procurement. Requests for proposals are due March 18 for two potential 10-year, multibillion-dollar contracts […]
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Decommissioning
Flooding Illustrates Weakness in Portsmouth Disposal Cell Plan, Piketon Mayor Says
The mayor of Piketon, Ohio, says February flooding in the area reinforces his point that the Department of Energy should not build the planned On-Site Disposal Cell for waste from ongoing cleanup at the Portsmouth Site. Heavy rains forced the Pike County Board of Commissioners to declare a state of emergency Feb. 11 due to […]
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Commercial Low-Level Waste
Utah Low-Level Waste Disposal Bill Waits on Decision by Governor
By John Stang A bill that would ease the acceptance and storage of depleted uranium in Utah now awaits signature from Gov. Gary Herbert (R). But so far, Herbert has not indicated whether he will sign it or reject the legislation — or when that decision would be made. The governor has until March 11 to […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Infrastructure Support RFI Issued for Portsmouth-Paducah Operations
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management wants vendor feedback on a potential new contract to provide infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The request for information/sources sought notice was issued Tuesday by DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center. The Energy Department is in the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Fluor Earnings Rise, Revenue Drops in 2018
Fluor, a major Energy Department contractor, on Thursday reported a drop in revenue but higher earnings for 2018. The Dallas-area company took in $225 million in earnings attributable to Fluor, $1.59 per diluted share, for the 12 months ended Dec. 31. That was up from roughly $191 million, or $1.36 per diluted share, for 2017, […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE Silent On Barrasso Demand for Details on Centrus Contract
The Department of Energy has yet to reply to an angry letter from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) demanding details about the agency’s plan to help Centrus Energy Corp. build a new uranium enrichment cascade in Ohio. A Senate aide said Friday that DOE had not respond to the Jan. 23 letter, despite Barrasso’s request for […]
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Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle
DOE Silent On Barrasso Demand for Details on Centrus Contract
As of early this week, the Department of Energy had yet to reply to an angry letter from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) demanding details about the agency’s plan to help Centrus Energy Corp. build a new uranium enrichment cascade in Ohio. A Senate aide said Monday that DOE had not respond to the Jan. 23 […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Issues Infrastructure Support RFI for Portsmouth-Paducah Operations
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is seeking vendor feedback on a potential new contract to provide infrastructure support services at the Portsmouth Site in Ohio and the Paducah Site in Kentucky. The request for information/sources sought notice was issued Tuesday by DOE’s Cincinnati-based Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center. The Energy Department is in […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Only 46 Take Fluor-BWXT Voluntary Separations at Portsmouth
Fewer workers than Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) hoped took advantage of a voluntary separation package offered for contractor personnel at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. After offering the package in December for up to 75 employees at the former gaseous diffusion plant, the decommissioning vendor said this week less than two-thirds of that number […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
Fluor-BWXT Voluntary Separations Fall Short at Portsmouth
Fewer workers than Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) hoped took advantage of a voluntary separation package offered for contractor personnel at the Energy Department’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio. After offering the package in December for up to 75 employees at the former gaseous diffusion plant, the decommissioning vendor said this week less than two-thirds of that number […]
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Contracts & Procurement
Portsmouth-Paducah Tech Vendors Could Stay in Place While DOE Mulls Consolidated Pact
Two Tennessee-based firms, RSI Entech and Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve), appear set to keep their technical support business for the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) through the end of the year. Meanwhile, a source said Thursday the Energy Department appears to be moving ahead with plans for a consolidated technical and administrative support […]
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Transuranic Waste
Wrap Up: North Wind Solutions Stays on the Job at Oak Ridge TRU Waste Center
The Energy Department has picked up a two-year option to keep North Wind Solutions in charge of the Transuranic Waste Processing Center at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee through October 2020. An Energy Department spokesperson confirmed Monday the department in October exercised its option to the original three-year base period. The entire five-year agreement […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
New DOE Web Page Focuses on End States Contracting
The Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management has set up a website devoted to providing information on the end states contracting model. End states, as defined in December special notice from the DOE cleanup office, is a single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracting approach with the flexibility to cover both cost-reimbursement and firm-fixed-price task orders within the […]
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Contracts & Procurement
DOE Looks to Keep Portsmouth-Paducah Tech Support Vendors in Place Through December
Two Tennessee-based firms, RSI Entech and Professional Project Services (Pro2Serve), appear set to keep their technical support business for the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) through the end of the year. The Energy Department said in a Jan. 11 notice of intent it expects to negotiate an agreement to keep RSI on from […]
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Cleanup & Remediation
DOE Eyes Waste Control Specialists for Long-Term Mercury Storage
The Department of Energy has issued Waste Control Specialists (WCS) a “request for task proposal” for long-term storage and management of elemental mercury. In a Jan. 17 notice, DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center said the Dallas-based operator of a waste disposal complex in West Texas is the only vendor capable of providing the required, […]






