Fluoride Action Network

DOE Extends Contract to Operate Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Plants

Source: Press Release. Energy.gov | Office of Environmental Management | September 29th, 2016 | Media Contact Brad Mitzelfelt, 859-219-4035
Location: United States, Kentucky
Industry type: Nuclear Industry

duf6-cylinders-ky-oh

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) today announced it is extending its contract for Operations of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facilities at Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio for a period of up to four months.

The contract period for the current contractor, BWXT Conversion Services LLC (BWCS), had been scheduled to expire on September 30, 2016. The contract was previously extended non-competitively for a period of nine months to accommodate the competitive procurement process for a new DUF6 Operations contract and to avoid interruption of services. This additional non-competitive contract extension, valued at approximately $35.8 million, is intended to accommodate DOE’s transition to the new contract without interruptions of ongoing services.

Ongoing services currently performed by BWCS that will continue during the four-month contract extension include operating the DUF6 conversion facilities, and continuing cylinder surveillance and maintenance for the DUF6 inventory and conversion facilities, among other services.

The DUF6 conversion plants were designed and constructed to convert DOE’s inventory of more than 700,000 metric tons of DUF6 left over from decades of uranium enrichment at DOE’s gaseous diffusion plants to a more stable uranium oxide form for beneficial reuse or disposal.

The mission of the Office of Environmental Management is to complete the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.