A joint venture led by AtkinsRéalis Group has been awarded a 10-year contract to operate and manage a nuclear materials processing facility in the United States.
The contract was awarded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants.
The joint venture –which also includes Westinghouse Government Services, and Jacobs Technology – is known as Mission Conversion Services Alliance, LLC (MCSA). It will operate the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion facilities, and assume site landlord responsibilities.
A joint venture led by AtkinsRéalis’ US Nuclear team has been operating and maintaining the DUF6 facilities for the DOE Portsmouth Paducah Project Office (PPPO) since 2016.
Ian L Edwards, president and chief executive at AtkinsRéalis, said: “This work illustrates how our commitment to protecting the planet’s environment and its people through our end-to-end services across the entire nuclear asset life cycle is a key differentiator for AtkinsRéalis.
“We are dedicated to safely managing legacy nuclear materials and fostering economic growth that improves communities.”
Under the 10-year Operations & Site Mission Support (OSMS) contract, MCSA will operate the DUF6 conversion facilities, transforming the inventory of DUF6 into a more stable uranium oxide (OUx) for disposition.
MCSA will provide surveillance and maintenance services of the DUF6 cylinder inventory awaiting disposition and perform off-site disposal of empty cylinders as well as the depleted uranium oxide. The joint venture will also provide protective security forces, emergency management and fire protection services as well as operating and maintaining utilities at both plants.
Joe St Julian, president, nuclear, at AtkinsRéalis, said: “Through our long-standing partnership with the DOE, we’ve been continuously upgrading the DUF6 plants to make them safer and more reliable. We appreciate the DOE’s confidence in us to continue our blueprint for plant improvements and increased production, as well as bringing this same continuous improvement management culture to the infrastructure and support scopes that are new to this contract.”
Jeff Kendall, president (interim), at AtkinsRéalis US Nuclear, added: “We are honoured to continue the safe execution of the PPPO’s mission, and our team appreciates the opportunity to support this important mission in partnership with the DOE.
“We are incredibly proud of the leadership team at DUF6 and the broader operational and support teams that have transformed the future of both the Paducah and Portsmouth plants to ensure the safe delivery of our present and future scope.”
Image credit: Natali _ Mis/Shutterstock
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