Amentum-led team to decommission US enrichment plant

The contract term is over a 10-year ordering period, and performance of task orders issued up to an additional five years and includes demolition and disposal of gaseous diffusion plant facilities, process equipment, related process buildings, and other ancillary facilities; remediation of plumes, soils, and legacy landfills; and operation and capping of a new multi-cell on-site waste disposal facility. The contract also includes remediation of contaminated soils and groundwater, and disposition of uranium material.

The Portsmouth plant began operations in 1954, originally as part of the USA's nuclear weapons complex, but produced fuel for commercial nuclear plants from the 1960s. Enrichment operations at the 3700-acre site ended in 2001, after which the plant was maintained in cold standby for ten years. Limited cleanup operations began at the site in the 1990s.

Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth LLC has managed the decontamination and decommissioning work at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant since March 2011.

"Amentum and our heritage companies have a long history of supporting the DOE's environmental management programme and have managed numerous decontamination and decommissioning projects across the DOE complex," said Amentum CEO John Heller. "Our extensive experience at the Oak Ridge Reservation enables us to bring advanced technical solutions to complete the work safely and effectively at Portsmouth."

"We have worked at the Portsmouth site and have been involved in the community for the past 12 years - we know the importance of staying local," added Tom D'Agostino, president of Fluor's Mission Solutions business. "We are proud that this contract includes local small business partners who are committed to building an environmentally and economically sustainable future for southern Ohio. We look forward to maintaining our momentum and working collaboratively with the DOE, regulators, stakeholders and the community."