U.S. Department of Energy has has extended Fluor-BWXT's Portsmouth's cleanup and decommissioning contract at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio, with a 30-month extension valued at approximately $850 million, BWXT announced.
BWXT is a partner in the FBP joint venture.
FBP is responsible for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP). The scope of the project includes deactivation and preparation for demolition and disposal of all GDP facilities, process equipment, related process buildings and other ancillary facilities. It also includes continued environmental remediation, uranium stewardship and community outreach programs.
The Portsmouth GDP operated from 1954 to 2001. The Ohio plant, one of three large gaseous diffusion plants in the U.S., occupies 1,200 acres. It was initially constructed to produce enriched uranium to support the nation’s nuclear weapons program and, in later years, to produce enriched uranium used by commercial nuclear reactors. The Department of Energy began its environmental cleanup program at the site in 1989, and the effort continues today in cooperation with the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies.