U.S. DOE Portsmouth Decontamination and Decommissioning

The Portsmouth Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) contract is being executed by Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, LLC, a Fluor-led partnership, together with subcontractors CH2M and small businesses Pro2Serve, Innovative Solutions and Wastren Advantage Inc. A team of contractors and a workforce of more than 1,900 are working to decontaminate and decommission more than 10 million square feet of contaminated facilities at the DOE's plant.

In addition to performing facility deactivation, Fluor is partnering with community and economic development leaders in the region by investing corporate resources to support high-impact projects and capital investment in the area.

In April 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) exercised its option to extend the current decontamination and decommissioning work on the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, for an additional 30 months, through September 2018.

The contract extension includes completing deactivation of the massive X-326 uranium enrichment plant, initiating deactivation work in the equally large X-333 process building, continuing the uranium barter program, completing On-Site Waste Disposal Facility design and moving construction forward to prepare the first cells to receive contaminated soils and demolition debris.

In October 2018, Fluor announced that the DOE further ?extended the contract for an additional 30 months. Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth will continue decontamination and decommissioning work through March 2021.

Client's Challenge

The 3,778-acre Gaseous Diffusion Plant was built by the federal government in the early 1950s as part of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. The site enriched uranium until 2001.

Today, three main process buildings – each with a footprint of more than 30 acres -- house thousands of pieces of uranium enrichment equipment and hazardous waste.

The DOE faces the challenge of safely dismantling more than 315 facilities and dispositioning the associated material inventories and process equipment, and remediating more than 600,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil.

In addition to cleaning up the site and making it safe, DOE has asked Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth to partner with the community to leverage Site assets to help the local economy, create jobs, and ultimately find new uses for the Site.

Fluor's Solution

Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, a Fluor-led team with a proven legacy of experience completing similar work, won the D&D contract in August 2010 and began phased operations at the Site in March 2011. Fluor will lead the cleanup and perform D&D on 315 facilities, including more than 133 buildings on the site.

Fluor has aligned with our Client's goal of completing deactivation of the site as quickly as possible, freeing the land for reuse and to benefit the local economy.

Our team is working cooperatively with the Client, employees, local labor groups, regulators, advisory boards, community leaders, and other stakeholders to achieve a shared vision, garner funding support and complete this project safely, on time, and within budget. These efforts are aimed at bringing the Portsmouth Site in Piketon to an end state that satisfies our Client, and meets the needs of the region.

In addition to performing D&D at the site, Fluor is partnering with community and economic development specialists in the region by investing corporate resources to support job creating projects and capital investment in the area.

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Conclusion

The Fluor-led team working on the D&D contract at the Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio brings a proven team of industry experts from some of the most experienced Department of Energy contractors in the industry. As the site is cleaned up and prepared for future reuse, Fluor remains focused on safely achieving our Client's mission and assisting the community in breathing new economic life into the southern Ohio region.

The Fluor team has achieved one million safe work hours on several occasions and exceeded two million safe work hours most recently in January 2018.

The PORTs safety record is among the best in the DOE complex with TRC and DART rates below DOE targets. Safety culture and safety performance continues to improve while executing demanding tasks, including removal of 7,000 X-326 gaseous diffusion plant components, leading the complex in waste shipping and developing infrastructure on 300 acres of property that will include the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility and support structures.

Learn more at the Portsmouth website.