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Paducah News

December 29, 2016
Dr. Vincent Adams congratulates crew members who prepared the first shipment of process gas equipment from the Portsmouth Site in early 2013.
Dr. Vincent Adams Retiring After 30-Year DOE Career

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dr. Vincent Adams, deputy manager of EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO), retires at the end of this month after 30 years at DOE.

November 10, 2016
Energy Department Announces Agreement to Sell Depleted Uranium to be Enriched for Civil Nuclear Power

News Media Contact: (202) 586-4940

GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment Evaluating Construction of $1 Billion Facility for Enrichment Bringing Hundreds of Jobs to Western Kentucky

November 2, 2016
Front, left to right: Tyler Hicks and Rob Swett from DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office in Lexington pack non-perishable items for donation to local food pantries.
Energy Department Workers Gather Food for Local Families in Need

LEXINGTON, Ky—Workers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) in Lexington, Kentucky – together with its two gaseous diffusion plants in southern Ohio and western Kentucky – recently collected a total of 13,958 pounds of food for charity pantries in their local communities.    

October 20, 2016
Tour guide Steve Christmas of Fluor Federal Services discusses the process to enrich uranium as participants gather in the former plant’s main control room. (Photo by Will Evans)
First Paducah DOE Site Tours Attract Visitors From Across the Nation

PADUCAH, Ky.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed its first year of public tours at its Paducah Site, welcoming nearly 500 people from 16 states.

“The response to the public tours reflects that our community has an interest in learning about the plant’s history and ongoing work,” said Jennifer Woodard, Paducah Site Lead for DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO).

October 17, 2016
Operators drill wells during the first phase of the project to further optimize groundwater treatment.
Paducah Site Improves Groundwater Treatment

PADUCAH, Ky. – Nine new monitoring wells have been installed in the northeast section of EM’s Paducah Site, representing the first phase of a project to enhance groundwater treatment.

September 29, 2016
DOE Awards Contract for the Operation of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facilities

Cincinnati -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the award of a contract to Mid-America Conversion Services, LLC for the Operation of Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Facilities at Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio.

September 29, 2016
DOE Extends Contract to Operate Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Plants

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.

September 23, 2016
Intern Schubert Moffatt presents Jennifer Woodard, DOE Site Lead, with 2,583 pounds of food collected to support the DOE Feds Feed Families program.
College Students Graduate from Intern Program at DOE Paducah Site

PADUCAH, KY—Seventeen college students recently graduated from a 10-week summer internship program with Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project, the U.S. Department of Energy‘s (DOE) cleanup contractor at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site.  The purpose of the program is to provide opportunities to outstanding students who may be interested in careers that intersect with needs and positions at the DOE Site.  
  

July 15, 2016
Eugene Waggoner poses for a portrait in the C-300 Central Control Building at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.  (Story and photo by Dylan Nichols, Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project.)
Paducah DOE Site Tours Nostalgic for Former Workers

PADUCAH, Ky. – Eugene Waggoner was 29 when the first equipment began enriching uranium at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

Numerous officials from the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor agency to the Department of Energy (DOE), and then-plant-operator Union Carbide, had gathered at the C-333 process building as the first valve was opened to introduce uranium hexafluoride into the enrichment equipment at what was known as Unit 1.

July 8, 2016
Marshall County High School AP Physics students toured the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site in Western Kentucky as part of an environmental report project with DOE.  (Photo by Steve Christmas, Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project)
Students Enhance Skills on Paducah DOE Project

PADUCAH, KY— The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Paducah Site is helping advanced placement (AP) physics students from Marshall County High School on a project focused on the site’s effect on the environment.

The students are summarizing a report entitled the Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER), which describes ongoing environmental operations and analytical data on DOE’s former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site.  The ASER explains the ongoing environmental monitoring and remediation programs to site stakeholders.   

June 1, 2016
A maintenance mechanic removes a filter from the lubricating oil strainer in the C-333 Building at the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site.  (Photo by Dylan Nichols, Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project)
Removal of Hazards Key to Deactivating DOE’s Paducah Site

PADUCAH, Ky. – Deactivation workers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Paducah Site completed a significant step toward preparing key facilities for future demolition by removing hundreds of thousands of gallons of lubricating oil from the site’s uranium enrichment process buildings.

More than 265,000 gallons of the oil that had been used primarily in the large buildings and supporting equipment have been pumped from large tanks and thousands of miles of pipes inside the buildings.

May 16, 2016
A front loader dumps a bucket of coal into the first of more than 700 trucks that will be used to transport coal from EM's Paducah Site to buyers.  (Photo by Dylan Nichols, Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project)
DOE Transfers Coal to Fuel Paducah Area Economic Development

PADUCAH, Ky. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently completed transferring ownership of nearly 15,000 tons of excess coal to the Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization (PACRO), which PACRO will use as a revenue stream to support economic development.

May 13, 2016
Tour participants stopped for a picture in the C-300 Central Control Facility at the Paducah DOE site during the inaugural community tour on April 23, 2016.  (Photo by Dylan Nichols, Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project)
DOE Hosts First Paducah Site Tours

PADUCAH, Ky. — For the first time, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting guided public tours of its Paducah Site.  Several tours are being conducted for the public to learn about the history of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.  All eight tours for 2016 filled up quickly, starting with the inaugural tours on April 23.

Some of the participants in the initial tours have been former plant workers like Eugene Waggoner, who is 95 years old and started working at the plant in 1952.

April 28, 2016
DOE Releases Draft Request for Proposal and Announces Pre-Solicitation Conference for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Deactivation and Remediation Services

Cincinnati -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today issued a Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for deactivation and remediation services at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). A contract that includes cost-plus-award-fee and indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract line items for the purpose of providing deactivation and remediation services at PGDP is anticipated.

April 14, 2016
Ohio University held discussions with the public on future uses of the Portsmouth Site as part of the PORTSfuture process.
New Grants Fund Continued Research, Outreach for EM's Portsmouth, Paducah Sites

LEXINGTON, Ky. – EM recently awarded grants to Ohio University (OU) and the University of Kentucky (UK) to develop publicly available information related to the cleanup of the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plant sites in Ohio and Kentucky.

March 31, 2016
DOE Announces Public Tours of Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site

PADUCAH, KY - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the opportunity for members of the community to participate in public tours of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site starting monthly in April 2016. This will be the first time tours of the DOE site will be available to the public in its more than 60-year history. Tours will offer a guided history of the site and information on the cleanup activities. Below is a list of tour dates for 2016.

March 31, 2016
Fluor maintenance mechanic Robert Fulton lifts equipment at the C-337 former uranium enrichment process building at EM’s Paducah Site.
Fluor Paducah Deactivation Project Marks 2 Million Safe Work Hours

PADUCAH, Ky. – Workers performing the remediation, deactivation, and decommissioning at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site recently reached 2 million hours without a lost-time injury on the job.

February 25, 2016
New groundwater contamination treatment equipment sits outside the C-612 Northwest Pump-and-Treat facility.
Paducah Site Modernizes Equipment to Treat Off-Site Groundwater Contamination

PADUCAH, Ky. – EM recently completed upgrades to modernize a key facility that reduces off-site groundwater contamination at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site.

February 19, 2016
Gatton Academy Team-1 won the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl on February 19, 2016.  Gatton will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Finals of DOE’s National Science Bowl® April 28 through May 2.  Pictured, from left: Gatton's Taylor Young, Seth Marksberry, Will Hornsby, and Rohan Deshpande discuss a question during the final competition.
Gatton Academy Wins DOE’s West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl

PADUCAH, Ky. – Gatton Academy Team-1 won the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) West Kentucky Regional Science Bowl, the region’s foremost academic and scientific event for high school students, on February 19, 2016.  Gatton will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National Finals of DOE’s National Science Bowl® April 28 through May 2.  While at the national competition, the students will also participate in science presentations and activities, as well as visit national monuments and museums.

January 27, 2016
When operating, one transformer could distribute enough power to provide electricity to approximately 6,300 average-sized homes.
Innovative Approach Reduces Costs of Removing Contaminated Oil from Paducah Site

PADUCAH, Ky. – For more than 60 years, 60 electrical distribution transformers supplied some of the power to enrich uranium at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP).

January 14, 2016
A heavy equipment operator uses a shear to move a large section of wall from the C-746-B warehouse during demolition.
New Phase of Demolition Ramps Up at Paducah

PADUCAH, Ky. – Heavy equipment operators safely demolished the first of 12 inactive facilities set for removal in coming months as part of EM’s ongoing Paducah Site cleanup.

December 30, 2015
An excavator with a shear attachment performs “top-down” shearing during final stages of the demolition of the C-410/C-420 UF6 Feed Plant Complex in June. Demolition debris was downsized and loaded into rail cars for shipment off site. The complex was the last of 32 inactive facilities to be removed as part of the cleanup scope that existed before commercial uranium enrichment operations ended at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the plant facilities were returned to DOE. (Photo by Dylan Nichols)
DOE Releases ‘2015 Year in Review’ of Paducah Site

PADUCAH, Ky. (December 30, 2015) – The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Management (EM) has published its 2015 Year in Review, outlining the accomplishments achieved over the course of this year at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site and throughout the EM program.

December 24, 2015
DOE Extends Contract to Operate Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Plants

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 24, 2015) – 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 nine months.  The contract period for the current contractor, BWXT Conversion Services LLC (BWCS), had been scheduled to expire on January 1, 2016.

November 25, 2015
David Curry (far right) teaches Ayden Mowery, Jake Miller, and Bella Presson (left to right) at Ballard County Middle School to read a pH strip to test water.
STEM Mentors Reach Nearly 300 Western Kentucky Sixth Graders

PADUCAH, Ky. – EM is reaching out to public middle schools in the City of Paducah and McCracken and Ballard counties to encourage local students to study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

October 29, 2015
An aerial view of the package boilers installed into the site’s existing steam system.
Paducah Package Steam Boilers to Provide Efficiency, Environmental Benefits

PADUCAH, Ky. – Five modern, modular steam boilers have replaced three larger coal-fired boilers that comprised the steam plant at EM’s Paducah Site.