DOE Portsmouth
Responsibilities at the site have evolved over time as DOE and its predecessors have maintained a presence since the 1950s. DOE will continue to manage the cleanup activities at the site until completion.
The Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) was established by the Office of Environmental Management to provide leadership and focus to the specific cleanup challenges at the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plants. PPPO maintains a Site Office at Portsmouth that works closely with the PPPO Manager and Deputy Manager to provide management and oversight of environmental remediation, waste management, and facility decontamination and decommissioning. They also manage the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project, including its plants at both the Paducah and Portsmouth sites. Led by a Site Director and Site Lead, the staff of the Portsmouth Site Office ensures a strong local DOE presence.
Portsmouth Site Contractors
Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) Contractor
As DOE Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) contractor, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) is responsible for the cleanup of 415 facilities and structures that supported uranium enrichment operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant for about 50 years.
The plant is DOE’s largest facility under roof, with three large process buildings that house the gaseous diffusion process equipment and span the size of 158 football fields. The plant also includes various support structures that provided feed and transfer operations and site services, such as maintenance; steam generation; cleaning; process heat removal; electrical power distribution; and water supply, storage and distribution.
During Deactivation, FBP prepares contaminated facilities for demolition by deactivating utilities and removing stored waste, materials, and process equipment such as converters, compressors and piping. These activities will eliminate groundwater contamination sources, improve worker safety, reduce surveillance and maintenance costs, and prepare the rest of the plant for D&D.
FBP is currently tearing down 46 support structures under an agreement between DOE and Ohio EPA.
Facility Support Services (FSS) Contractor
As DOE's FSS contractor, Wastren EnergX Mission Support (WEMS) is a joint venture between Wastren Advantage, Inc., and EnergX Inc. The company was created to perform the FSS contract, which began on March 16, 2010. The scope of work includes:
- Computer and Telecommunications Services
- Security
- Training
- Records Management
- Fleet Management
- Non-Nuclear Facility Preventive and Corrective Maintenance
- Grounds and Road Maintenance
- Snow Removal
- Janitorial Services
Environmental Technical Services (ETS) Contractor
As DOE's ETS contractor, Restoration Services, Inc. (RSI) supports the environmental remediation and D&D project at the Portsmouth site. RSI assists DOE oversight in the management of all phases of the D&D project, including transition from facility operation to decommissioning, D&D planning and field work, and site closeout. RSI provides a range of business and program-wide support to DOE.
DUF6 Conversion Contractor
As DOE's DUF6 contractor, BWXT Conversion Services (BWCS) is the project management and plant operating contractor for the project to convert more than 700,000 metric tons of DUF6 into depleted uranium oxide, a more stable chemical form that can be reused, stored, or disposed. A coproduct of the conversion process is hydrofluoric acid, which is reused industrially.
DUF6 is a coproduct of the uranium enrichment process conducted at U.S. gaseous diffusion enrichment plants in Portsmouth, Ohio, Paducah, Kentucky and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is temporarily stored in about 63,000 steel cylinders at the Portsmouth and Paducah sites.