March 17, 2014

DOE MAKES PITCH TO INDUSTRY FOR FUTURE USES OF PADUCAH PLANT

By ExchangeMonitor

In the hopes of finding potential uses for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant beyond next year, Department of Energy officials yesterday outlined the state of the facility and its capabilities in a meeting with about 20 companies and led a tour of the plant. The meeting comes as current plant operator USEC is likely to cease running Paducah after a one-year uranium tails re-enrichment program winds down next year, which could leave DOE with increased costs for maintaining the facility. DOE Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office Manager Bill Murphie emphasized at yesterday’s meeting that the site could be used for a variety of purposes beyond uranium enrichment. Facilities and infrastructure at Paducah include a large machine fabrication shop, a laboratory and several large electricity switchyards. “We are committed to making this work. I think there are several crown jewels out there that we really want to make sure people are considering,” he said.

Murphie added that reaching out to industry is a necessary part of the process as DOE works out its budget and schedule for the future of the Paducah plant. “If nothing else, this is part of a planning process for us. We’re trying to figure out where we’re going,” he said. “And it’s a whole lot easier for us to know where we are going, when our partner, which in this case is USEC, when we know where they are going. And given the uncertainty that is raised in their future, we are trying to figure out who else might be available to partner with us.” The meeting included representatives from current and potential future uranium enrichers USEC, LES, AREVA, and GE-Hitachi, as well as a number of companies from across the complex, including Fluor, Bechtel, CH2M Hill and B&W.

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