December 30, 2015

DUF6 Plants Operator Gets Contract Extension

By ExchangeMonitor

The operator of the depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion (DUF6) plants at Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio, has received a contract extension of up to nine months, the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management announced on Dec. 24.

BWXT Conversion Services’ contract update is worth up to $68 million. Extending the contract, which was due to lapse on Saturday, “is intended to accommodate DOE’s competitive procurement process for a new DUF6 Operations contract,” according to a DOE EM press release. “This action will allow the Department’s selection, award and transition to the new contract to occur without interruptions of ongoing services.”

The plants are converting over 700,000 metric tons of DUF6 produced during decades of uranium enrichment at the DOE’s Paducah and Portsmouth gas diffusion facilities. BWXT Conversion Services’ contract covers running the two plants and ongoing cylinder surveillance and maintenance.

The new contract, according to the final request for proposals, would cover a five-year period and include both cost-plus-award-fee and firm-fixed-price line items. The future agreement has no base fee amount.

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