Amid a profitable quarter, Fluor, Irving, Texas, said Friday the Department of Energy plans to extend a Fluor-led joint venture’s tenure as prime contractor at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina for up to five years.
During an earnings call, Fluor CEO David Constable also expressed optimism about the company’s chances of landing individual contracts from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for running the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee.
In November, a Fluor-led venture won a combined NNSA contract for both sites, but the agency canceled the deal following allegations of impropriety and bid protests by rivals. Since then, the agency has decided to award separate management and operations contracts for Y-12.
Meanwhile, Fluor’s second-quarter earnings from continuing operations were up on strong demand for technical and construction services, said the engineering and construction company, which has a big footprint in the Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex.
Net earnings from continuing operations for the second quarter ended June 30 were $66 million or $0.38 per diluted share, up from a loss of $83 million or (0.53) per share, for the year-ago quarter, according to a press release issued Friday morning.
Continuing operations do not include Fluor’s Stork maintenance business and remaining AMECO equipment business that were previously classified as discontinued operations in 2021 but that continue to be marketed for sale. Those two entities recorded a loss of $18 million during the most recent quarter, The discontinued operations had an earnings loss of $25 million during the year-ago quarter.
Quarterly revenue was $3.3 billion down year-over year from nearly $3.7 billion.
Quarterly segment operating income for Fluor’s Mission Solutions group, from which the company directs business with DOE and other government-contracting joint ventures, was $28 million down from $45 million a year ago. Mission Solutions revenue was $547 million, down from $707 million the prior year.
The current Savannah River Nuclear Solutions contract ends Sept. 30, and DOE’s Office of Environmental Management plans to extend it another four years through September 2026, with one option period for up to 12 months to extend the contract through Sept. 30, 2027, according to a DOE spokesperson. The agency issued that notification July 27.
“The DOE notified congress here recently that they would be extending the program with our joint venture there,” Constable said, responding to an analyst question on the extension.
The CEO went on to say he has no financial details on the Savannah River extension, although he expects to learn more during the third quarter. Work under the existing prime contract, currently valued at $17.8 billion, began in August 2008.
The Savannah River extension was expected as NNSA and Environmental Management discuss responsibilities at the site that is preparing for plutonium pit production. The DOE initially published a notice of long-term extension for the contractor in April, only to quickly withdraw it.
A link to Fluor’s quarterly presentation is here.
On other matters, Fluor executives touted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent approval of the small modular reactor design for its NuScale affiliate. Fluor currently owns 57% of NuScale but is gradually bringing on new investors to cut that share in half, Constable said.
