The Army Corps of Engineers gave North Wind Portage the green light to continue its cleanup work at a former beryllium manufacturing plant in Ohio, a company spokesperson said this week.
North Wind, which was awarded the $82 million contract for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Luckey site on August 18, has received a notice to proceed from the Corps of Engineers, which oversees FUSRAP. The company will continue its cleanup efforts “once the work plans that guide all aspects of the cleanup work are complete,” a North Wind spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor in an email Tuesday.
North Wind was the incumbent contractor and beat out four other bidders in August to continue its work.
The Luckey site, which operated between 1949 and 1958, was designated a FUSRAP project by the Corps of Engineers in 1992 due to “extensive surface contamination from beryllium,” according to the Corps’ website. North Wind began excavating contaminated soils from the site in 2018.
Beryllium was primarily manufactured for use in nuclear weapons. The lightweight metal is an ideal neutron reflector, which decreases the amount of uranium required to create a larger blast yield.
