The US Department of Energy (DOE) has exercised its option to extend the current decontamination and decommissioning work with Flour on the former Portsmouth Gaseous diffusion plant in Piketon, Ohio, for an additional 30 months.

The contract will be executed by Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, LLC, a Fluor-led partnership, together with subcontractors CH2M and small businesses Pro2Serve, Innovative Solutions and Wastren Advantage Inc. The estimated value of the option period is approximately $750 million.

Fluor-BWXT started work on the initial five-year contract on March 28, 2011. The contract extension includes completing deactivation of the massive X-326 uranium enrichment plant, initiating deactivation work in the X-333 process building, continuing the uranium barter program, completing On-Site Waste Disposal Facility design and moving construction forward to prepare the first cells to receive contaminated plant soils and demolition debris. The new contract includes an option for an additional 30-month contract extension.

"We are pleased with the Department’s confidence in our performance and ability to deliver on the important deactivation work that is underway," said Bruce Stanski, president of Fluor’s Government Group. "I’m proud of the many site milestones that have been reached, including two Records of Decision for the disposition of millions of cubic yards of waste, processing $1 billion dollars in uranium inventory for barter and removal, and the safe shipment of more than 7,000 process gas system components."

"DOE, Fluor-BWXT and our many stakeholders are aligned on the future vision of the site thereby creating the opportunity for its reuse and redevelopment," said Dennis Carr, project director of Fluor-BWXT. "With Records of Decision in place, we now have a clear regulatory path forward. The 30-month extension allows our team to work towards achieving the end goal in a consistent and collaborative manner with DOE and the community."

For more than 70 years, Fluor has served as a DOE contractor with a legacy that dates back to the Manhattan Project. In addition to its current role at the Portsmouth site, Fluor supports DOE’s cleanup missions at the Idaho Site under the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) Core Contract, serves as the managing partner on the management and operating contract at the Savannah River Site – including the Savannah River National Laboratory – and is the prime contractor for deactivating the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Kentucky. Fluor also manages and operates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, for DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy.