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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Energy Department Selects Private Sector Team to Help Dispose of Surplus Plutonium The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has contracted with Duke Engineering & Services, COGEMA, Inc., and Stone & Webster to provide mixed oxide fuel fabrication and reactor irradiation services in support of the department's mission to dispose of surplus weapons plutonium. The team, known as DUKE COGEMA STONE & WEBSTER or DCS, has its corporate headquarters in Charlotte, NC. Subcontractors to DCS include Duke Power Company, Charlotte, NC and Virginia Power Company, Richmond, VA, who will provide the reactor facilities in which mixed oxide fuel will be used upon receipt of Nuclear Regulatory Commission license amendments. Other major subcontractors include Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., Erwin, TN; Belgonucleaire, Brussels, Belgium; and Framatome Cogema Fuels of Lynchburg, VA. "It is critical that the United States and Russia dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium so that it will never again be used in nuclear weapons," said Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. "This partnership with private sector companies sets the stage for Russia and the United States to work together to eliminate tons of excess plutonium." Under the contract announced today, DCS will design, provide construction management services, operate and deactivate a mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility. The team will also modify six existing U.S. commercial light water reactors at three sites to irradiate mixed oxide fuel assemblies. These reactors sites are Catawba in York, SC; McGuire in Huntersville, NC; and North Anna in Mineral, VA. The consortium will be responsible for obtaining a license to operate the fuel fabrication facility and the license modifications for the reactors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The contract consists of a base contract and options. The base contract, worth approximately $130 million, is a cost-plus-fixed-fee effort spanning three to five years. Options under the contract would permit the government to extend the agreement through construction, operation of the fuel fabrication facility and use of the mixed oxide fuel in commercial reactors, and eventual deactivation of the fuel fabrication facility. The United States plans to use two technologies to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. One uses some surplus plutonium as mixed oxide fuel in existing domestic commercial reactors, with subsequent disposal of the spent fuel in a geologic repository. The other involves immobilizing surplus plutonium in a ceramic material surrounded by high-level waste, followed by disposal in a geologic repository. Both technologies are being pursued because they provide important insurance against unexpected difficulties with the implementation of either technology by itself. This hybrid strategy also provides the United States with flexibility and leverage in negotiations with Russia on the critical task of reducing Russian excess plutonium. DOE is selecting a contractor to provide these fabrication and irradiation services in parallel with determining the location for the fuel fabrication facility. The department is preparing a Surplus Plutonium Disposition Environmental Impact Statement that analyzes the potential environmental impacts associated with establishing plutonium disposition facilities at DOE sites. Those sites are: the Hanford Reservation near Richland, WA; the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory near Idaho Falls, ID; the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, TX; and the Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC. In June, 1998, DOE announced that the DOE Savannah River Site was the preferred site for the mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility. The Record of Decision on this environmental review is expected this summer. -- DOE -- |