U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 1999
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806
Gary Pitchford, 630/252-2013
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 --
R-99-050
source: http://198.124.130.244/news/releases99/marpr/pr99050.htm
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