Portsmouth 101 Video 2021
Office of Environmental Management
In August 1952, the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency to DOE, selected a tract of land in the Ohio Valley along the Scioto River in Pike County, Ohio, for the site of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP), the third of three GDPs in the United States. In 1956, the plant began enriching uranium for nuclear weapons. In the 1960s, Portsmouth’s mission changed to focus on producing fuel for commercial nuclear power plants and other national security applications. An extensive environmental cleanup program began at the 3,777-acre site in 1989, with deactivation and decommissioning activities initiated in 2011. Watch the video above to learn more about Portsmouth.
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Major Contractor(s)
- Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, LLC
- Mid-America Conversion Services, LLC
- Enterprise Technical Assistance Services, Inc. (ETAS)
- Portsmouth Mission Alliance, LLC

Demolition of the Portsmouth X-326 Process Building started in May 2021.
Portsmouth News
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Purchasing environmentally friendly products is a longtime goal of EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project, and the site has been recognized for it for a third year in a row.
July 26, 2022
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EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) recently awarded the Portsmouth Site decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) contractor about $16.6 million.
July 26, 2022
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The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a non-competitive grant to Scioto Valley—Piketon Area Council of Governments (SVPA-COG).
June 30, 2022
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Officials from EM and Ohio University recently joined a class at Ohio’s Western High School to celebrate the 11th cohort of students to complete an EM Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) Summary project.
June 28, 2022
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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) recently completed the demolition of the X-326 uranium process building, marking the most significant cleanup milestone to date at its Portsmouth Site.
June 16, 2022
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EM’s Portsmouth Site has been using a new tool as part of its dust-suppression systems at its X-326 process building demolition project.
May 31, 2022
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EM Senior Advisor William “Ike” White accompanied two U.S. House of Representatives members from Ohio on a visit to the Portsmouth Site on May 20.
May 24, 2022
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Senior Advisor William “Ike” White and other EM officials recently visited the Portsmouth Site to observe demolition and disposal activities associated with the cleanup program’s mission.
April 12, 2022
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Managers of the EM sites at Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky, provided an update at the 2022 Waste Management Symposia last week on cleanup progress at the two locations.
March 15, 2022
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EM recently released contract fee determination scorecards for three contractors that support the cleanup program at the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office and EM-LA Field Office based on their performance during the evaluation period of fiscal 2021.
February 22, 2022
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