DOE PORTSMOUTH

Responsibilities at the site have evolved over time as DOE and its predecessors have maintained a presence since the 1950s.  DOE will continue to manage the cleanup activities at the site until completion.

The Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO) was established by the Office of Environmental Management to provide leadership and focus to the specific cleanup challenges at the Portsmouth and Paducah gaseous diffusion plants. PPPO maintains a Site Office at Portsmouth that works closely with the PPPO Manager to provide management and oversight of environmental remediation, waste management, and facility decontamination and decommissioning. They also manage the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project, including its plants at both the Paducah and Portsmouth sites. Led by a Site Lead, the staff of the Portsmouth Site Office ensures a strong local DOE presence.

PORTSMOUTH SITE CONTRACTORS

Portsmouth Site Contractor organization chart

Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) Contractor

As DOE Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) contractor, Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) is responsible for the cleanup of 415 facilities and structures that supported uranium enrichment operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant for about 50 years.

The plant is DOE’s largest facility under roof, with three large process buildings that house the gaseous diffusion process equipment and span the size of 158 football fields. The plant also includes various support structures that provided feed and transfer operations and site services, such as maintenance; steam generation; cleaning; process heat removal; electrical power distribution; and water supply, storage and distribution.

During Deactivation, FBP prepares contaminated facilities for demolition by deactivating utilities and removing stored waste, materials, and process equipment such as converters, compressors and piping. These activities will eliminate groundwater contamination sources, improve worker safety, reduce surveillance and maintenance costs, and prepare the rest of the plant for D&D.

Contractors have already torn down 46 support structures under an agreement between DOE and Ohio EPA.

Facility Support Services (FSS) Contractor

Portsmouth Mission Alliance (PMA) has been DOE's FSS contractor since April 25, 2016. Its scope of work includes: surveillance, maintenance and repair of facilities, information technology, cyber security and telecommunications, safeguards and security, records management, real and personal property management, and grounds and road maintenance.

Environmental Technical Services (ETS) Contractor

As DOE's ETS contractor, Enterprise Technical Assistance Services, Inc. (ETAS) supports the environmental remediation and D&D project at the Portsmouth site. ETAS assists DOE oversight in the management of all phases of the D&D project, including transition from facility operation to decommissioning, D&D planning and field work, and site closeout. ETAS provides a range of business and program-wide support to DOE.

DUF6 Conversion Contractor

As DOE's DUF6 contractor, Mid-America Conversion Services (MCS) is the project management and plant operating contractor responsible for the conversion of more than 700,000 metric tons of DUF6 into depleted uranium oxide, a more stable chemical form that can be reused, stored, or disposed. A coproduct of the conversion process is hydrofluoric acid, which is reused industrially.
DUF6 is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process conducted at U.S. gaseous diffusion enrichment plants at Portsmouth, Ohio, Paducah, Kentucky and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It is temporarily stored in about 63,000 steel cylinders at the Portsmouth and Paducah sites.