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Notice of Renewal of Certificates of Compliance GDP-1 and GDP-2 for the U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants, Paducah, KY and Portsmouth, OH ACTION: Notice and issuance of a Director's Decision renewing the Certificates of Compliance for the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) allowing continued operation of the gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs), at Paducah, KY, and Portsmouth, OH.

During their Cold War service, employees of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant "were generally happy in the belief that their efforts were protecting the country," states Paul Becker (University of Dayton) and Alan Bruce (Quinnipiac University) in the Western Criminology Review article "State Corporate Crime and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant" (2007). Due to the threat of missiles from Russia and China, the public supported the nuclear industry, accepted the sense of urgency and as a result "environmental concerns were less important than the pressing demands of the Cold War," a 2000 Department of Energy report stated.

During their Cold War service, employees of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant "were generally happy in the belief that their efforts were protecting the country," states Paul Becker (University of Dayton) and Alan Bruce (Quinnipiac University) in the Western Criminology Review article "State Corporate Crime and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant" (2007). Due to the threat of missiles from Russia and China, the public supported the nuclear industry, accepted the sense of urgency and as a result "environmental concerns were less important than the pressing demands of the Cold War," a 2000 Department of Energy report stated.

(Paducah Sun, The (KY) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 1--Tearing down the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant would generate enough waste to fill the Paducah Expo Center roughly 100 times, according to the Department of Energy. Dealing with a mountain of radiologically contaminated soil, debris and scrap is essential in planning for the ultimate use of the plant once it closes starting in 2013. Much of the material would come from four huge uranium-enrichment buildings; each of the two largest spans 26 acres and is 80 feet high.

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

On the same day that the Labor Dept. announced that Tennessee had passed the $1 billion milestone in compensation and medical benefits from the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, the federal agency announced that more than $500 milion had been paid to current and former employees (or their surviving relatives) at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. In the release distributed to the media, it was noted that the Paducah plant over its history enriched more than 1 million tons of uranium. "We hope this aid has assisted in easing the hardships experienced by this community," Rachel Leiton of DOE said in a prepared statement.

An energy plan pushing nuclear power is frightening to me and many of my friends and neighbors ("A risky technology," Opposing view, Atomic power debate, Thursday). I live near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Ky. It's the only operating uranium-enrichment facility in the USA and has been opened since 1952. It is a monster. More horrible than a monster movie.

"The memories of former workers from the radioactive material processing plant in East Huntington always comes with a preface that the shared information was formerly top secret. Some describe a high chain link fence with armed security guards. Others remember armed guards overseeing the loading and unloading of product by railcar. The Huntington, WV Department of Energy plant supplied items to three gaseous diffusion plants that enriched uranium to make atomic weapons. These plants were in Piketon, Ohio (Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion); Paducah , Ky. (Paducah Gaseous Diffusion) and Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant). These three plants enriched uranium in a mile-long system of pipes, ducts, chambers , motors and electrical lines. The sublimed crystalline gaseous and greenish uranium flowed through nickel filters which separated isotopes. This section of the diffusion plant has been called The Cascade. ( Description courtesy of " A Pigeon in Piketon," by Geoffrey Sea, January 1, 2004 American Scholar .) "

Plants in Piketon and Paducah receive five-year extensions BETHESDA, Md. - USEC Inc. announced Tuesday the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has officially recertified USEC's operations at the gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plants in Piketon and Paducah, Ky., for five more years. Advertisement The renewed certificates of compliance indicate USEC's operations at the plants comply with all NRC safety, public health, environmental and security regulations.The plants are required to be recertified by the NRC every five years, with the current certificates set to expire Dec. 31.

The attorney for 80 property owners near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant claims four law firms have been paid $9.4 million to defend the plant's former owners in a suit filed by the property owners over ten years ago. James Owens, attorney for the property owners said, "The amount of money the Federal Government is paying to stall claims of these Property Owners is unconscionable".

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued three Confirmatory Orders to the United States Enrichment Corporation's Paducah, Ky., facility as part of settlement agreements involving three unrelated issues. One issue involved operators concealing damaged equipment and falsifying records while moving a uranium hexafluoride cylinder. In the second issue, classified information was mishandled when a package was sent to an unapproved mailing address. The third issue stemmed from a U.S. Department of Labor decision that USEC retaliated against a former manager and an NRC concern for the potential influence this would have on the willingness of other employees to raise safety concerns. In each case, USEC requested the alternative dispute resolution process, which includes the use of a mediator, to resolve its differences with the NRC concerning the apparent violations and to discuss corrective actions. The confirmatory orders document USEC's commitments to the NRC reached as part of the NRC's ADR process, which can be requested in place of traditional NRC enforcement. Often, the ADR process is more effective in developing effective long-term corrective actions than traditional enforcement.

The Department of Energy (DOE) last week released a request for proposals (RFP) for a contractor to perform Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Operations at the two DUF6 conversion facilities at Piketon and Paducah, Kentucky. The procurement will be for a single contractor to be awarded two cost-plus-award-fee contracts. The contract period will be for five years with a total estimated cost for the two contracts of $350-450 million. These facilities will convert DOE's inventory of DUF6, located at the Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plants, into a stable chemical form that will be acceptable for transportation, reuse or disposal. The contractor will also provide cylinder surveillance and maintenance of the DUF6, low-enrichment uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and natural assay UF6 as well as empty the cylinders that store the DUF6 in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner. The contracts are expected to be awarded in 2010

U.S. Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) introduced legislation Thursday in the House of Representatives, to ensure surviving family members are able to receive the benefits of sick workers from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in the event the former worker dies before claims processing is complete. The legislation is identical to the bill U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) introduced in the Senate last week. "Since entering Congress, ensuring sick workers from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant get the care and compensation they are entitled to has been one of my top priorities," Whitfield said. "This important legislation will help make certain the surviving family members of those workers are taken care of in the event they pass on before claims processing is complete."

"A group of landowners have settled in a long-running lawsuit for $1.75 million over allegations that water leaks from a western Kentucky uranium enrichment plant devalued property values. Edmund Schmidt, a Nashville, Tenn., attorney representing the landowners living near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, about 10 miles west of Paducah, confirmed the settlement on Tuesday. Schmidt said the funds are aimed at compensating between 70 and 80 homeowners for the devaluation of their property because of radiation contamination. "Some of these people were skeptical if they'd ever see anything," Schmidt told The Associated Press."

The nation's only uranium enrichment facility sits in Paducah. For 52 years the plant, now owned by United States Enrichment Corp., has been in the business of enriching uranium. When it first went online, the plant served the U.S. military in its production of nuclear weapons, but in the mid-1960s the mission shifted to electricity production. Representatives say that's been its sole purpose since. Today, the USEC plant serves as a middle man in the process of fueling nuclear reactors for electricity production. Spokeswoman Georgann Lookofsky said the plant receives mined uranium and then proceeds to refine it for use in a reactor.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that disposal of 5.7 million pounds of excess plant oils has been completed by its Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. Advertisement The work was part of deactivation activities being done by USEC to prepare the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon for decontamination and decommissioning. According to DOE, the removal and disposal of the motor lubricating oils and transformer oils used during uranium enrichment activities at the plant in the past has been a major achievement \to remove a significant fire hazard, eliminate the potential for an environmental release and minimize hazards for workers during decontamination and decommissioning. The plant stopped producing enriched uranium in 2001 and has been in cold shutdown since 2005. The oil disposition work started in 2006 and was stepped up this year -- with 4.1 million of the 5.7 million pounds being removed in just more than nine months this year. The excess oils were incinerated at the Clean Harbors Commercial Incineration Facility in Deer Park, Texas.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that disposal of 5.7 million pounds of excess plant oils has been completed by its Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. Advertisement The work was part of deactivation activities being done by USEC to prepare the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon for decontamination and decommissioning. According to DOE, the removal and disposal of the motor lubricating oils and transformer oils used during uranium enrichment activities at the plant in the past has been a major achievement \to remove a significant fire hazard, eliminate the potential for an environmental release and minimize hazards for workers during decontamination and decommissioning. The plant stopped producing enriched uranium in 2001 and has been in cold shutdown since 2005. The oil disposition work started in 2006 and was stepped up this year -- with 4.1 million of the 5.7 million pounds being removed in just more than nine months this year. The excess oils were incinerated at the Clean Harbors Commercial Incineration Facility in Deer Park, Texas.

During the public subcommittee meetings of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board at the Endeavor Center concerning cleanup and possible future uses for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site, a definition clarification led to a volatile exchange between an EPA worker and the survivor of a plant worker. Joni Fearing, whose parents died from plant related contamination, objected to the Portsmouth/Piketon site not technically qualifying as a "superfund" cleanup site, which in the determination of certain attorneys triggers certain benefits to survivors. After challenging criteria for "superfund" classification, Brian Blair, Ohio EPA Division of Emergency and Remedial Response, attempted to explain the process. Sites designated under superfund qualify for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) environmental law. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is on the list in Kentucky.

During the public subcommittee meetings of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board at the Endeavor Center concerning cleanup and possible future uses for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site, a definition clarification led to a volatile exchange between an EPA worker and the survivor of a plant worker. Joni Fearing, whose parents died from plant related contamination, objected to the Portsmouth/Piketon site not technically qualifying as a "superfund" cleanup site, which in the determination of certain attorneys triggers certain benefits to survivors. After challenging criteria for "superfund" classification, Brian Blair, Ohio EPA Division of Emergency and Remedial Response, attempted to explain the process. Sites designated under superfund qualify for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) environmental law. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is on the list in Kentucky.

The U.S. Department of Energy is now looking for a company to operate two depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion facilities in Portsmouth and Paducah, Kentucky. The estimated value of the five-year contracts is $350 to $450 million. The company would oversee conversion of D-O-E's inventory of depleted uranium to a more stable chemical form acceptable for transportation, reuse, or disposal. This inventory is the so-called legacy waste from uranium enrichment that started as part of atomic bomb development by the Manhattan Project during World War Two.

A Senate committee passed a bill yesterday that could open the door to construction of nuclear power plants in Kentucky. Senate Bill 13 would rescind a 1984 state law that placed a moratorium on the construction of nuclear power plants until the federal government determines how to safely dispose of high-level nuclear waste. Sen. Bob Leeper, a Paducah independent, told the committee that his legislation would allow the state to begin talking about nuclear power as an option. But, he said, the Public Service Commission could be expected to block construction of such a plant until a long-term storage option is found.

The Department of Energy's Office of Environmental anagement (EM) manages approximately 700,000 metric tons of depleted uranium hexafluoride at the gaseous diffusion plants located near Paducah, Kentucky. and Portsmouth, Ohio. It plans to convert the depleted uranium hexafluoride to a stable material. The conversion process will produce approximately 55 1,000 metric tons of depleted uranium oxide - a relatively stable form that can be handled and disposed of by direct burial or, potentially, used in various materials or products. Over a period of about 13 years, the Department has conducted research which established that the oxide could possibly be used in catalysts, semiconductors, nuclear repository applications and radiation shielding products.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has recertified two gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs) operated by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC). The recertifications, valid until Dec. 31, 2013, allow USEC to continue operating the plants near Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio. The recertifications are required under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which created USEC. The certifications establish that the plants are in compliance with safety, safeguards and security regulations established by the NRC for these facilities. USEC applied for the recertifications in April. On Dec. 17, the NRC issued a report to Congress on the operation of the GDPs, covering the period from Oct. 1, 2003, to Sept. 30, 2008. The report is required by the AEA no later than the date on which a certification is issued. The certifications were issued Dec. 22.