The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) joint venture a 30-month contract extension for work at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio. The contract is worth around $850 million. 
 
The project includes deactivation of all the plant facilities, process equipment and buildings and preparation for demolition and disposal. It also includes continued environmental remediation, uranium stewardship and community outreach programmes, BWXT said.
 
The Portsmouth plant was one of three large gaseous diffusion plants in the USA initially constructed to produce enriched uranium to support the nuclear weapons programme and, in later years, enriched uranium used by commercial nuclear reactors. Portsmouth operated from 1954 to 2001. 

The DOE began its environmental cleanup programme at the 1200-acre site in 1989, and the effort continues today in cooperation with the US and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies.