DOE, BNFL SIGN CONTRACT FOR MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP PROJECT

OAK RIDGE, TN -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today signed a landmark contract to clean up and reindustrialize three massive uranium enrichment facilities at the Department's East Tennessee Technology Park. The $238 million contract with BNFL, Inc., will dramatically speed up the pace of environmental cleanup, while saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

"This innovative contract requires BNFL to clean up the legacy of past operations and prepare the facility for new commercial opportunities. Taxpayer dollars will be saved, and equally important, an unused, idle facility will become a new source of jobs and business for East Tennessee," said Secretary of Energy Federico F. Peņa.

James C. Hall, Manager of DOE's Oak Ridge Offices, said, "Through this contract, we will be able to meet the commitments set forth in the department's Accelerated Cleanup: Focus on 2006 effort using a team with proven experience in the decontaminating and decommissioning of large uranium enrichment facilities. The potential savings to the U.S. taxpayer cannot be overstated."

Landy Langley, President and Chief Executive Officer of BNFL, Inc., said, "BNFL is eager to begin work and to be a major contributor to the reindustrialization of Department of Energy facilities at the East Tennessee Technology Park. This contract will greatly contribute to the economic growth of East Tennessee through the creation of new jobs and eventually new manufacturing facilities. We will apply skills that we have acquired in cleaning up a similar facility in the United Kingdom."

The BNFL, Inc., team also includes subcontractors such as Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., Manufacturing Sciences Corporation, Science Applications International Corporation, American Technologies, Inc., and others that will be identified as work progresses.

Hall said, "The contract also anticipates an important function for the State of Tennessee-- to guarantee safety of the final recycled product by issuing and enforcing standards to protect employees and the public. By the year 2000, approximately 2,800,000 square feet of floor space will be available for commercial enterprise. By 2005, an additional 2.1 million square feet will be available--thus removing over half of the site from the DOE Environmental Management program."

K-29

K-31

K-33

Inside K-33 Cell

The scope of the contract includes the decontaminating and decommissioning of the K-29, K-31, and K-33 Buildings, and the recovery and recycle of hundreds of thousands of tons of metals contained in process equipment. Work under the contract will begin immediately with recruitment of workers, mobilization, and training over the next several weeks.

In this contracting approach, savings occur in the following ways: reduced engineering and management overhead and fees; reduced surveillance and maintenance in the approach to recycle and building decontamination based on BNFL's successful experience at the Capenhurst facility in Great Britain; and, DOE's assignment of all materials in the three buildings to BNFL.

The three buildings scheduled for cleanup have not operated since August 1985, when the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant or K-25 Site--the previous names for the facility--was placed in standby. The large buildings, used to enrich uranium in the gaseous diffusion process, were built in the 1950's.

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News Media Contact: Steven Wyatt (423) 576-0885

Additional Information on Oak Ridge Offices can be found at our WWW Home Page located at http://www.ornl.gov/doe_oro/

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