Depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) contained in the cylinders will be processed in a conversion plant to be built at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in the next few years.  Cylinders from ETTP will be added to the existing inventory of approximately 19,000 uranium cylinders in storage at Portsmouth.  DUF6 is a product of the gaseous diffusion process used to enrich uranium for use as nuclear fuel.

The shipments, scheduled to begin later this month, will be made in approved metal cylinders that will be loaded onto trucks for highway transport to Ohio.  The shipment route has been coordinated with respective environmental, emergency management and radiological health organizations in all three states. 

Gerald Boyd, Manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Offices, said, “We are very pleased to reach this agreement with the State of Ohio.  We are confident of the safety of these shipments and have worked closely with the states of Ohio and Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to plan this effort.” 

DOE and the participating states will monitor and track the shipments between the

Oak Ridge and Portsmouth Sites.  Contingency plans for these shipments have been developed and training of over 500 emergency response personnel along the route has been conducted by DOE staff.  A Notice of Impending Shipment was provided to the respective states environmental and emergency management agencies on March 3, 2004.
 

Shipments of up to 2,900 cylinders are expected to be completed by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2004.  Also, shipment of the balance of approximately 3,000 ETTP DUF6 cylinders is expected to occur in FY 2005 under a separate agreement with Ohio.

Transportation of the DUF6 cylinders is being managed by Bechtel Jacobs, LLC, DOE’s environmental management contractor for the Oak Ridge Reservation.