Bechtel awarded contract to help develop proposed facility to employ atomic vapor laser isotope separation process.SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 1996--Bechtel has been awarded a multi-phase contract by the United States Enrichment Corp. (USEC USEC Microsecond USEC United States Enrichment Corporation USEC United States East Coast USEC Unity Security Force (gaming) USEC Universal Services Echo Canceller USEC Umts Security USEC User Based Security Model ) to provide design services for a proposed facility in which the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation AVLIS Is an acronym which stands for atomic vapor laser isotope separation and is a method by which specially tuned lasers are used to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions. In the largest technology transfer in U.S. (AVLIS AVLIS Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation ) enrichment process would be employed to provide low-cost, reliable, and environmentally safe uranium enrichment services. According to terms of the contract, Bechtel National Inc. (BNI BNI Business Network International BNI Business Networking International BNI Bank Negara Indonesia BNI Bechtel National, Inc. BNI British Nursing Index BNI Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix, AZ) ) will provide architect engineering, engineering system, and control system services during the preliminary design, final design, and construction support phases of the project. Enriched uranium is marketed for use in the fuel rods of nuclear power plants. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 established USEC as a wholly-owned government corporation that would take over the federal government's uranium enrichment activities, operate the enterprise as a market-oriented business, and prepare it for privatization. The AVLIS facility will include a series of lasers and separators, together with their control systems and the structures that house them. The processing plant will use uranium metal alloy as its primary feedstock, and the facility's separator system will produce enrichment by using precisely-tuned laser light that is generated and supplied by a laser system. The resulting product will be enriched uranium metal. During the initial phase of the assignment, Bechtel will employ about 50 people, mainly to assist USEC operations at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: see Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (body) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - (LLNL) A research organaisatin operated by the University of California under a contract with the US Department of Energy. in Northern California. BNI President Lee McIntire said his company has selected Duke Engineering & Services of Charlotte, N.C., one of the nation's largest operators of commercial nuclear power reactors, and San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC SAIC - http://saic.com. ), a technology application company, as its subcontractors on the project. Duke will provide support for Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an independent U.S. government commission, created by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and charged with licensing and regulating civilian use of nuclear energy to protect the public and the environment. licensing, as well as AVLIS operability, while SAIC will supply environmental support. Ken Cooke will serve as Bechtel's project manager on the job. USEC, with headquarters in Bethesda, Md., is a global nuclear energy company that produces and markets uranium enrichment services to more than 60 utilities that own and operate commercial nuclear power plants in 14 countries, including the United States. Bechtel National, one of the country's foremost architectural, engineering and construction firms, provides systems engineering, design, construction management, and environmental remediation services for nuclear fuel cycle Nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle typically involves the following steps: (1) finding and mining the uranium ore; (2) refining the uranium from other elements; (3) enriching the uranium-235 content to 3–5%; (4) fabricating fuel elements; (5) , defense and space, telecommunications, and a variety of other projects. BNI is one of the Bechtel group of companies, which during 1994 completed work on more than 1,100 projects totaling $7.9 billion. CONTACT: Bechtel Mike Kidder, 415/768-5902 Larry Miller, 415/768-6144 |
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