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In July 2002, the United States Enrichment Corporation began cleaning up out-of-specification uranium at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant under the terms of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Cylinders of uranium feed material to be processed were shipped from the Paducah plant to the Portsmouth plant via truck, inspected upon arrival and pre-sampled to determine technetium (Tc) concentration.
After sampling, the cylinders were moved to the Transfer Facility. Here, the cylinders were loaded into steam heated autoclaves and the feed material was liquefied. The material was then transferred to daughter cylinders. During this process, the liquid passed through a set of traps specifically designed to remove Tc. The original traps were designed by the Portsmouth staff and patented by USEC.
In October 2006, USEC completed cleanup of its out-of-specification uranium inventories. USEC cleaned a total of 7,433 metric tons of uranium between 2002 and 2006.
Under a contract with DOE, USEC continues to operate the facility to clean part of DOE's remaining contaminated inventory in order to turn it into a commercial asset or make it feasible for enrichment. The first project has been completed and DOE has identified additional contaminated uranium inventory for cleanup, which will keep the facility operating past 2008.
Since the project started, more than 15,000 metric tons of uranium have been trapped and projected clean.