PADUCAH, Ky. - EM’s prime cleanup contractor at the Paducah Site has recorded more than 5 million hours without a lost-time work injury since they began preparing the former gaseous diffusion plant for deactivation and demolition in July 2014.
Fluor Federal Services, Inc., and teaming partners LATA-Sharp Remediation Services and Chicago Bridge and Iron, earned a National Safety Council award and the Kentucky Governor’s Safety and Health Award for the July 22, 2014 through Aug. 13, 2017 period.
“DOE’s top priority is to keep every site worker safe on the job," said Jennifer Woodard, the site lead for EM’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office. “I appreciate the contractor implementing safe working habits to achieve this safety milestone."
During the three-year period, EM and its Paducah Site contractors consolidated four outdated electrical switchyards into one, improving the efficiency of the site electricity distribution system. All process building roofs were resurfaced, improving worker safety while protecting equipment from the elements. These projects and many others successfully minimized potential hazards to workers.
“The workers did this by incorporating a ‘safety comes first’ attitude in everything we do," said Fluor Program Manager Bob Smith.
Fluor’s three-year contract is due to expire this week. Four Rivers Nuclear Partnership LLC (FRNP), a CH2M-led company with partners Fluor Corporation and BWX Technologies, will assume responsibility for the Paducah cleanup under a new five-year contract with options for up to 10 years total.
Since 2014, EM has demolished 11 inactive facilities at Paducah, bringing the total to 43.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
