Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant
Coordinates: 39°00′30″N 83°00′00″W / 39.00833°N 83.00000°W
The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant is a facility located in Scioto Township, Pike County, Ohio, just south of Piketon, Ohio that previously produced enriched uranium, including weapons-grade uranium, for the United States Atomic Energy program and U.S. nuclear weapons program. The plant is in shutdown status and is in preparation for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D), with some facilities overseen by the United States Enrichment Corporation, a subsidiary of USEC Incorporated, a publicly traded corporation (NYSE: USU). The D&D work on the older facilities to prepare the site for future use is expected to continue through 2024 and is being conducted by Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC.
The Portsmouth plant, so named because of its proximity to the city of Portsmouth, Ohio, was one of three gaseous diffusion plants in the United States, alongside the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. The plant was constructed from 1952–1956, with the first enrichment cells going online in 1954. The plant was operated by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company from its startup to 1986, when the contract was taken over by Martin Marietta Energy Systems. In 1993, the USEC took overall responsibility for the Paducah and Portsmouth enrichment plants, continuing the operating contract with Martin Marietta. In 1995, the operator became Lockheed Martin with the merger of Martin Marietta and Lockheed. In May 2001, the Piketon plant ceased operations and was placed in cold standby. In 2006, the site work shifted into cold shutdown transition in preparation for future D&D.
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