DUF6 Hot Box Fabrication
DUF6 Hot Box Fabrication
Dept. of Energy Paducah, KY & Portsmouth, OH Sites
This project demonstrates:
- Quality – NQA-1 Standards
- Fabrication – QL-1 Safety Significant Systems
- Personnel Experience
- Project Controls & Scheduling
- Total System Integration
- Seismic design
The Challenge
Uranium Disposition Services, LLC, (UDS) was contracted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to disposition the depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) that has been stored at three sites: Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. DUF6 is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process used to make uranium suitable for use as fuel for nuclear reactors or in national security applications.
Intermech was selected by AREVA (a partnering member of the UDS. LLC) to design, fabricate, test and deliver a total of ten process hot boxes for both project sites.
Each hot box included vacuum pumps, electric heaters, extensive control components, interconnecting piping systems and interconnecting electrical systems housed in an insulated housing suitable for a production environment. Each unit was engineered and qualified to the rigorous project seismic design requirements.
Intermech's Response
Under its NQA-1 program, Intermech assembled a team of subject matter expert vendors and subcontractors to assist in the completion of the engineering design and selected sub-fabrications required by this procurement. Intermech then performed all fabrication, assembly, integration and final acceptance testing on these units prior to shipping and delivery to the Client.
The Results
Intermech successfully designed and fabricated ten completed assemblies under project contract delivery deadlines, quality requirements and performance criteria. The contract valuation was in excess of $2.0 million and was executed in a performance period from December 2005 through November 2006. This fabrication scope of work was executed at and managed from the Intermech Richland Operations facility located on Richland, WA.