First high-grade concrete poured for NEF
22 August 2007
[McClatchy-Tribune Regional News, 21 August] The first high-grade concrete has been poured at the National Enrichment Facility (NEF) under construction by Louisiana Energy Services (LES) in Eunice, New Mexico. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued LES with a licence to construct the plant in June 2006 and the company broke ground on the plant on 29 August 2006. Conventional concrete was first poured for some buildings on the site on 15 June, but under NRC regulations for nuclear buildings, high-grade concrete must be used. The regulations include controls on temperature while the concrete is being mixed to ensure its structural integrity. Operations at the $1.5 billion plant, which will use centrifuge enrichment technology from Urenco, are scheduled to begin in mid-2009, reaching full capacity of 3 million separative work units per year in 2013. On 1 August, Washington Group International announced that it had been awarded a contract by LES to provide construction services in the building of the NEF. Providing construction services for the facility is a major expansion of the company's role at the site, where it has been providing related construction-management services since mid-2006.
Further information
National Enrichment Facility
Washington Group International
WNA's US Nuclear Power Industryinformation paper