Traxys to buy all the UF6 from DoE job
27 May 2011
Marketing company Traxys North America is to buy all of the uranium with which the US Department of Energy (DoE) is paying for the cleanup of the former Portsmouth enrichment plant. Earlier this year, the DoE announced that it would sell off up to 450 tonnes of natural UF
6 per quarter for three years to 2013 to pay for the decontamination and decommissioning work, which is being carried out by Fluor B&W Portsmouth (FBP). Traxys has agreed to purchase all of the UF
6 that FBP expects to receive from DoE for its services. According to FBP president Jamie Jamison, the company decided to go down the route of a structured transaction with a single party rather than its previous practice of spot market auctions in order to avoid any impact on the market. Traxys CEO Mark Kristoff said the new contract confirmed the company's "continued long term commitment" to the nuclear fuel business. "We intend to manage this supply of material into the uranium market in a commercially responsible manner and look forward to working with new and existing customers to meet their supply needs," he promised. Traxys secured exclusive marketing rights for uranium from First Uranium's South African Ezulwini mine and Mine Waste Solutions tailings recovery operations in 2008, and claims to have traded "in excess of" 4000 tU annually in recent years.