WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a significant enforcement action, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to Mid-America Conversion Services, LLC (MCS), the contractor managing the Portsmouth Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion (DUF6) facility in Pike County. The PNOV addresses violations of DOE nuclear safety requirements, holding MCS accountable for a series of nuclear safety deficiencies reported between 2019 and 2022.
The notice details three Severity Level II violations under 10 C.F.R. Part 820, which outlines procedural rules for DOE nuclear activities, and cites additional violations of 10 C.F.R. Part 830, governing nuclear safety management. In light of the safety significance of these violations, the DOE has proposed a civil penalty of $382,500.
The DUF6 facility, operated by MCS, is now under serious scrutiny.
Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) is a byproduct of uranium enrichment.
The primary danger of DUF6 comes from its potential to release hydrogen fluoride (HF), a highly corrosive gas, if it comes into contact with moisture. This can happen if the storage cylinders corrode or are breached, which poses a substantial risk to both the environment and human health.
In Piketon, Ohio, there are over 20,000 cylinders of DUF6 stored at the Portsmouth site.
DOE said in a Notice of Violation letter that, “MCS has not acknowledged these nuclear safety deficiencies, they have not
conducted a causal analysis or taken appropriate corrective actions to prevent recurrence.“