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Global Project Profile
Seversk Plutonium Production Elimination

Seversk Plutonium Production Elimination

Project Location:

Seversk, Russia

Client:

U.S. Department of Energy

Scope:

Project management, technical oversight, work verification

Project Overview

We are providing oversight, technical integration and work verification for the Seversk Plutonium Production Elimination Project. The project is part of a U.S. Department of Energy program to permanently shut down the last three weapons-grade plutonium production reactors in Russia.

This cooperative effort between the United States and the Russian Federation entails upgrading a 50 year old coal-fired power plant to allow shutdown of two of the plutonium reactors—currently the primary source of heat, steam, and power for the city of Seversk and surrounding communities.

Work includes installation, start-up, and turn over of 7 boilers and 2 turbine generators; municipal and industrial heating systems upgrades; and replacement of auxiliary equipment including a new distributed control system and a state-of-the-art water treatment facility.

  • The project is located in a "closed" city, which means our team is allowed access to the site only one week each month. Those visits are scheduled on year in advance.

  • Work on the project is being performed by Russian companies through a Russian contractor.

  • Our team is procuring and expediting more than $150 million worth of equipment and materials and has helped the Russians meet stringent U.S. government contracting requirements.

Highlights & Accomplishments

  • In the initial phase, we worked with the DOE and Russian partners to identify $100 million in cost savings to keep the U.S. budget within the available funding and still achieve the required steam and electricity output.

  • Later in the project as material and labor costs increased significantly, we worked with the DOE and Russian partners to reduce the U.S. scope by $100M to maintain the original U.S. budget and still achieve the Russian commitment of shutting down the plutonium reactors.

  • We instituted an innovative quality awareness and incentive program—the first ever at the plant and perhaps the first in Russia.

  • We have instilled a safety culture that focuses on preemptive actions and recognition for performance.