Officials of the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Paducah Project Office and Babcock & Wilcox Conversion Services – operators of the DUF6 Project for PPPO – today signed a Partnering Agreement as a step in improving productivity through streamlined processes.

William Murphie, manager of the PPPO office, and Jack Zimmerman, DUF6 project manager for PPPO, signed on DOE’s behalf. George E. Dials, president and project manager, signed for BWCS.

BWCS operates the DUF6 plants in Paducah, KY and Piketon, OH under contract to the PPPO. The plants were built to convert the nation’s inventory of DUF6 – a coproduct of the nation’s half-century of uranium enrichment – to safer forms for industrial use or eventual disposal.

The Partnering Agreement, which describes mutual shared values and objectives, lays the groundwork for improving and sharing work processes that will ultimately increase work productivity as both organizations work together.

“We are delighted to commit our offices and staff to an agreement that focuses on how we can work together better and more productively,” Murphie commented. “We already share a mutual commitment to the success of the Project; now we will also emphasize the processes that can make us more successful.”

“Along with our DOE partners, we are developing a model of excellence and performance that will have long-term positive consequences for how the work is done and long-term savings for the American taxpayer,” Dials said.

Both organizations have put action plans in place for continued joint work and for streamlining work processes.