DuPont no Longer Wants Contract to Operate South Carolina Nuclear Facility

January 26, 2006

DuPont has decided it does not want to operate the Savannah River Site nuclear plant, located near Aiken, South Carolina.

The company made the announcement a day after reporting quarterly earnings that fell short of analysts estimates.

DuPont ran the former nuclear weapons plant for nearly four decades starting in 1950 but decided to pull out of consideration for a new contract.

The company want to focus on their core business, DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday Jr. said.

The U.S. Department of Energy has split managing SRS into two contracts. One will cover just handling the nuclear waste at the nuclear plant, while the other contact will handle all other parts of operating and maintaining the site, like its laboratory and cleanup efforts.

DuPont had announced in October it would partner with Fluor Daniel to compete for the operating contract at the former nuclear weapons site.

Fluor Daniel is looking at forming another alliance to seek the contract, said Gary Coxon, the company's vice president for environmental and nuclear operations.

Washington Savannah River Company currently runs the site, and it wants to have the contract that expires at the end of 2006 to be renewed.

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