OAK RIDGE, Tenn., USA: SNC-Lavalin’s Isotek Systems, LLC business has been awarded the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for its work on the Thorium Express Project. The Secretary of Energy Achievement Award is one of the highest honors Department of Energy (DOE) employees and contractors can receive for their service and contributions to the DOE’s mission and the benefit to the country.

Isotek, operating under Atkins Nuclear Secured, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, is the DOE contractor responsible for preparing the nation’s inventory of uranium-233 (U-233) for transportation and disposal. The Thorium Express Project team, composed of Isotek and the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM), forged an innovative public-private partnership with TerraPower that is accelerating the removal of U-233 from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee while providing rare medical isotopes for cancer treatment research.

“This is an incredible honor for the DOE and Isotek team, who identified a way to begin processing U-233 a year ahead of schedule, delivering thorium to the marketplace for cancer treatment research,” said Sarah Schaefer, Project Manager, Isotek. “It’s very rewarding to see the efforts of such a talented and dedicated group of professionals recognized.”

“The Thorium Express Project Team, composed of employees from OREM and Isotek Systems, continually looks for innovative solutions to safely dispose of Cold War legacy material, while recovering a valuable and rare man-made isotope for medical community use,” said Jim Bolon, President, Isotek and Vice-President of Field Operations, Atkins. “This award recognizes their innovation, dedication, and hard work of our integrated project team.”

AtkinsRéalis
U-233 canister being divided into batches in a glovebox.

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For more information:

Maureen Nayowith
VP, Communications
U.S. & Latin America

+1 303.214.0840
[email protected]

Notes to editors:

About Isotek
Isotek Systems, LLC is a DOE contractor under Atkins Nuclear Secured. Since 2003, Isotek has been responsible for safely and securely overseeing the inventory of U-233 and preparing its removal from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Since then, employees have transferred and dispositioned approximately half of the inventory. The remaining inventory requires processing and downblending prior to disposal, which began in October 2019.

About Atkins Nuclear Secured
Atkins Nuclear Secured Holdings Corporation is a business unit within SNC-Lavalin’s global nuclear sector focused on the US federal market. With strengths in nuclear operations, process design engineering, waste management, characterization, transportation, disposition and high-level waste technologies, Nuclear Secured is a partner in the team managing the Tank Operations contract at Hanford, leads the teams managing the DUF6 plants in Portsmouth and Paducah and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Ontario, and manages the U-233 project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At Atkins Nuclear Secured, we safely deliver high consequence, technically complex missions for federal governments.

About SNC-Lavalin
Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world. SNC-Lavalin connects people, technology and data to help shape and deliver world-leading concepts and projects, while offering comprehensive innovative solutions across the asset lifecycle. Our expertise is wide-ranging — consulting & advisory, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and sustaining capital — and delivered to clients in four strategic sectors: EDPM (engineering, design and project management), Infrastructure, Nuclear and Resources, supported by Capital. People. Drive. Results. www.snclavalin.com

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Atkins Nuclear Secured’s Isotek Systems subsidiary receives Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for Thorium Express project

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