McDermott International, Inc. (“McDermott”) (NYSE: MDR) announced today
that a subsidiary of The Babcock & Wilcox Company (“B&W”) has been
awarded a contract to downblend over 12 metric tons of highly enriched
uranium (“HEU”) into low enriched uranium (“LEU”) at its Erwin,
Tennessee facility.
Working under prime contractor WesDyne International, LLC and in support
of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (“NNSA”)
nonproliferation initiative to reduce HEU stockpiles around the world,
B&W’s subsidiary will fulfill the downblending portion of the contract,
which also includes transportation, storage and other activities to be
performed by WesDyne.
Downblending is the process whereby HEU is processed to reduce its
concentration of Uranium-235 to levels suitable for use in commercial
power plants. The resulting LEU is no longer suitable for use in nuclear
weapons and can be used for peaceful purposes, including assurance of
fuel supply to utilities participating in the MOX program for the
disposition of surplus weapons plutonium. The downblending and
processing of HEU, as well as other materials, for commercial reactor
applications is an ongoing business and core competency of B&W.
The contract period of performance is anticipated by NNSA to be up to
nine years, although the downblending portion is expected to be complete
within four years.
“B&W and its subsidiaries have enjoyed strong partnerships with the NNSA
and other commercial companies in HEU downblending for a number of
years,” noted B&W Nuclear Operations Group President Winfred Nash.
“We’re looking forward to completing another installment in this
essential project, and we anticipate additional opportunities in the
future.” B&W successfully completed a 50-metric ton downblending project
in 2006. Additionally, its subsidiary, Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. which
was acquired late last year, was previously awarded a contract to
downblend over 17 metric tons of HEU in 2007.
McDermott is an engineering and construction company, with specialty
manufacturing and service capabilities, focused on energy
infrastructure. McDermott’s customers are predominantly utilities and
other power generators, major and national oil companies, and the United
States Government. With its global operations, McDermott operates in
over 20 countries with more than 25,000 employees, and can be found on
the internet at www.mcdermott.com.
In accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, McDermott International, Inc. cautions
that statements in this press release which are forward-looking and
provide other than historical information involve risks and
uncertainties that may impact McDermott’s actual results of operations.
The forward-looking statements in this press release include, among
other things, the expected scope and timing associated with the
downblending contract and expectations for additional downblending work
in the future. Although McDermott’s management believes that the
expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are
reasonable, McDermott can give no assurance that those expectations will
prove to have been correct. Those statements are made based on various
underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and
risks, including without limitation, changes in project design or
schedules, contract cancellations, change orders and other
modifications, competitive or customer changes, and difficulties
executing on the project. If one or more of these risks materialize, or
if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary
materially from those expected. For a more complete discussion of these
and other risk factors, please see McDermott’s annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, and subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
McDermott International, Inc.
Investor Relations & Corporate
Communications
Jay Roueche or Robby Bellamy, 281-870-5011
www.mcdermott.com
