The Southeast Compact Commission (SECC) selected Frank Hahne to receive the 2021 Richard S. Hodes Award (Award) for the significant role he played in successfully designing, implementing and leading the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) successful uranium bartering program during the deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) clean-up work at the former enrichment site in Portsmouth, Ohio.
The Award is given to an individual, company, or organization that contributed in a significant way to improve technology, policy, or practices of radioactive waste management in the United States. The criteria for selection include innovation, safety, economics, and transferability.
Frank Hahne is a national and international expert on uranium supply. For the past 50 years, with NAC International, Nuclear Fuel Services and most recently BWX Technologies (BWXT), he has focused his work on bringing uranium to market and recycling and preserving potential uranium waste streams back into the commercial nuclear fuel cycle. He retired from BWXT in 2020 after designing, implementing and leading his most recent project, the Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth (FBP) Uranium Bartering Program.
The Barter Program was an innovative partnership between the U.S. DOE and FBP, the prime contractor, to leverage excess inventories of uranium in order to accelerate the D&D projects at the Portsmouth site. Mr. Hahne was able to overcome market, processing and economic challenges and he negotiated revenue sharing contracts to gain support of the Program from industry companies. The program provided over $1.25 billion dollars of additional funding to DOE and the Portsmouth site for cleanup and risk reduction efforts, while serving as a model to other projects for the reuse and repurposing of surplus materials.
Jack Storton, one of the SECC commissioners participating in the Award recipient selection, said the creative work of Mr. Hahne with the Barter Program clearly exemplifies the spirit and commitment that the Hodes Award is intended to recognize.
“The recovery and recycle of uranium avoided alternate disposition strategies, such as continued storage or disposal, which would have introduced safety and environmental risks,” Storton said. “The Program salvaged $250 million worth of uranium that was stranded at Portsmouth, which would have otherwise been designated as waste.’”
The award will be presented during the 2021 Waste Management Conference, which will be held using a fully virtual online format during March 8-12, 2021. Immediately following the award presentation, Mr. Hahne will present a lecture on his innovative efforts.
The Commission established the Richard S. Hodes, M.D. Honor Lecture Award to honor the memory of Dr. Richard S. Hodes, who served as chair of the Southeast Compact Commission from its inception in 1983 until his death in 2002. He was a strong proponent of innovative approaches to improve the management of radioactive waste in the U.S.
The Commission would like to thank those individuals and organizations that participated in the 2021 awards program. Their involvement has helped to assure the continued success of the Richard S. Hodes, M.D. Honor Lecture Award.