A Case Study for Overcoming Obstacles During Planning and Construction Phases: MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility

The decision to construct the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility in Aiken County, South Carolina, was largely a result of the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation, signed in September of 2000. However, the construction of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility has proven to be a more complex endeavor than many of the project planners had initially anticipated. To date, the project has yet to be completed, and in February 2019, the National Nuclear Security Administration issued a contract termination notice for the project. Currently, the United States Department of Energy is looking into what it refers to as the dilute and dispose approach to dealing with the nation’s aging stockpile of weapons-grade nuclear material. The present research aims to explore solutions for overcoming the failures that occurred during the planning and construction phases of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility. The paper proposes that the adoption of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) might provide solutions for such cases. This study is supported by a review of relevant literature examining the effects of implementing both IPD and PPP. The results of the study represent discussions and a summary of the research contribution.