In a new development in the long story of a U.S. Dept. of Energy nuclear materials project that was terminated in 2018, the project’s prime contractor has agreed to pay the U.S. government $10 million to resolve charges of violating the False Claims Act, the Dept. of Justice says.
In announcing the agreement with South Carolina-based MOX Services LLC on March 7, DOJ said that the company knowingly submitted to DOE “false and fraudulent invoices for non-existent materials” and also took kickbacks from a subcontractor.
[View settlement agreement here.]
MOX Services formerly was named CB&I AREVA MOX Services LLC. According to the settlement agreement, the company “was established specifically to design, build and operate the project.” It had a cost-reimbursable contract with DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
According to the settlement agreement, MOX Services denied the allegations.
The agreement also states that it “is neither an admission of liability by MOX [Services] nor a concession by the United States that the civil action is not well founded.”
MOX Services had a lead role in building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at DOE’s Savannah River Site in Aiken, S.C. The facility was to change weapons-grade plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel rods to be used in nuclear power plants.
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