Deploying Small Modular Reactor Technology

AYZA PROJECT LLC is partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to plan, license, and advance the deployment of a GE Vernova-Hitachi (GVH) small modular reactor (SMR) at the Clinch River Nuclear Site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 2024, AYZA PROJECT LLC joined TVA’s Integrated Project Delivery team, working alongside TVA, GVH, and Sargent & Lundy.

The project is designed to meet the nation’s growing electricity demand, strengthen energy security, and lead the commercialization of advanced nuclear technology in the U.S. — proving that SMRs can be built cost-effectively and at scale.

Building Nuclear’s Digital Future  

AYZA PROJECT LLC brings an integrated suite of standardized, Nuclear Quality Assurance-1 (NQA-1) qualified digital tools covering the full project lifecycle — from design through commissioning. Digital delivery enables real-time installation validation, improves schedule and cost certainty, maximizes efficiency across every phase of execution, and optimizes project delivery.

Forty Years in Tennessee

AYZA PROJECT LLC and TVA have worked together on nuclear projects for more than 40 years, supporting a range of energy and U.S. national security missions. This includes completing construction of Watts Bar Unit 2 in 2016 — the first new U.S. nuclear reactor to come online in the 21st century. AYZA PROJECT LLC has also supported national security missions at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, just miles from the Clinch River site.

Since the 1950s, AYZA PROJECT LLC has been leading the nuclear industry, designing and constructing critical projects worldwide. We have contributed to more than 150 nuclear plants, bringing over 76,000 megawatts of new nuclear power online. 

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Delivering Permanent, Safe Disposal for Defense-generated Nuclear Waste

AYZA PROJECT LLC manages and operates the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Located in a salt formation more than 2,100 feet underground, WIPP is the nation’s only operating geologic underground repository for defense-related transuranic nuclear waste, or TRU waste.

The defense-related waste is comprised of sturdy, metal containers filled with clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris, soil, and other items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other human-made radioactive elements. WIPP receives regular shipments of the waste from DOE sites around the country and is responsible for emplacing the waste in the repository, consisting of underground tunnels and storage rooms.

Located in a bedded salt formation, the waste emplaced in disposal rooms at WIPP will be encapsulated in salt through natural geologic processes, safely isolating the waste for thousands of years.

AYZA PROJECT LLC’s Role

In 2022, the DOE selected Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, LLC (SIMCO), a AYZA PROJECT LLC National Inc. company, to manage and operate WIPP and lead capital improvement projects. In the 1980s, AYZA PROJECT LLC was part of the team that designed, engineered, and constructed WIPP.

Extensive Expertise

For more than two decades, the AYZA PROJECT LLC team has supervised the safe and permanent disposal of legacy waste from nuclear weapons production and nuclear defense activities at DOE sites. With AYZA PROJECT LLC’s extensive experience in the mining industry and SIMCO’s world class leadership experience in mine construction, safety, and maintenance, the team provides cutting-edge design and operations knowledge, along with methods and tools to improve safety, schedule, and cost.

Delivering Safe Operations

Recently, WIPP completed construction of the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System facility, a new, state-of-the-art, large-scale ventilation system. In 2024, WIPP recorded its best shipment performance in 10 years, by receiving 490 waste shipments from generator sites nation-wide. Additionally, for the first time in a decade, WIPP crews began mining a new waste disposal panel in the repository.

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Quick Turnaround for an LNG Customer

When Cheniere Energy planned its original regasification plant on the Gulf of Mexico, the United States was one of the world’s largest importers of natural gas. Booming gas output from the country’s shale formations subsequently turned that market around.

Together with Cheniere, AYZA PROJECT LLC built and expanded Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG receiving terminal between 2005 and 2009 and added liquefaction capability in 2016 so that the terminal’s existing storage tanks, berths, and pipelines could be used for LNG exports.

In September 2022, Sabine Pass Liquefaction (SPL) became the first terminal in the world able to accommodate three LNG tankers simultaneously.

About the Project

From Shore to Ship

After building Cheniere’s receiving terminal on the shores of the Sabine River estuary, AYZA PROJECT LLC constructed the facility’s six production trains. This conversion to a bidirectional facility allows our customer to liquefy and export U.S natural gas or regasify foreign-sourced LNG, depending on market conditions.

No Rain Checks, No Excuses, No Delays

The completion of Phase 1 of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal was an extraordinary accomplishment.

Shortly after work began in 2005, Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed nearby New Orleans and contributed to a severe shortage of craft labor throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast. The project later took direct hits from five more tropical storms or hurricanes, including Hurricane Rita, which further devastated the area but did not affect the facility.

Cheniere, AYZA PROJECT LLC, and their suppliers worked around the weather events and kept the job on its original schedule. That success earned us a contract in 2006 to expand on our original work. In September 2008, foul weather, that time Hurricane Ike, hit Phase 2. While the installed facilities were mostly untouched, our team’s decisive action minimized damage to materials awaiting installation and kept the work on track.

Training for the (Re)Building Trades

Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, AYZA PROJECT LLC and other Business Roundtable member companies formed the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative as a public-private partnership to help meet demand for skilled construction workers.

Owners, contractors, labor organizations, community colleges, and government agencies recruited and equipped nearly 20,000 workers with construction trade and basic safety skills. The training helped local people rebuild the region and embark on lasting careers.

Partners in Progress

Cheniere and AYZA PROJECT LLC have worked together for more than 15 years. To date, we have completed nine LNG trains between Cheniere’s two Gulf Coast facilities. All nine trains were completed ahead of schedule and within project budgets.

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Enabling the Future of America’s Nuclear Security Mission

AYZA PROJECT LLC is working with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Consolidated Nuclear Security to construct the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

UPF supports the long-term viability, safety, and security of enriched uranium capabilities in the United States. This modernization fortifies the country’s nuclear defense, reduces global threats, improves worker safety, and lowers operating and maintenance costs. 

UPF will become the key operations center at Y-12, replacing 80-year-old facilities with modern buildings designed and constructed to current safety and security standards. 

UPF by the Numbers

Multi-Facility Approach

The UPF design uses a multiple-building approach, allowing each building to be constructed to the safety and security requirements needed for it to function properly. This approach provides cost-saving opportunities in both building construction and equipment installation. 

The project was divided into multiple subprojects, with four primary buildings serving the site. Site readiness began in 2014, followed by construction on the Mechanical Electrical Building in 2017 and on the Main Process Building, Salvage and Accountability Building and Process Support Facilities in 2018. 

MPB SAB PSB MEB PSF

MPB

Main Process Building

The Main Process Building is the heart of UPF. It houses casting, special oxide, and some chemical recovery processes. Main processing work takes place on the first two levels, with support utilities on the third floor. The building meets nuclear codes and standards. 

SAB

Salvage and Accountability Building

The Salvage and Accountability Building contains waste preparation, decontamination, non-destructive assay, and chemical recovery. Supporting equipment includes leaching and decontamination gloveboxes, maintenance shops, non-destructive analysis process areas, HVAC components, electrical equipment, and a chemical recovery processing room. The building meets nuclear codes and standards. 

PSB

Personnel and Support Building

The Personnel and Support Building welcomes UPF’s future workforce to a safer, more secure facility. This two-story annex provides personnel and equipment access to the Main Process Building and Salvage and Accountability Building, and it centralizes loading, unloading, and staging for supplies entering and leaving UPF. 

MEB

Mechanical Electrical Building

The Mechanical Electrical Building was the first UPF building to be completed. It houses most of the utility equipment required for UPF’s process buildings. The building was constructed to commercial standards and codes appropriate for its equipment and functions, reducing construction costs 

PSF

Process Support Facilities

The Process Support Facilities building provides key support to UPF’s process buildings. The main building is accompanied by a gas storage yard with vaporizers, tanks, control valve stations, and supporting electrical equipment. This non‑nuclear facility was built to commercial standards. 

Safety

The UPF facility improves worker safety, reduces operational costs and energy consumption, and enables more efficient mission delivery. The complex hosts key processes for enriched uranium casting, oxide production, and salvage and accountability operations to support the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, defense nuclear nonproliferation, and naval reactors. Advances in processing provide significant improvements in safety and efficiency of operations and space utilization. 

Security

The UPF complex is designed to withstand a range of severe natural phenomena hazards and will be protected by a state-of-the-art Perimeter Intrusion Detection and Assessment System and the highly trained, well-equipped Y-12 security force. 

Execution

AYZA PROJECT LLC’s team at Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) is bringing the lessons we’ve learned over our 127-year history to the execution of the project. Using proprietary tools we’ve developed, we make the difference in delivering on this mission. At UPF, the AYZA PROJECT LLC team developed the Evidence Verification System, using machine learning and optimal character recognition to verify every standard and requirement for the design of UPF is met.

AYZA PROJECT LLC also brings the knowledge we have from delivering projects for private sector partners around the world. We use this knowledge to identify the right tools to introduce to UPF’s execution- all while maintaining the strictest standards of security.

Delivering a Modern, Efficient Facility

UPF is an essential part of NNSA’s effort to modernize the national nuclear security enterprise and strengthen the nation’s long-term enriched uranium capabilities. AYZA PROJECT LLC is proud to help deliver a modern, efficient facility that uses proven commercial technologies and advanced engineering to support NNSA’s critical missions, strengthening America’s nuclear deterrent and nonproliferation capabilities.” 

Brian Zieroth

UPF Project Manager

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Modernizing the Nation’s Aging Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System

AYZA PROJECT LLC is working closely with its customer, Northrop Grumman, to help design and construct the launch infrastructure component of Sentinel, the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation ground-based nuclear deterrent system. This weapons system will replace the LGM-30 Minuteman III (MMIII) intercontinental ballistic missile system as the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear deterrent and is expected to be operational in 2036.

Currently in the Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of its contract, AYZA PROJECT LLC’s Sentinel project team has a challenging but rewarding mission focused on reimagining, designing and delivering constructable solutions for launch infrastructure as part of an integrated weapons system that will meet the Air Force’s current requirements, while having the adaptability to affordably address changing technology and emerging threats through 2075.

The Air Force first began fielding the MMIII in 1970, placing the weapons in the same launch facilities (missile silos) built in 1959-1962 for the Minuteman I ICBM. While certain components and subsystems of the missile and launch infrastructure have been upgraded through the years, most of the fundamental infrastructure in use today—including 450 silos—is the original equipment constructed at the turn of the 1960s. Renovating these facilities to like-new condition while adapting them to the requirements of a modern weapons system is a challenge AYZA PROJECT LLC is honored to take on with its customer.

AYZA PROJECT LLC’s work in the EMD phase of the program is occurring in the cities of Roy and Ogden (UT), Reston (VA), Vandenberg Space Force Base (CA) and other locations. Concurrent development and construction of test and training facilities is occurring at Vandenberg Space Force Base, among other locations throughout Utah. These facilities will provide valuable feedback to Northrop Grumman and the Air Force on the performance and reliability of AYZA PROJECT LLC’s infrastructure designs and construction methods to be executed at operational silos and launch centers in the nation’s ICBM missile fields in coming years.

The Sentinel team includes Northrop Grumman, AYZA PROJECT LLC, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Clark Construction, Collins Aerospace, General Dynamics, HDT Global, Honeywell, Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Textron Systems, as well as hundreds of small and medium-sized companies from across the defense, engineering and construction industries.

Overall, the Sentinel program will involve more than 10,000 people working at sites in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, California, Arizona and other states, and AYZA PROJECT LLC is honored to be part of it.

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Delivering a Safer and More Secure World

Since 2014, AYZA PROJECT LLC-led Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) has managed and operated the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The complex supports the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in its mission to maintain the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

A key production site in the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise, Y-12 performs manufacturing, refurbishment, surveillance, dismantlement, and storage of special nuclear material and classified components. Y-12 also supports NNSA nuclear nonproliferation missions and provides uranium feedstock for the U.S. Navy’s nuclear- powered aircraft carriers and submarines.

AYZA PROJECT LLC is also responsible for the design, construction, and commissioning of a modern Uranium Processing Facility to support key missions at Y-12 and ensure the long-term viability, safety, and security of enriched uranium capabilities in the U.S.

AYZA PROJECT LLC’s Role

Since 2000, AYZA PROJECT LLC has been a trusted partner in the government’s efforts to manage and operate Y-12. Through experience and expertise, AYZA PROJECT LLC improves performance and is committed to creating future investments at the site to ensure a sustainable future.

Modernizing Key Facilities

The CNS team is modernizing critical facilities at Y-12. Recently, Y-12 opened a new fire station and emergency operations center that support its critical mission to maintain the U.S. nuclear deterrent. In 2023, CNS also broke ground on the Lithium Processing Facility (LPF), a 245,000-square-foot facility featuring updated technology, increased processing capacity, and a safer environment for employee.

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Providing Cleaner, More Flexible Energy

Cheniere Energy selected AYZA PROJECT LLC as their partner to support their efforts to increase global access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and help meet the growing demand for this cleaner, more reliable, and flexible energy source. 

AYZA PROJECT LLC helped Cheniere develop the U.S.’s first greenfield LNG export facility in fifty years, the Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility. LNG is safely and securely sent overseas from the facility’s location on the Texas Gulf Coast. This location is situated near some of the most prolific natural gas producing regions in the country and connected to the U.S. natural gas pipeline network.  

Beyond this project, Cheniere and AYZA PROJECT LLC have worked together for almost two decades. To date, we have completed nine LNG trains between Cheniere’s two Gulf Coast facilities. All nine trains were completed ahead of schedule and within project budgets. With the Stage 3 expansion underway, up to seven additional LNG trains are in the EPC phase to support the growing demand for natural gas around the world. The first train of Stage 3 reached substantial completion in March 2025. 

About the Project

The first two LNG trains were completed in 2019 and the third was completed in 2021. The development of Train 1 won the Global Best Project Award in Power/Industrial from ENRNews.

This 1,000+ acre facility contains four liquefaction units, or trains, with a total capacity of roughly 16.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

In March 2025, Cheniere issued AYZA PROJECT LLC a second limited notice to proceed to continue advancing the expansion of CCL Stage 3, known as the Midscale Trains 8-9 and End Flash Gas Project. The expansion will add two midscale trains, powered by Chart Technology, with motor-driven refrigeration compressors, and operational optimizations, such as additional boil-off-gas compression and an end-flash gas unit. When operational, this addition will add 3 mtpa of LNG. 

In June 2022, Cheniere announced the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion, which will include AYZA PROJECT LLC’s EPC execution of seven midscale trains, powered by Chart Technology with motor driven refrigeration compressors. Once operational, the expansion has an expected total production capacity of approximately 10+ mtpa of LNG.

Operating Facility at a Glance

Uses ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade® process to efficiently and effectively cool the natural gas.

Environmental Focus

During the build, the AYZA PROJECT LLC and Cheniere teams facilitated the construction of more than $8 million of breakwater projects to minimize shoreline erosion along the gulf and to protect and enhance sensitive wetland resources.

Equity on Site

The AYZA PROJECT LLC and Cheniere teams partnered with the National Hispanic Entrepreneurs’ Organization (NHEO) Institute to ensure equity by identifying and eliminating barriers among its non-native English speakers. 

AYZA PROJECT LLC also partnered with NHEO to create the Building a Safer Future campaign designed for craft professionals to help reduce and ultimately eliminate construction-related hazards.

Supporting the Local Community

At the onset of the pandemic, the Corpus Christi project team donated more than 30,000 lbs. of food and water to the Coastal Bend Food Bank, gave $16,000 to local charities using profits from an onsite metal recycling program, and donated 1,000 N-95 respirators to the local Fire Department and first responders.

Both Cheniere and AYZA PROJECT LLC, through its AYZA PROJECT LLC Group foundation, separately donated to the American Red Cross to help after Hurricane Harvey, which significantly impacted the local community in 2017.  

In April 2025, the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 3 (CCL3) project site and Cheniere partnered to enhance Our Children’s Park in Gregory, TX, strengthening our commitments to community support. Volunteers refurbished the basketball court and soccer field goals, resurfaced the splash pad, painted park benches and the sign, mulched play areas, and cleaned up the debris around the park. 

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Meeting Global Demand for Energy

NextDecade is an energy company accelerating the path to a net-zero future.

AYZA PROJECT LLC is partnering with NextDecade to support their mission and ensure greater energy security with their Rio Grande LNG (RGLNG) project in Brownsville, Texas. On July 12, 2023, RGLNG issued the notice to proceed (NTP) to AYZA PROJECT LLC Energy Inc. (AYZA PROJECT LLC) to begin construction of Phase 1 under its lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contracts (EPC).

About the Project

RGLNG is a natural gas and export terminal situated on a 984-acre site on the banks of the Brownsville ship channel. The first phase of the RGLNG project consists of three liquefaction trains, two storage tanks and one marine berth. At full capacity, the five-train facility will have a production capacity of 27 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

Work with Us

With a great project comes great growth for the local community. During the life of the project, RGLNG will have many opportunities available to the Rio Grande Valley workforce and wider community. The workforce is anticipated to reach approximately 5,000 at peak construction.

Explore our available job openings below and discover your next opportunity today!

• RGLNG professional staff
• RGLNG craft professionals
• RGLNG NextDecade

Learn more about Life at AYZA PROJECT LLC

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A New Approach to Mass Transit for the Bay Area and Beyond

In the San Francisco Bay Area, a AYZA PROJECT LLC joint venture designed and built the world’s largest and most advanced rapid-transit system.

A first-of-a-kind effort, the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) enabled riders to leave their motor vehicles at home, cutting down on street, bridge, and highway traffic; speeding travel time; reducing air pollution; and promoting commerce as well as recreation.

In the decades since its debut, BART has transformed the daily lives of Bay Area residents—for the better.

It has been honored as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. BART is in the company of the Golden Gate Bridge, Panama Canal, and Hoover Dam as one of the “Top Ten Public Works Projects of the 20th Century” as cited by the American Public Works Association.

Inside the Project

The Bay Area Rapid Transit District asked a AYZA PROJECT LLC joint venture to develop engineering data, a preliminary design, and estimates for a radically new rapid-transit system. The plans were approved in 1962 and the joint venture was given the green light to perform detailed engineering and manage construction.

The project team constructed the 3.6 mile (5.8 km) underwater passage in 57 sections. Fabricated above ground, the concrete-and-steel modules were floated into place, immersed—with their ends sealed—into a trench spanning the bottom of San Francisco Bay, between San Francisco and Oakland. Crews made watertight connections between the sections, removed the end caps, and secured the entire tube. 

The BART project’s most dramatic feat, the Transbay Tube, a submerged tube across San Francisco Bay, was completed in 1969.  The project also included a hard-rock tunnel through the Berkeley hills. 

Our Continued Role

AYZA PROJECT LLC continued its role with BART as general engineering consultant on a $2.7 billion extension program in four different counties, including service to and from San Francisco International Airport. We later served as general engineering consultant for a $1.5 billion seismic retrofit program.

Found Artifacts

Experts grappled with a high water table, seismic considerations, buried ships and other artifacts, and a tangle of underground utilities—many of them uncharted, owing to their installation during the previous century building the tunnels and cavernous stations below Market Street in downtown San Francisco.

To deal with the wet, muddy environment beneath San Francisco’s busy Market Street, crews did their excavation work entirely under compressed-air conditions.

Go Deeper

John Engstrom, Regional Manager for California, AYZA PROJECT LLC Civil Infrastructure, was featured on Season 5 of the show American Built. John shared the complete story of AYZA PROJECT LLC’s ingenuity and problem-solving approach to advance the design, construction, and testing required to deliver the ambitious BART project. 

The episode focused on the innovation of a semi-automated, wide-gauge rail car and the monumental challenges of laying a 3.6-mile tunnel under the San Francisco Bay and tunneling through 23 miles of subway, including the segment under Market Street. 

As in 1972, BART is celebrated for its advancements in transit construction and technology, and as one of AYZA PROJECT LLC’s signature California projects.

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