Rumors are circulating that Fluor Corp. is considering selling its contract to manage Hanford -rumors Fluor denies.

The rumors were recently reported by The Wall Street Journal and Engineering News Record -both citing unnamed sources.

"There's a lot of speculation on that. None of (speculation in the articles) is quoted information from the company. ... We're committed to this contract and to the community that we are part of," Fluor corporate spokesman Rick Maslin said Monday.

Part of the speculation comes from competitor Westinghouse Electric Co. beginning to divest itself of its government and environmental work, Maslin said.

And much of this speculation also comes from Fluor Corp. reorganiz ing and possibly selling some assets in an attempt to slash overhead and improve the value of its stock, which has taken a beating in the past year.

Fluor Corp. of Irvine, Calif., is one of the world's largest engineering and construction firms. Under Les McCraw, the corporation's soon-to-retire chairman and chief executive officer, the company drastically expanded from 1993 to 1996.

That expansion included Fluor Daniel Hanford winning a five-year $4.88 billion contract in 1996 to manage Hanford for the Department of Energy.

But Fluor has not been able to keep up with its rapid growth, said Ron Peterson, president of Fluor Daniel's Government Services Operating Co. in a March interview with the Herald.

Fluor Corp.'s profit margins apparently have suffered.

The Nov. 18 Wall Street Journal said Fluor promised Wall Street analysts a profit margin of 3 percent, but appears on track to deliver 2 percent or less.

The Dec. 8 Engineering News Record - a weekly magazine often dubbed "ENR" that focuses on construction engineering - said Fluor's profit margins are usually 4 percent. But its profit margin for its DOE contracts at Hanford and Fernald could dip to 1 percent.

Maslin declined Monday to discuss profit margin figures, other than saying: "The margins are not where we would like them to be. We'd like for them to improve."

Fluor's stock price has dropped from roughly $75 last February to $38 1/4 Monday.

The speculation Flour might sell its Hanford contract has come from several sources:

ENR cited "competitors" saying Fluor "is sending signals that it is shopping its DOE contracts," particularly those for Hanford and Fer nald. The article quoted Peterson saying the DOE projects are among Fluor's core business strengths that it wants to hang on to. But ENR also quoted Peterson adding "everything is for sale at the right price."

The Wall Street Journal cited "people familiar with the company" thinking Fluor could sell several projects including "environmental cleanup, as well as contracts for work at giant government nuclear facilities."

However, the article also quoted a Flour official saying contracts in areas targeted for cutbacks will be honored.

Also Maslin noted that Fluor is about ready to begin a two-year extension on a previously five-year contract to manage Fernald.

Meanwhile, Flour Corp. announced Monday it is beginning a 120-day study whether to keep or sell American Equipment Co., which leases giant cranes and other construction equipment. Fluor also said it is looking at consolidating "several operating units to ... reduce overhead."

ENR also has reported rumors that Lockheed Martin is "eager to dump its (DOE) contracts" - rumors denied by Lockheed.

Linc Hall, president of Lockheed Martin Hanford Co., said, "There are no plans by any ... Lockheed Martin companies in the DOE business to divest themselves of that business."

Hall said the ENR rumors could have come from some brainstorming discussions at DOE's troubled "Pit 9" project at Idaho Falls, where a Lockheed company ended up with major cost overruns.

Those talks included possibly bringing in another company to tackle part of the Pit 9 work, but Hall said that idea never made it to an actual proposal.