Demolition
begins on Building K-1600. The 42,000-square-foot structure was
formerly used as a test and demonstration facility for uranium
enrichment centrifuges.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and contractor UCOR have begun demolishing Building K-1600 at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), marking the final teardown to end a decades-long effort to remove a shuttered uranium enrichment complex.
ETTP,
formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, once contained
five massive uranium enrichment buildings, including the world’s
largest building at the time of its construction, along with hundreds of
support facilities. The site dates back to the Manhattan Project and
continued to expand its operations during the Cold War. Those operations
ended in 1987, and the site was permanently closed in 1989.
OREM and UCOR are working to complete major cleanup at ETTP later this year — a goal known as Vision 2020.
It will mark the first time in the world a former uranium enrichment
complex has been cleaned and removed. UCOR accelerated cleanup by four
years, saving taxpayers nearly $500 million.
“We
are in the process of making history as this building starts coming
down,” OREM Manager Jay Mullis said. “Getting to this point is the
culmination of nearly 15 years of large-scale demolition with countless
more hours preparing, planning, and ensuring each project was conducted
safely. It’s extremely rewarding to see how all of these efforts have
transformed the site, and how our work has removed barriers and created
new economic opportunities for the community.”
This
graphic shows all facilities that have been demolished to date at the
East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Demolition of the only
remaining building, K-1600, is advancing.
The
42,000-square-foot Building K-1600 is a recognizable facility due to
its height and location, sitting in the middle of the Building K-25
footprint. Building K-1600 was used as a former test and demonstration
facility for uranium enrichment centrifuges. Centrus Energy Corp. leased
the government-owned facility from 2002 until 2019. The company no
longer needed the lease after consolidating its centrifuge testing and
demonstration activities into a location in Oak Ridge.
Demolition
and environmental cleanup at ETTP is part of an effort to transform the
former government-owned enrichment complex into a privately-owned
multi-use industrial park. OREM has taken down facilities spanning
nearly 13 million square feet, transferred more than 1,200 acres of land
for economic development, and placed more than 3,000 acres in a
conservation easement for community recreational use.
Additionally,
more than 100 acres will be used for historic preservation efforts at
the site. Since the K-25 footprint is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, the demolition of Building K-1600 will increase accessibility and remove risks in the area for future use.
As demolition ends at ETTP, UCOR is transitioning crews to new deactivation and demolition projects at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex.
These projects will eliminate deteriorating, high-risk facilities,
enhance safety, and clear land for future national security and
scientific research missions.
-Contributor: Ben Williams
Crews Tear Down Four Buildings at ETEC Since Active Cleanup Resumed Last Week
A
crew tears down an instrumentation laboratory at the Radioactive
Materials Handling Facility complex at the Energy Technology Engineering
Center.
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – EM has marked the successful demolition of four buildings at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) since July 21, making continued progress in the active cleanup at the former nuclear and liquid metals research site in Ventura County, California.
Those
demolished structures include an office building, instrumentation
laboratory, ancillary guard station, and storage shed at the Radioactive
Materials Handling Facility (RMHF) complex. Cleanup activities resumed
on July 21.
“I
am excited at the progress the team has accomplished in the first few
weeks at ETEC. The team is working hard to anticipate challenges and
keep this cleanup moving safely and efficiently,” said ETEC Federal
Project Director John Jones.
Removing
the RMHF facilities, a set of 10 buildings constructed in 1959 and used
for the processing, packaging, and shipment of radioactive and mixed
hazardous wastes during site operations that ended in 1988, will reduce
potential risk of release of hazardous substances due to wildfires or
erosion from severe storms.
Site
demolition and removal of debris is on track and expected to take
approximately six months. Activities are being conducted under a
recently signed agreement between the DOE and the State of California,
and in adherence to safety practices recommended to protect workers from
exposure to the coronavirus. Debris from the cleanup is being
transported outside the State of California for disposal at licensed
commercial disposal facilities.
ETEC,
located in Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, served as a
premier research facility from the 1950s until the end of active
operations. Since the 1980s, more than 200 structures on the site have
been demolished and removed; after completing RMHF demolition, only
eight DOE structures will remain.
-Contributor: Stephanie Shewmon
EM Names Brian Vance as Permanent Manager of Hanford Offices
RICHLAND, Wash. – EM has named Brian Vance as manager, on a permanent basis, of the two offices that supervise cleanup of the Hanford Site, a move to cement coordination at the site that is preparing to initiate landmark tank waste treatment.
Since February 2019, Vance has been serving on a limited appointment as the manager for both the Richland Operations Office (RL) and Office of River Protection (ORP). In that post, he has aligned operations as Hanford gears up to begin treating tank waste through the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach, and concentrates cleanup work on the site’s central plateau.
Last fall, the site marked the removal of the radioactive sludge from Hanford’s K Basins away from the Columbia River for safer longer-term storage; safely resumed removal of demolition debris at the Plutonium Finishing Plant; and most recently completed startup testing at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant’s Analytical Laboratory, a key component of the DFLAW system.
“Brian
has guided Hanford operations with a steady hand,” said William “Ike”
White, Senior Advisor for Environmental Management to the Under
Secretary for Science. “The men and women on the ground continue making
great progress, and I have full confidence that Brian will continue to
lead this team into the next phase, as we move towards actual tank waste
treatment and cleanup completion in many areas.”
Vance
has more than 30 years of nuclear industry experience, including
project director for RL contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation
Company’s 300-296 Soil Removal Project at Hanford. He is a retired Navy
nuclear submarine officer with a Bachelor of Science in meteorology from
Penn State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Joe
Franco will continue as the RL deputy manager, and Ben Harp will
continue as the ORP deputy manager, with both responsible for the
day-to-day operations of each of the offices.
An EM 2020 Priority: West Valley Moves Closer to Demolishing Main Plant
WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – Workers at the EM West Valley Demonstration Project
began demolishing a former utility building this month. The
6,955-square-foot building is an ancillary structure to the Main Plant
Process Building, the last remaining major facility at the West Valley
site. Five other ancillary structures associated with the Main Plant
Process Building have been safely torn down, bringing EM’s total number
of structures removed at the site to 67. Demolition of the Main Plant
Process Building is among EM’s 2020 priorities.
“The start of this work will change the landscape and footprint of the
WVDP site, and is a reminder of the ongoing progress here,” EM WVDP
Director Bryan Bower said.
-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere
Hanford WTP Holds Drill for Emergency Preparedness
RICHLAND, Wash. – Before and after views: the landscape around EM’s Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant
(WTP) continues to show signs of progress. Inland Asphalt, part of CRH
Group, a subcontractor to WTP contractor Bechtel National Inc., is
paving roads and parking lots around the future operational area of the
plant, which supports one of EM’s 2020 priorities: complete Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste
construction and turn-over to commissioning. While taking advantage of
the warm summer weather and using COVID-19 safety protocols, this work
will continue over the next several weeks to establish nearly 620,000
square feet of permanent walkways and roadways.Click here to watch a video about this project.
-Contributor: Bechtel National Inc.
WIPP Upgrades Fire Protection System
Concrete bases are in place for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's new fire water system tanks.
CARLSBAD, N.M. – Millions of dollars in new and old infrastructure needs protecting at the EM Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
That’s
the goal of WIPP’s $24-million fire protection infrastructure project,
which is required to meet DOE and other federal nuclear safety
requirements. When the work is complete, a 10,000-foot loop and its
connectors that carry water to fight fires will replace an aging system
installed more than 30 years ago when the waste repository was being
developed.
WIPP
is also adding a massive new ventilation system, known as the Safety
Significant Confinement Ventilation System, as well as a new utility
shaft that reaches 2,275 feet underground, providing increased air as
part of the ventilation system. The fire protection loop will encompass
all of it.
“This
is an important project; parts of it are safety significant for nuclear
safety,” said Steve Smith, capital infrastructure project manager with
Nuclear Waste Partnership, the WIPP management and operations
contractor. “The system we currently have is old, and it’s directly
buried into the ground. This will give us a system we can rely on.”
The
fire protection infrastructure project, slated for completion in 2022,
is being done in phases. The first two phases include large underground
fire mains, a new pumping system with a pumphouse, and large water
tanks. The third phase will connect buildings to the loop. The fourth
phase includes installation of electrical panels, smoke and heat
detectors, and pull boxes in more than two dozen buildings. The site’s
central monitoring room, which will accept all system inputs, is being
remodeled with state-of-the-art computers and monitors.
The
loop design includes numerous crossover points, allowing water to flow
where it’s needed if part of the system is blocked or disabled.
Backup
systems are central to the project. The pumphouse will have an
alternate electric pump, which will in turn be backed up by diesel
power. The system can also be hooked up to the site fire department’s
pumper truck to maintain pressure.
The pumphouse will be constructed of reinforced concrete, designed to withstand a severe tornado.
A
pair of 200,000-gallon tanks are being fabricated and painted this
month for installation in August. They will sit atop concrete bases on
the northeast corner of the site. Those tanks will replace a single
180,000-gallon tank located near the site’s guard and security building.
That tank and an adjacent tank will be used for potable water once the
new system comes online.
The
fire protection loop will extend across the WIPP access road to the
area of the new utility shaft, as well as the new ventilation system.
The
new fire loop will provide an increased volume of water through new
fire hydrants, and the supply line from the hydrant to the pumper will
be replaced with an expanded line, allowing for an increase in volume of
66 percent.
“The
WIPP Fire Department is very excited about the new fire loop,” WIPP
Fire Chief Nick Perrone said. “This is a game changer for the WIPP Fire
Department and how we can and will handle any fire-type events.”
-Contributor: Roy Neese
SRS Performs Remote Testing on New Waste Characterization Equipment
Characterization equipment operators Tim Carlton, left, and Todd Shepley perform a virtual equipment test.
AIKEN, S.C. – In a first for the Solid Waste Management Facility (SWMF) at the Savannah River Site (SRS), employees completed equipment tests virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The
tests were designed to ensure proper installation and operation of two
pieces of equipment used to characterize transuranic (TRU) waste at the
facility. TRU waste consists of solid materials, such as clothing,
tools, rags, residue, debris, and other items contaminated with trace
amounts of plutonium. All TRU waste at SRS is characterized before it
can be shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for permanent disposal. This ensures the waste is allowed by WIPP.
“Due
to the COVID-19 travel restrictions in place at the time, acceptance
tests were performed using video calls for the first time ever,” Solid
Waste Programs Manager Kerri Crawford said. “An initial test was
performed to ensure the video call could accurately meet requirements
with both onsite and offsite personnel, and SRS subject-matter experts.
The initial test was successful, and we completed the required
acceptance testing while the travel restrictions were still in place.”
Following the successful testing, the equipment was calibrated. It will be certified for use in TRU waste characterization.
After TRU waste characterization efforts at SWMF are complete, the equipment will be used elsewhere at SRS.
“For
example, criticality control overpack storage and shipping containers
storing plutonium down-blend will be characterized, stored, and shipped
from the Site’s K Area Complex storage and production facility instead
of from SWMF,” Crawford said.
“Doing
site acceptance testing through video is an inventive and effective way
to ensure continued work during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sonitza
Blanco, director of the DOE-Savannah River Waste Disposition Programs
Division. “This is something we will evaluate for future use as a cost
savings.”
-Contributor: Lindsey MonBarren
2020 National Cleanup Workshop To Be Hosted Virtually
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EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 19 | July 28, 2020
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Demolition Underway on Final Building at ETTP in Oak Ridge | |
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EM
has named Brian Vance as permanent manager of the Richland Operations
Office and Office of River Protection at the Hanford Site.
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The
emergency preparedness team at the EM Hanford Waste Treatment and
Immobilization Plant held its first Hazardous Facility Emergency
Response Organization tabletop drill recently.
RICHLAND, Wash. – A team at the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant
(WTP) recently held a drill considered an important first step in
building an emergency preparedness program to ready the plant for
commissioning and eventual full operations.
“We
plan, train, and work hard for normal and successful operations,” said
Tim Haddick, EM supervisor of security and emergency services. “We also
work just as hard to be ready if something doesn’t go as planned so we
can protect workers and the public, and get back to normal operations as
quickly as possible. This adds an additional layer of safety to
operations.”
The
training is called the Facility Emergency Response Organization (FERO)
tabletop drill. Tabletop drills are a common DOE emergency preparedness
tool, in which a facilitator presents a scenario for FERO members, who
then discuss their roles and responsibilities during an unlikely
emergency. The drill also provided the members an opportunity to
incorporate lessons learned for continuous improvement in the emergency
preparedness program.
“The
team did an outstanding job to make the drill a success,” said Eric
Kinnunen, emergency preparedness manager for WTP subcontractor Waste
Treatment Completion Company. “We are using a crawl-walk-run philosophy,
and it was our first time ‘crawling.’ As we move through the process,
we will introduce new scenarios, and they will get increasingly
complex.”
The
drill was conducted using COVID-19 social-distancing controls and
attended by personnel from the WTP FERO, EM Office of River Protection,
Hanford support services contractor Mission Support Alliance, Hanford
Fire Department, and Hanford Patrol Operations Center.
-Contributor: George Rangel
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Paving Around Hanford’s WTP Reshapes Landscape | |
The 2020 National Cleanup Workshop
is being revamped to be a virtual workshop on Sept. 16, 2020. The
half-day event will feature remarks from Under Secretary for Science
Paul Dabbar and senior DOE officials, state and local government
officials, and industry leaders. They will discuss key issues facing the
DOE complex in the year ahead and celebrate important progress made
this year.
Last year we celebrated 30 years of EM’s cleanup program. This year’s agenda will focus on continuing success and overcoming adversity with moderated discussions about the path forward for EM’s strategic vision, contracting updates, and regulatory successes. A revised agenda is in development. For more information, please click here. |
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