EM Update | Vol. 12, Issue 6 | Feb. 11, 2020

• Hanford Crews Complete Demolition of PFP’s Main Processing Facility
• Oak Ridge Begins Takedown of Last Standing ETTP Lab Facility
• Crews to Move Fuel to Dry Storage in Compliance with Idaho Agreement
• West Valley’s 200-Foot Meteorological Tower Passes Inspection
• Interested in STEM News From DOE?

Hanford Crews Complete Demolition of PFP’s Main Processing Facility

Before and after: Photos of the Plutonium Finishing Plant’s main processing facility at the Hanford Site from November 2016, at top, and after the completion of demolition earlier this month.

RL contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) began the final phase of demolition in early November last year after completing lower-risk demolition activities in late October.

The PFP main processing facility was nicknamed “Z-Plant,” because it was the last stop of plutonium production at Hanford. It operated from 1949 to 1989 and contained two processing lines where workers using glove boxes would create hockey-puck-sized plutonium “buttons” for shipment to weapons-manufacturing facilities. Plutonium production left glove boxes and other pieces of plutonium processing equipment highly contaminated.

Decades of demolition preparations included decontaminating and removing about 200 pieces of plutonium processing equipment like glove boxes, contaminated process lines, asbestos, ventilation piping, and other hazards.

Following removal of the main processing facility, the final activities at PFP include packaging and safe disposal of the rubble from the Plutonium Reclamation Facility, core sampling of soil beneath the building pads, and stabilization of the site with a soil cover. This work — part of the overall Hanford cleanup effort that focuses on the safety of the workforce, the public, and environment — begins this month and is expected to be completed this summer.

The work will continue to be done under the same demolition strategy and same enhanced safety controls that have proven effective in protecting workers, the public, and the environment since lower-risk demolition work began in September 2018.

“This demolition project was one of the most challenging risk-reduction efforts in the DOE complex,” said Jason Casper, CHPRC vice president of the PFP closure project. “I could not be more proud of our dedicated workforce in safely completing this monumental task.”

This time-lapse video highlights demolition of the main processing facility from November 2016 through completion of the teardown earlier this month.

Weekly updates on PFP activities may be found here.

-Contributor: Dieter Bohrmann

Oak Ridge Begins Takedown of Last Standing ETTP Lab Facility

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Demolition is underway on the last laboratory facility remaining at Oak Ridge's East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), as EM moves toward completing all major teardowns at the former uranium enrichment complex by the end of this year.

EM and cleanup contractor UCOR are demolishing the K-1006 Building, which was constructed in 1962 to support operations at the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The structure is among the few unneeded buildings still standing at the site.

As part of a deactivation process, teams removed asbestos and other waste from the building. Asbestos abatement presented challenges due to densely packed asbestos piping, making it difficult to access, but crews finished the work successfully.

An EM crew gathers before performing deactivation work inside the K-1006 Building to prepare the facility for demolition.

A view of Oak Ridge's K-1006 Building before demolition. The building was constructed in 1962 to support operations at the site.

From 1998 to 2019, a portion of K-1006 was leased to Material and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc., a commercial applied research company providing consulting and analytical testing for industrial forensics, materials characterization, and environmental chemistry.

EM is transforming the former uranium enrichment complex into a multi-use industrial park, national park, and conservation area. The cleanup program has already transferred almost 1,300 acres at ETTP for economic development, with another 600 acres slated for transfer in the years ahead. EM has also set aside more than 100 acres for historic preservation and placed more than 3,000 acres in conservation for community recreational use.

-Contributor: Wayne McKinney

Crews to Move Fuel to Dry Storage in Compliance with Idaho Agreement

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – EM workers are set to soon begin transferring spent nuclear fuel from an underwater basin to a dry storage area at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site.

The project is necessary for DOE to meet a milestone with the state of Idaho to have all spent nuclear fuel transferred from wet to dry storage by 2023. Workers are safely transferring the fuel from wet to dry storage and preparing for its final disposition at an off-site repository. 

Spent nuclear fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) reactor is currently stored in the Chemical Processing Plant-666 (CPP) basin at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. The fuel will be retrieved from there, transferred to a shipping cask, loaded onto a tractor trailer, and transported across the INL Site to the Radioactive Scrap and Waste Facility (RSWF). The cask will then be unloaded from the trailer, placed over below-ground steel fuel storage liners, and lowered into place.

EBR-II operated at the former Argonne National Laboratory-West, now the Materials and Fuels Complex, from 1964 until 1994. It generated power for the INL and supported reactor research. Spent nuclear fuel from EBR-II was transferred to the CPP-666 basin from 1986 to 1999.

To prepare to move the fuel, engineers designed a mock-up of the spent fuel liner at RSWF to practice unloading the fuel. This mock-up allowed crews to practice using a mobile crane and forklift as well as positioning, adjusting, and operating equipment to simulate the setup at RSWF. Crews conducted test runs and project personnel even held an emergency drill to simulate a non-normal event related to the fuel moves.

“The mock-up and dry runs are absolutely beneficial for crews to practice fuel moves and get familiar with the type of equipment they will be using for the actual moves,” said Mark Stubblefield, spent nuclear fuel manager with Fluor Idaho, EM’s INL Site cleanup contractor.

Earlier this year, the last of the U.S. Navy’s spent nuclear fuel was transferred from the CPP-666 basin to the nearby Naval Reactors Facility for dry storage. The basin is nearly 94-percent empty, with only two fuel types remaining: EBR-II and Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Workers are making progress transferring the ATR fuel to CPP-603, a dry-storage facility.

-Contributor: Erik Simpson

West Valley’s 200-Foot Meteorological Tower Passes Inspection

A meteorological tower at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Site recently underwent an annual inspection by the company Mid-State Communications.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – A 200-foot meteorological tower critical to cleanup planning at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Site recently passed an annual inspection.

“The annual inspection results are good news for the site and our use of the meteorological tower information for site work,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “This information helps provide historical data for long-term planning, weather impacts, and responses to any unplanned conditions.”

An inspector climbs a 200-foot meteorological tower at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project Site.

Demolition work is dependent on the weather, which can produce high winds, rain, snow, and ice at this upstate site, especially in winter, according to Janice Williams, vice president of regulatory strategy for WVDP cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley (CHBWV).

“The meteorological tower is an important tool for the project and provides key risk management information that can be used for project success,” Williams said. “Being prepared is a key factor in the success of any project.”

Inspectors from the company Mid-State Communications examined the tower, including wires and concrete blocks that keep it upright and in place. The wires were re-tensioned as needed. The inspectors also climbed the tower to check the structure’s steel and replace lights.

-Contributor: Joseph Pillittere

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