• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Centrus Energy has $15 million project to prepare K-1600 for demolition

Posted at 6:42 pm October 3, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The "footprint," the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the "footprint." The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The K-25 “footprint,” the area where the K-25 Building used to be in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. The white K-1600 Building is pictured in the middle of the “footprint.” The brick building in the foreground is Oak Ridge Fire Station No. 4, and it includes the K-25 History Center. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

Centrus Energy Corporation has a $15 million project to prepare K-1600, a building in the middle of the historic K-25 “footprint,” for demolition.

On Tuesday, Centrus announced that it had received a work authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy for decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) work at the building. The work will include removing and disposing of equipment and materials to make K-1600 non-radiologically contaminated and non-possessing (i.e. unclassified), a press release said. The work will occur between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019.

After the work is completed, DOE will be able to turn over K-1600 to a contractor to demolish it, the press release said. It’s one of the last remaining “legacy structures” on the 2,200-acre site of the World War II-era K-25 uranium enrichment plant, now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park, the press release said.

Many other buildings have been demolished there, including the five large gaseous diffusion buildings once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. ETTP is now being converted into a large industrial park in west Oak Ridge.

“Decontaminating and decommissioning K-1600 is part of a larger effort by DOE to clean up the site so that it can be re-used for commercial and industrial purposes by the local community,” the press release said. “Centrus recently completed similar work at its 120-machine demonstration cascade in Piketon, Ohio, finishing on schedule and under budget.”

Advertisement

In the press release, Centrus said it has leased K-1600 from DOE since 2002. It has used the facility to test and demonstrate the world’s most advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges, the company said.

Formerly known as USEC, the company has had other operations—centrifuge manufacturing, engineering, and design—at a separate Oak Ridge building, the Technology and Manufacturing Center off Centrifuge Way near South Illinois Avenue. Centrus said it obtained a license from the State of Tennessee earlier this year to allow for future testing activities at TMC. That means the company can consolidate its future centrifuge development efforts at a single, Centrus-owned facility, and it eliminates the need to keep using K-1600, the press release said.

“As we consolidate our centrifuge work into our own facility, this work authorization for K-1600 allows us to help the Department meet its timetable for returning the East Tennessee Technology Park site to the community for re-use and economic development,” said Daniel B. Poneman, Centrus president and chief executive officer. “The new D&D work builds on our recent successful effort to D&D our Ohio facility, advancing our strategic objective to continue to leverage our unique technical capabilities to diversify our business.”

In a phone interview Tuesday, Centrus spokesperson Jeremy Derryberry said the company intends to re-install the K-1600 equipment at the Technology and Manufacturing Center, but a date hasn’t been finalized.

K-1600 had several test stands, which are large steel structures that can accommodate American Centrifuge machines that are more than 40 feet tall. Workers can monitor the machines during operations, Derryberry said. The TMC off Centrifuge Way has steel structures in place for those stands, Derryberry said.

The testing in Oak Ridge has involved improvements to the AC100, a U.S. gas centrifuge uranium enrichment technology that Centrus operated in a demonstration cascade in Piketon, Ohio. The gas centrifuge technology is much less energy-intensive than gaseous diffusion, and it uses about 1/20th the electricity, Derryberry said. The technology is also modular, meaning it can be “built out” as needed and capacity can be added, Derryberry said.

A test stand that can accommodate an American Centrifuge machine that is more than 40 feet tall is pictured above at K-1600 at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy Centrus Energy Corporation)

A test stand that can accommodate an American Centrifuge machine that is more than 40 feet tall is pictured above inside K-1600 at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) in west Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy Centrus Energy Corporation)

 

The gas centrifuges include a steel casing and a carbon fiber rotor spinning at high speed. Uranium hexafluoride gas is pumped through the centrifuge as the rotor spins. The lighter uranium-235, which is fissionable and can be used in nuclear reactions, separates from the heavier uranium-238 and is more concentrated in the center of the centrifuge. One stream of gas is pumped in, and two are pulled out.

The uranium is more enriched each time through a machine and progressively enriched through what is known as a cascade. There were 120 machines at Piketon. That would be a building block for a plant; a commercial plant could have 12,000 centrifuges, Derryberry said.

The AC100 demonstration was considered successful when it was shut down in Ohio in 2016 after meeting performance requirements, Derryberry said. Since then, Centrus has taken time to continue to improve the technology, wanting to reduce costs and increase reliability, he said.

But right now, the commercial market won’t support a new enrichment plant, Derryberry said. After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 led to three nuclear reactors melting down at a plant in Fukushima, Japan shut down its entire fleet—more than 10 percent of reactors at the time—and that has reduced demand, Derryberry said. The prices for enriched uranium have come down substantially since then, he said.

Advertisement

But DOE still wants to develop a domestic source of enriched uranium, and Centrus is working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a DOE lab, on that project. That’s important because enriched uranium can be used to help produce tritium for use in nuclear weapons and to power naval nuclear reactors.

“Centrus continues to discuss with DOE the additional development, testing, and demonstration work on U.S. uranium enrichment technology for future use by the U.S. government for national security purposes,” the press release said.

Centrus, which supplies nuclear fuel and services to the nuclear power industry, currently has two primary enriched uranium supply contracts. One is with Tenex in Russia, and the other is with Orano in France. There is also leftover inventory from a gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, Kentucky, that was shut down in 2013 because of cost, Derryberry said. It was the last U.S. plant operating, after gaseous diffusion operations shut down decades ago at the K-25 site in Oak Ridge and at Piketon in 2001.

Besides its supply contracts and leftover inventory, Centrus also gets enriched uranium by purchasing inventories that become available on the market, such as when a nuclear reactor shuts down, Derryberry said.

He said the D&D work at K-1600 won’t affect Centrus employment or programs. The company is doing other work as well, Derryberry said, using skills that it already has, including advanced manufacturing technology and engineering and design.

Derryberry cited, as an example, a memorandum of understanding between Centrus Energy and X Energy LLC that was announced in September 2017. It is a potential collaboration to possibly produce fuel for advanced nuclear reactors. The two companies are expected to put together a business plan for the fuel fabrication business and work toward the development of a fuel fabrication facility that could possibly be in Oak Ridge.

K-25 and other Oak Ridge sites, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, were built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons. The K-25 “footprint,” the slab area where the building used to be, is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park includes Oak Ridge; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. There are efforts to preserve the history of K-25, including with a history center, equipment building, and viewing tower.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center

The American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in south Oak Ridge is pictured above. (File photo courtesy Centrus Energy Corp.)

 

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2018 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: AC100, centrifuges, Centrus, Centrus Energy, Centrus Energy Corporation, D&D, Daniel B. Poneman, decontamination and decommissioning, demonstration cascade, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, gas centrifuge, gaseous diffusion, Jeremy Derryberry, K-1600, K-25, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Technology and Manufacturing Center, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, USEC, X Energy LLC

Advertisements

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Business News

Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline

Natural gas rates will increase for Oak Ridge Utility District customers because of weather-related price increases and higher transportation costs. Rates are expected to decrease when weather-related spikes … [Read More...]

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John … [Read More...]

Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62) The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this … [Read More...]

TVA Clinch River Site

For members: TVA could test new nuclear reactors in Oak Ridge

The Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge is pictured above. The road running from bottom to top on the right (east) side of the Clinch River connects to Bear Creek Road in southwest Oak Ridge. Highway 58 is off to the top … [Read More...]

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020

Council to consider zoning district that could allow motorsports park

Part of the site where a motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

More Business

More U.S. Department of Energy News

Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission

https://www.youtube.com/embed/mV1sYjE-zMU Video published on YouTube by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Three scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss their work this afternoon on technologies for the … [Read More...]

Bienvenue named first executive director of Oak Ridge Institute

Joan Bienvenue Joan Bienvenue has been selected as the first executive director of the Oak Ridge Institute at the University of Tennessee. "The institute was established last year to align the expertise and … [Read More...]

ORISE report shows overall number of nuclear engineering degrees increases to highest level since 2016

Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The number of nuclear engineering degrees awarded in 2019 were at the highest level since … [Read More...]

ORAU receives National Science Foundation grant to study greenhouse gases in Arctic

Praveena Krishnan The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs has awarded ORAU a collaborative research grant to study greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic. The award is valued at $581,829. The grant … [Read More...]

NNSA has virtual job fair, including for Y-12

The sign at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security … [Read More...]

More DOE

Recent Posts

  • REAC/TS receives U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award
  • TVA conducting maintenance at Bull Run
  • Basketball: Girls, boys play for district championships
  • Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline
  • Lady Wildcats play in district semifinal game Friday night
  • Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park
  • City has second public meeting on new entrance sign
  • Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project
  • Hear from ORNL scientists who worked on Perseverance mission
  • Bienvenue named first executive director of Oak Ridge Institute

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today