Oak Ridge Today

Crews prepare Y-12 building for demolition by removing asbestos, water

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Built in 1944, Beta-1 is a former Manhattan Project era enrichment facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management expects to demolish the 210,000-square-foot facility in 2026. (Photo courtesy Y-12/UCOR)

Workers have finished major pre-demolition work on a wartime building at Y-12 National Security Complex.

The deactivation work at the Beta-1 building included removing asbestos; old, brittle thorium-contaminated piping; and more than two million gallons of water.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and its contractor UCOR have been working toward the deactivation milestone since 2020, a press release said. Workers finished deactivating the above-ground floors of the Beta-1 facility in December. Now, only deactivation work in the basement remains before the teardown can begin. Demolition of Beta-1 is expected to begin in 2026.

Beta-1 was built in 1944 to enrich uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That federal project built the world’s first atomic bombs. Beta-1, a 210,000-square-foot, two-story building, was later converted to laboratory space for fusion-energy technology.

[Read more…]

Preparing for demolition, workers removing asbestos, hazardous waste from Biology Complex

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Workers are preparing the six-story 9207 Facility for demolition at the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. The building has more than 256,600 square feet. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Workers are making significant progress removing asbestos and other hazardous waste from the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex in a deactivation project that’s more than 60 percent complete, the U.S. Department of Energy said this week.

The work prepares the Biology Complex for demolition, possibly next year. The Biology Complex was originally built to recover uranium from process streams. It was later used for DOE’s research on the genetic effects of radiation from the late 1940s. When they operated, the facilities once had more people with doctorates than anywhere in the world, according to DOE.

Asbestos abatement teams from UCOR are working inside the six-story 9207 Facility and the three-story 9210 Facility. The first building is 256,600 square feet, and the second is 64,700 square feet.

“This project paves the way for EM (Environmental Management) to begin demolishing remaining buildings that comprise the Biology Complex next year,” the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management said in an “EM Update” newsletter on Tuesday.

[Read more…]

With asbestos removed, DOE starts month-long move back into Federal Building

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Federal Building

The asbestos-containing insulation has been removed, and U.S. Department of Energy employees and contractors started a month-long move back into the Joe L. Evins Federal Building this week.

The asbestos-containing insulation has been removed, and U.S. Department of Energy employees and contractors started a month-long move back into the Joe L. Evins Federal Building this week, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The move back into the five-story building should be complete by the end of September, said Ben Williams, public affairs specialist for the DOE Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

Asbestos removal in final stage at Federal Building

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Joe L Evins Federal Fuilding

A four-month project to remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge is wrapping up, and federal employees and contractors could move back in next month.

Work crews are wrapping up a four-month project to clean up and remove asbestos-containing insulation from the Joe L. Evins Federal Building in Oak Ridge, and displaced federal workers and contractors could move back into the building next month, a spokeswoman said Friday.

“We have reached the final stage of the project and expect to have the building available to tenants in May,” said Saudia Muwwakkil, regional public affairs officer for the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns the building.

There have been about 350 workers in the five-story building, which is home to the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office as well as a district office for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. The workers include roughly 200 federal employees and close to 150 contractors. [Read more…]

Government wants to lease space for displaced Federal Building workers

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Oak Ridge Federal Building

The General Services Administration, which owns the Federal Building in Oak Ridge, wants to lease commercial space for 150 to 175 employees displaced after the Federal Building shut down in June.

About 150 to 175 employees could move into commercial office space while the U.S. General Services Administration removes asbestos-containing insulation from the Federal Building in Oak Ridge.

The GSA posted a notice last week on FedBizOpps.gov that it wants to lease about 30,000 square feet of temporary space in Oak Ridge, potentially for up to six months, with a second six-month term possible. Leasing proposals were due by Tuesday.

Officials said they are moving quickly to find space for employees displaced after a mid-June inspection found asbestos-containing insulation had fallen into heating and cooling ducts at the Federal Building.

[Read more…]

Federal employees not exposed to asbestos, air samples say

Posted at
By 3 Comments

Oak Ridge Federal Building

The Federal Building in Oak Ridge has been shut down after insulation with asbestos fell into heating and cooling ducts.

Air samples from the Federal Building in Oak Ridge suggest that no employees were exposed to asbestos from loose insulation that has fallen into heating and cooling ducts, a federal official said Thursday.

“We are pleased with the results,” said Johnathan Sitzlar, supervisory property manager for the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns the building.

[Read more…]

Federal Building in Oak Ridge closed due to asbestos problem

Posted at
By 1 Comment

The Federal Building in Oak Ridge has been closed after an inspection found asbestos-containing insulation that had “dislodged into parts of the heating and cooling units,” according to a notice posted on Facebook by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office.

“As a precautionary measure, the Federal Building is closed until we have additional information,” the notice said. “We are working closely with GSA, which owns the building, to determine the appropriate path forward.”

[Read more…]