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Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion

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Depleted uranium hexafluoride storage cylinders at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth, Ohio, Conversion Facility. (Photo from U.S. Government Accountability Office report)

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.

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Depleted uranium hexafluoride storage cylinders at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Portsmouth, Ohio, Conversion Facility. (Photo from U.S. Government Accountability Office report)

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates it could cost at least $7.2 billion to convert and dispose of tens of thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride, a dangerous, corrosive waste byproduct of the uranium enrichment process. Some of the waste came from the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge and is now stored in Ohio, but a portion of the converted depleted uranium could eventually be returned to Oak Ridge for use in nuclear weapons.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

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

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

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

Crews prepare former ORNL reactors for demolition

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An aerial view of the central campus area at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management will be transforming in the months ahead. Demolition is scheduled to begin on Building 3010 (front right) this fall followed by Building 3005 (back right) later this year. Crews are also conducting cleanup projects in Building 3042 (left). (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy and cleanup contractor UCOR are preparing to demolish research reactor facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Crews are nearing the final stages of deactivation inside two former research reactor facilities: the Bulk Shielding Reactor, known as Building 3010, and the Low Intensity Test Reactor, known as Building 3005, according to a newsletter published by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. They are also beginning efforts at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, known as Building 3042.

The work is overseen by DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM.

These structures are located in the heart of ORNL, and their demolition will eliminate risks, clear land for research missions, and enhance access to a component of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, the department said.

[Read more…]

Workers devise strategies to clean up high-risk contaminated lab at ORNL

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Workers lower detection equipment through an opening in the roof of the East Cell Bank at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to capture readings inside the facility. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management/UCOR)

Innovation has been required as federal cleanup crews work to deactivate and demolish the final portion of the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The structure is known as the East Cell Bank, and it is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s list of high-risk excess contaminated facilities, said a press release from DOE Office of Environmental Management. The East Cell Bank is located in the heart of ORNL, near ongoing research missions.

Workers with cleanup contractor UCOR characterized the final cell to identify potential radiological and hazardous contamination, the press release said. They conducted the work in stages under a six-story protective structure erected to ensure nearby facilities and ongoing research missions at ORNL aren’t impacted by the cleanup.

The crews began by taking surveys and readings from an opening at the front of the structure, the release said. They used long-reach tools and a specialized radiation detector. The detector overlays a radiation-intensity color map on a picture of the environment and identifies gamma-ray emitting nuclides and their locations.

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Mercury cleanup: COLEX equipment deactivated at Y-12

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Oak Ridge workers remove mercury and mercury-contaminated solids from process pipes in the column exchange, or COLEX, equipment at the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Submitted photo)

Crews are nearly finished deactivating the second of three collections of old, mercury-contaminated equipment around the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The project addresses potential environmental risks and moves the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management a step closer to preparing one of Y-12’s largest high-risk contaminated facilities for demolition, the press release said.

The column exchange, or COLEX, structures are connected to the four-story 500,000-square-foot Alpha-4 building, which was used for uranium separation from 1944 to 1945. Workers finished installing the COLEX equipment in 1955 for lithium separation, a process that required large amounts of mercury. A significant amount of the mercury was lost into the equipment, buildings, and surrounding soils, and its cleanup is one of EM’s top priorities.

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Demolition started on centrifuge site, largest remaining complex at ETTP

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Workers have begun taking down the second of four sections of the Centrifuge Complex at East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. Completing this project will move the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management closer to its goal of finishing all major demolitions at ETTP by the end 2020. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Cleanup crews have started tearing down the largest remaining collection of buildings at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and power plants through the Cold War.

The demolition work is occurring at the Centrifuge Complex at the K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. The Centrifuge Complex is on the south side of ETTP. It includes the tall, white buildings visible from Highway 58.

Oak Ridge crews began demolishing the K-1200 section of the Centrifuge Complex in February. It’s the second of four sections.

Deactivation and demolition work in the first section of the complex was recently completed. That portion was a Manhattan Project facility built for research and development in 1944.

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

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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.

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Crews start demolishing ETTP Centrifuge Complex

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ETTP Centrifuge Complex Aerial View
Demolition work has started on the Centrifuge Complex at the front side of the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge. The work is part of the project to finish cleanup at ETTP by the end of 2020. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

The largest and most visible buildings remaining at the East Tennessee Technology Park are being removed.

Demolition is under way on the Centrifuge Complex, according to the “EM Update” newsletter published last week by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

The demolition work is part of the project to finish cleanup at ETTP, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, by the end of 2020. One of the three main sites in Oak Ridge, K-25 was built as part of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret federal program to build atomic weapons during World War II. The site continued to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants through the Cold War. Its operations ended in the mid-1980s, and the site is now being converted into a private industrial park.

The Centrifuge Complex has more than 235,000 square feet, and sections of it reach heights of 180 feet. It was built in stages to develop and test centrifuge uranium enrichment technology, the “EM Update” said. The last of these facilities ceased operation in the mid-1980s.

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Safety training helps Oak Ridge employee save life

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Eric Glenn
Eric Glenn, a radiological control technician at Isotek, used his training to help save a life on his lunch break. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Information and photo from U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management

The U.S. Department of Energy said its Office of Environmental Management and its contractors know the importance of training to ensure safety.

Recently, that training helped save a life in an unlikely place, DOE said in a story published Tuesday.

While eating lunch at a local restaurant, Eric Glenn, a radiological control technician at Isotek, noticed a man choking on his sandwich.

“I just heard a man coughing and he did the choking sign, so I ran over and gave him the Heimlich maneuver six or seven times,” Glenn said.

[Read more…]

Crews start work for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

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Workers remove asphalt on the east end of the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the Mercury Treatment Facility treatment plant will be built. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Work began in June to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will allow the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up and demolish several large Y-12 buildings that used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. The facility is expected to help reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, which flows through Oak Ridge.

DOE announced in December that it had awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility. The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC.

A groundbreaking was held at the site in November 2017, and site preparations were completed by December 2018.

[Read more…]

Vacuum helps crews remove contaminated sludge, debris at ORNL

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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management now has a powerful, trailer-mounted vacuum for cleaning and maintaining the important liquid and gaseous waste operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

 

Federal site cleanup workers reported in August that they had begun removing contaminated sludge and debris from tanks, sumps, and valve boxes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s liquid and gaseous waste operations using a powerful, new trailer-mounted vacuum.

The equipment has already enhanced safety and operational efficiency, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

“Without the vacuum, personnel would be required to fully dress in personal protective equipment and remove the sludge and debris with shovels and buckets,” DOE said. “In addition to being closer to contaminated materials in confined spaces, workers would face an increased chance of slips and falls while climbing in and out of slippery areas in the protective suits.”

Using the vacuum technology has eliminated the risk of heat stress for employees, who would otherwise perform manual labor in protective suits during the hot Tennessee summer, DOE said. [Read more…]

Workers demolish contaminated building at ETTP

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Crews began tearing down Building K-633 at the East Tennessee Technology Park in May 2018 and completed the project in June. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

Crews began tearing down Building K-633 at the East Tennessee Technology Park in May 2018 and completed the project in June. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

 

One of the most contaminated buildings left at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, has been demolished, federal officials said.

Demolition crews began tearing down Building K-633, which was once used to evaluate uranium enrichment equipment, in May and completed the project in June, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

The work was done by the Oak Ridge environmental management, or EM, program and its cleanup contractor URS|CH2M Oak Ridge, or UCOR.

“This project eliminates one of the most contaminated remaining buildings at the East Tennessee Technology Park,” DOE said.

Building K-633—the K-633 Test Loop Facility—is the fourth building Oak Ridge’s EM program has removed from ETTP’s Poplar Creek area since last year, DOE said. [Read more…]

Workers removing asbestos, reducing risks at former ORNL research reactor

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A worker removes asbestos from Building 7500, a former research reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE Office of Environmental Management)

A worker removes asbestos from Building 7500, a former research reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy DOE Office of Environmental Management)

 

Note: This is an edited version of a story that was first published by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management in an EM Update on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

Workers recently passed the halfway mark removing asbestos from a former research reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of an effort to remove risks and prepare excess facilities in Oak Ridge for eventual demolition.

The asbestos abatement could continue until early 2018 inside Building 7500, also known as the Homogenous Reactor Experiment facility at ORNL, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Crews are pulling out ceiling and floor tile, pipe and vessel insulation, and wall board.

The project further reduces risks after OREM and cleanup contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, or UCOR, cleared all combustible materials and deactivated the heat detection system inside the building earlier this year.

Deactivating the system eliminated the need for personnel to enter the building for periodic inspections, and it allowed for removal of all hazardous energy sources as required before asbestos abatement. [Read more…]

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