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…]