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Workers removing asbestos, reducing risks at former ORNL research reactor

Posted at 2:14 pm October 24, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Ben Williams, Building 7500, demolition, DOE, EM Update, Excess Contaminated Facilities Initiative, excess facilities, Homogenous Reactor Experiment, Jay Mullis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Environmental Management, ORNL, research reactor, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, Y-12 National Security Complex

DOE labs, including ORNL, recognized as international R&D hub by IAEA

Posted at 7:48 pm September 18, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/ORNL)

The High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/ORNL)

 

Federal laboratories in Oak Ridge and Idaho, along with a nuclear research center in Belgium, will make their research reactors, labs, and education and training facilities available to scientists from other countries for training, research, and development, officials announced at the IAEA General Conference in Austria on Monday.

The IAEA is the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The facilities that will make their reactors available are the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, and the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK*CEN, the IAEA said.

The institutions received designations as IAEA International Centres based on Research Reactor, or ICERR, the IAEA said.

The reactors include the High Flux Isotope Reactor at ORNL, the Advance Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, and the Belgian Reactor 2. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Advance Test Reactor, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK*CEN, Belgian Reactor 2, DOE, Eric van Walle, HFIR, High Flux Isotope Reactor, IAEA, IAEA ICERR, IAEA International Centres based on Research Reactor, ICERR, Idaho National Laboratory, INL, International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear facilities, nuclear research and development, nuclear research center, nuclear research facilities, nuclear science and technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, research reactor, Rick Perry, Thomas Zacharia, Transient Reactor Experiment and Test reactor, TREAT, U.S. Department of Energy, Yukiya Amano

UCOR repairs water leak at Oak Ridge Research Reactor at ORNL

Posted at 12:24 pm December 18, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak-Ridge-Research-Reactor-Pool-Valve-Workers-December-2015

Workers turn off the valves after draining of the pool was completed at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at ORNL. (Photo by UCOR)

 

Workers have repaired a water leak at the Oak Ridge Research Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, officials said this week.

The completion of the work was announced by UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor and partnership between URS and CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

The seep was detected in the reactor’s pool in September 2014. While it did not pose any immediate dangers to workers or the environment, it prompted quick action by the U.S. Department of Energy, which oversees ORNL. DOE asked UCOR, its prime cleanup contractor, to develop and implement a solution to remedy the seep, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: AREVA, CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, cleanup contractor, irradiation facility, isotope production, Ken Rueter, Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Research Reactor, ORNL, radioactive material, research reactor, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS, Waste Control Specialists Facility, water leak

Y-12 fulfills major milestone in fuel conversion commitment for Jamaican research reactor

Posted at 7:07 pm June 4, 2014
By Y-12 National Security Complex Leave a Comment

Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)

The Y-12 National Security Complex recently fulfilled its commitment to provide low-enriched uranium, or LEU, as feedstock to fuel the “Safe LOW-POwer Kritical Experiment” (SLOWPOKE) research reactor in Kingston, Jamaica.

“Our role is to produce the uranium dioxide feedstock and to manage fabrication of LEU fuel pins for the reactor core to enable conversion from highly enriched uranium, or HEU, to LEU,” said John Creasy of Y‑12’s Nuclear Nonproliferation and Global Security Programs.

The new pins, made of low enriched uranium dioxide powder, will replace those made with weapons-useable HEU, thus making the reactor fuel less desirable to terrorists. Y-12 has a long history of supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear nonproliferation activities throughout the world. This project is just one of several HEU-to-LEU conversion efforts in which Y-12 has participated in support of the Department’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative, or GTRI.

The last shipment of uranium dioxide feedstock was shipped last month to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, where it will be fabricated into fuel pins. AECL was selected because it designed the original SLOWPOKE reactor. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: AECL, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Cameco Zircatech, fuel fabrication, fuel rods, Global Threat Reduction Initiative, GTRI, HEU, HEU-to-LEU, highly enriched uranium, Jamaican research reactor, John Creasy, low enriched uranium, low enriched uranium dioxide powder, nuclear nonproliferation, Nuclear Nonproliferation and Global Security Programs, reactor fuel, research reactor, Safe LOW-POwer Kritical Experiment, SLOWPOKE, terrorists, Terryann Nelson, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium dioxide feedstock, Y-12 National Security Complex

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Classifieds

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Final environmental assessment available for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

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