Oak Ridge Today

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…]

UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, built to enrich uranium during World War II and also used during the Cold War.

It’s been two years since UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, started working in the Secret City.

UCOR president Leo Sain celebrated with an Aug. 1 letter to employees that thanked them but also issued a reminder and challenge. Read the letter here.

Sain said he is very proud of the workforce—he called the company’s performance spectacular—and said work has been done safely, under budget, and ahead of schedule.

“At the end of two years, we’re one of the safest sites in the U.S. Department of Energy complex,” Sain said. “The credit for that goes entirely to you, the workforce, for staying focused on your work through all the distractions and changing hazards that come with the tasks we perform.” [Read more…]

Letter: UCOR celebrates two years in Oak Ridge

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Leo Sain at K-25

Leo Sain, president and project manager for cleanup contractor UCOR, near the east wing of the mostly demolished K-25 Building, which was built to enrich uranium during World War II.

Note: This is an edited copy of a letter that UCOR President Leo Sain sent to company employees on Aug. 1.

To All UCOR Employees:

As we begin our third year on the job here at East Tennessee Technology Park, I want to thank everyone for an outstanding two years.

I am so very proud of this workforce. Our performance has been truly spectacular in every way. K-25, one of our nation’s largest deactivation and decommissioning projects, is nearly on the ground, and we’ve begun pre-demolition work in K-27 significantly ahead of schedule. We’ve disposed of over 120,000 cubic yards of waste while safely traveling over 1.5 million miles. [Read more…]

One-of-a-kind waste incinerator in ‘safe shutdown’ at ETTP

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Filling the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator

Workers fill the sumps at the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator with grout, as part of the work to close it. (Submitted photo)

A one-of-a-kind waste incinerator, which began operations at the East Tennessee Technology Park more than 20 years ago, has been safely shut down.

When the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, or TSCAI, began operations in 1990, the intent was to run it for five years to prove the technology worked. It was the only incinerator in the nation permitted to burn certain hazardous and radioactive wastes.

Operations ceased in December 2009, after a safe and successful run that saw the facility burn 35 million pounds of liquids and solids from DOE sites across the United States—even some from Hawaii.

[Read more…]