The year 2004 was filled with significant achievements for the Decommissioning Project. Here, in this photo archive, is a look at these accomplishments.
The most significant achievement in 2004 was the progress NASA made in removing internal components from inside the reactor vessel and then cutting up – or segmenting – the reactor tank itself. Segmentation work began in August 2003.
To view larger images click on the thumbnail images.
Below is a series of five photos related to the segmentation activity. |
This photo, taken before segmentation began, shows the reactor core box (at the center of the photo) inside the reactor tank. The core box, which appears here as a series of small squares and circles, held the reactor's nuclear fuel until it was safely removed in 1973. |
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During segmentation, workers used long-handled tools, which enabled them to remotely remove reactor internal components. In this photo, two segmentation workers – wearing helmets and yellow protective suits – are standing over the top of the reactor tank and looking into a video monitor (showing pictures from a remote camera) to look at the work they are performing. |
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NASA achieved a significant segmentation milestone in February 2004 with the removal of the core box. This remote camera view is looking inside the round reactor tank and shows that nearly all of the internal components have been removed as well. |
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A segmentation worker, wearing a yellow protective suit and red helmet, stands inside an empty reactor tank in this July 2004 photo. All of the reactor internals have been the removed the worker is preparing to make the first cut on the reactor tank walls. |
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When the reactor internals were removed, workers placed them in steel storage liners until the components were ready for shipping to the licensed disposal facility in Barnwell , SC. NASA made a total of six, safe shipments to Barnwell, the last taking place in June 2004. In this photo a green liner containing reactor internals is being lowered by crane into a while shipping cask, mounted on a flatbed truck. |
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During 2004, NASA removed, packaged and shipped four million pounds of low-level radioactive waste, mostly in the form of fixed equipment from Reactor Facility buildings. Fixed equipment included pipes, wires, doors, stairs, railings and racks. The material was packaged in a variety of what are termed strong tight containers, for shipment to the Envirocare licensed disposal facility in Utah .
Below is a series of four photos related to the fixed equipment removal, packaging and shipment. |
This photo shows a variety of fixed equipment that had to removed from the minus 25 foot level of the Reactor Building . It includes the dark wiring and white piping at the top of the photo. |
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In this photo fixed equipment is being lowered by an overhead crane (whose red cables appear in the center of this photo) into a B-25 box at the bottom of the photo. Two workers, wearing yellow protective clothing and white helmets, are helping to lower the equipment into the container. |
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Workers in this photo stand inside a large gray box known as an Intermodal container, designed to ride atop both trucks and trains until it reaches the Envirocare licensed disposal facility. They are unloading a yellow box (containing fixed equipment) that is attached to a front-end loader vehicle. |
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A flatbed truck carrying an Intermodal container (the gray box mounted to the truck) leaves NASA Plum Brook Station on the way to Envirocare. |
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In 2004 NASA continued to demolish buildings and structures that did not contain basements. These included the Compressor and Gas Services Buildings and the Waste Effluent Monitoring System. NASA surveyed all materials from these buildings to determine if they were clean (free of radiation) and was able to recycle 500,000 pounds of free-released materials, mostly metals from Reactor Facility buildings
Below are two photos related to the before and after demolishion of the Compressor Bldg. |
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After |
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| The first photo to the right (Before) shows the Compressor Building, which was demolished in 2004. The one-story building had formerly been used to hold a helium compressor, stored bottles and control systems for helium used in reactor experiments. The next photo to the right (After) shows the building being demolished by a yellow construction vehicle with hydraulic shears attached. |  |
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