NASA Glenn Research Center, Plum Brook Reactor Facility Decommissioning Photo Archive 2005

Plum Brook Reactor Facility Decommissioning
Plum Brook Station Sandusky, Ohio

Photo Archive, 2005

Segmentation

NASA accomplished the Decommissioning Project's signature achievement to date in February 2005, with the completion of all reactor segmentation activity. During the 18 months of segmentation work, NASA removed all the internal components of the reactor tank, including the core box, then cut the tank into pieces, packaging and sending the pieces to the Envirocare licensed disposal facility in Utah .

To view larger images click on the thumbnail images.

Below is a series of four photos related to the segmentation activity.
In the first phototo the right is from November 2004. In it, NASA has removed two-thirds of the reactor tank. The photo shows a worker on a ladder (bottom right of photo) near the floor of the tank.
In the second photo to the right, from last winter, a viewer can see an asbestos removal worker stands near a special cutting machine (at the right of the photo). In the last stages of segmentation, workers alternated between making cuts from the tank and removing asbestos in the tank's vicinity.
In the photo to the right, the viewer can see a segmentation worker in the lower right corner using a high-powered, plasma-arc torch, reducing the size of steel pieces from the reactor tank walls for easier packaging. The cutting took place in a work station located in one of the former canals in the Reactor Facility.
In the photo to the right, the viewer can see cut pieces of the reactor tank walls sitting on the floor of the Reactor Facility canal.. They awaited packaging and then shipment to Envirocare.

Fixed Equipment Removal

NASA reached another project milestone with the removal of virtually all fixed equipment from Reactor Facility buildings and structures. In 2005 NASA removed, packaged and shipped more than four million pounds of fixed equipment (and more than eight million for the project), including wires, electrical panels, lights, pipes, pumps, valves, stairs, racks, doors and railings. Work was done in the Containment Vessel and both the Hot and Cold Retention Areas, which contained tanks used for holding water contaminated from reactor activities when the facility was operational.

Below is a series of five photos related to the containment vessel annulus.
The two photosto the right are "before" and "after" photos. The left-most photo shows fixed equipment removal in the Containment Vessel annulus, including piping, racks and a railing, all adjacent to the building wall. The right-most photo shows the bare wall, once all equipment was removed.

The photo to the right shows the start of fixed equipment removal in the Hot Retention Area. In this photo, a variety of fixed equipment sat atop the Hot Retention Area, a structure that was 90% underground. Fixed equipment that was removed included heavy racks and piping at the upper left and lower right of the photo.

Fixed equipment removal in Hot Retention Area.

In the photo to the right a hose is sued to pump water out of the Cold Retention Area ( CRA ). Before NASA could remove fixed equipment from this area, workers had to pump out clean groundwater that had accumulated in the CRA 's two basins. The CRA is under the square cover in the center of the photo.

In the photo to the right, once water had been pumped out of the basins in the CRArea, workers removed equipment from the floor, including a ladder in the right of the photo.

Workers remove equipment from the floor.

Soil Excavation and Removal

During the spring and summer, NASA excavated, packaged and shipped 10 million pounds of soil that had been lightly contaminated during reactor operations. NASA removed the soil and placed it in special fabric bags that had a capacity of 15,000 pounds each. In order to ensure safety, NASA used a capacity of just 5,000 pounds each. All of the bags were numbered and weighed, then placed in containers known as “Super Sacks” for shipment by truck to a rail yard in Willard and then by train to Envirocare. NASA continually monitored the remaining soil to ensure that it met project cleanup standards.

Below is a series of five photos related to the soil and excavation and removal.
In the photo to the right is a backhoe - with a large arm and “claw” at the left of the photo is shown scooping soil from the Emergency Retention Basin (ERB), which was occasionally used to hold contaminated water when the Reactor Facility was operational. Please see the July 2005, edition of our quarterly newsletter, which is posted on this Website, for further details on the ERB.
In the photo right, a piece of equipment known as a “skid loader” is filling white, numbered bags with excavated soil. These special fabric bags, were later placed inside larger “Super Sacks” for transportation.
In the photo to the right, a front-end loader is about to place a Super Sack on a large, rectangular scale for weighing, prior to departure from Plum Brook Station.
In the photo to the right is a flatbed trucks loaded with Super Sacks and are waiting to depart NASA Plum Brook Station for a rail yard in Willard.
The photo to the right shows an air monitor atop a berm in the ERB. NASA continually monitors both the air and the unexcavated soils to make sure they are clean.

Decontamination of Embedded Piping

Early in 2005, NASA began work on the decontamination of embedded piping systems – pipes covered in concrete and located from three feet to 30 feet below grade in Reactor Facility buildings (see article on page one). NASA stopped work in February to evaluate better approaches to decontamination and test out several techniques, all of which proved effective. NASA is currently undertaking decontamination work on embedded piping in the Primary Process Piping Room, at the minus-25-foot level of the Reactor Building . This room was a central hub for several piping systems when the reactor was operational.

Below is a series of three photos on the decontamination of embedded piping.
In the photo to the left, a worker is shown with a probe, at the center of photo, used to remove mud and dirt from embedded piping during early survey work.
At the photo to the right, workers are shown using a probe equipped with a video camera and a radiation monitor to survey embedded piping for contamination. At the bottom of the photo they are shown examining the probe and looking into a video monitor (at the center of the photo).
Last summer, NASA conducted what was termed “proof of process,” during which it tested a variety of decontamination techniques – all of which proved successful. The photo to the right shows a yellow pumping machine for a high-powered vacuum machine, one of the techniques employed.