Project Update

Take a Look at Our Accomplishments in 2008

The year 2008 was a time for major accomplishments on the Decommissioning Project. Take a look at several project tasks that have been completed, or are in progress.

Bio-shield Removal

This spring, workers undertook and completed removal of the bio-shield. It was constructed of concrete and rebar (steel embedded in concrete) - and as much as eight feet thick in some sections. The bio-shield had provided an extra layer of protection for workers when the reactor was operational. Demolishing the walls of the bio-shield also enabled NASA to remove the thermal column, a large steel cylinder that had been built into the bio-shield and had once served to reduce the energy and heat of neutrons passing through the reactor.

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Workers drilled deep into the walls of the quadrant in order to set up the powerful diamond-wire saw for cutting through the bio-shield.	The diamond-wire saw cuts through a section of the bio-shield, with the thermal column shown at the upper left of the photo.	The arm of the Brokk (the machine in yellow) used for demolition was employed to help reduce, to rubble, the wall of the bio-shield.	Workers removed much of the bio-shield wall to gain access to the thermal column

Thermal Column

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The thermal column was eight feet tall and three feet in diameter. In the photo at left, it is shown after its removal from the bio-shield. In the photo at right a white “lockdown” substance has been applied to the column to fix any surface contamination in place. The column was later packaged and disposed of as low-level radioactive waste.

Decontamination Activity in the Hot Lab Building and Hot Retention Area

Workers completed the decontamination of concrete in several Reactor Facility buildings. These included the Hot Lab, which is adjacent to the Reactor Building and was formerly used to analyze the results of reactor experiments. Workers also completed decontaminating concrete in the Hot Retention Area, a structure that had once been used for the temporary storage of water from the reactor until it was clean enough to meet permitted discharge standards.

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Before	After
These two Before & After series show decontamination in the Hot Lab. Each of the left-hand photos show Hot Lab areas where fixed equipment was removed to the bare walls and the concrete decontaminated to project cleanup levels.		These photos show equipment removal (left) work in the Hot Retention Area (HRA) and (right) decontamination work with the sponge jet blaster.

Asbestos Removal in the Canals of the Containment Vessel

When the Reactor Facility was constructed, the concrete in the former quadrants and canals of the Containment Vessel (where the reactor had been located) had been covered with a protective coating (or mastic) that had served to minimize contamination. This mastic contained asbestos, which had to be removed before workers could survey the underlying concrete. This was found to be largely clean and could be easily decontaminated to meet project cleanup levels.

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Before	After
These Before & After photos of the show asbestos removal and cleanup in the former canals of the Containment Vessel.		This photo shows workers conducting abatement work.

Quadrant A

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This photo shows Quadrant A before asbestos removal and decontamination work	The center photo shows a worker conducting spot cleanup with a hand tool.	This photo shows clean concrete after the removal work has been completed.

Low-level Radioactive Waste Shipments

This past spring NASA safetly shipped, by truck, more than one million pounds of previously packaged low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) to the Energy Solutions licensed disposal facility in Utah . The LLRW was in the form of fixed equipment and dust (that had been vacuumed during decontamination work). It was removed from Reactor Facility buildings and packaged in strong tight containers (for equipment) and sealed drums (for dust). NASA provided local emergency responders with advance notice before each shipment.

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This photo shows strong, tight containers (known as B-25 boxes) being loaded onto flatbed trucks.	This photo shows a worker sealing drums that contain LLRW from decontamination work.
Before	After
This Before photo shows a several B-25 boxes (in blue) and Sealand containers (in white) the awaiting shipment as a forklift (left) moves in for a pickup	This After photo shows that many of the containers have been shipped since the photo to the left was taken.

Final Status Survey Field Work

NASA's Final Status Survey ( FSS ) Plan was approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2008. The FSS Plan demonstrates how NASA will reach on-site project cleanup levels - known as Derived Concentration Guidelines Levels - at the end of decommissioning. After receiving preliminary approval last summer, NASA began field work in the Reactor Office and Laboratory Building . Workers removed all equipment and decontaminated all structures and surfaces within the building before FSS work could be conducted.

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This photo shows workers removing a building sump from the bottom of the Reactor Office and Lab Building (ROLB) during FSS preparations.	This photo shows workers measuring a decontaminated wall. In front of the worker to the left is radiation monitoring equipment.

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Signs limiting worker access to a corridor in the Reactor Office and Lab Building (ROLB) as it undergoes Final Status Survey ( FSS ) work.	Worker is shown taking a depth measurement from a shaved wall in the ROLB. The wall has been divided into four test areas marked in red, with Areas A & C shown here.

Primary Pump House
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	Before	After	Before	After
A MOTA worker uses radiation monitoring devices to survey cleaned concrete on the PPH floor.	Walls before shaving and sponge-jet blasting.	Clean concrete after shaving and sponge-jet blasting.	Worker on the PPH roof watches a crane lift a sump liner (a long tube) from a leak containment sump.	Sump (a brown, rusted cylinder) after the liner has been removed, with blue sky showing through the sump.

Hot Lab Building - Warm Work Area
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Overhead view of the Warm Work Area, adjacent to the former Hot Cells in the Hot Lab Building, before decontamination work. The yellow structure at the top of the photo is the Polar Crane, which runs between the Hot Lab and Reactor Building.	A worker uses a Marcrist floor shaver to clean lightly contaminated concrete in the Warm Work Area.	A worker operates a hand held scabbling device to remove a last bit of concreate from a wall in the Warm Work Area. This work was conducted after more concentrated decontamination work.

Waste Handling Building (WHB)
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	Before	After
MOTA worker operates a Sponge Jet Blaster, removing light contamination form the WHB wall.	Concrete wall & metal ceiling of WHB before decontamination work.	Concrete wall & ceiling - clean and smooth.	Workers use a Marcrist Floor Shaver to remove thin layer of concrete.

Asbestos Removal in Containment Vessel

In the Containment Vessel, where the reactor was formerly located (before its removal in 2004), MOTA workers have been removing asbestos. The asbestos was found in a mastic (an adhesive material) that had held a wall covering to the concrete in the former Quadrants and Canals. When the reactor was operational, these areas were filled with water. The workers used a variety of hand held equipment to remove the mastic, which had actually protected the walls and floor from contamination. The concrete under the mastic was clean and smooth, and met project cleanup levels.

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MOTA workers and helmets are shown removing asbestos from the concrete floor of Quadrant D in the Containment Vessel. The worker to the left is operating a Marcrist floor shaver. At the center of the photo there are several round piping penetrations.	A worker in white is shown conducting floor shaving work, in the former Canal E.	A worker is shown riding on a hydraulic lift as he shaves a wall in Quadrant A. The worker is at a level about mid-way up the 25-foot quadrant wall. The gray area indicates where the wall has been cleaned while brown areas to show what needs to be done.	In Quadrant A, two MOTA workers are shown removing portions of the floor, using the remote-controlled Brokk, that resembles a back-hoe.

Sub-pile Room Decontamination

The Sub-pile Room was located 46 feet below ground under the former reactor tank. MOTA workers removed all equipment from this room and then undertook decontamination of it surfaces. Before the room could be decontaminated, workers had to remove a heavy steel plate that had sat atop the room. The room is now ready for Final Status Survey field work.

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Workers guide the lifting (by overhead crane) of the steel plate that separated the reactor cavity and the Sub-pile Room.	Workers ready the area above the Sub-pile Room for equipment removal and decontamination	The reactor cavity is shown after the plate has been removed.

Buried Piping Removal

In some Reactor Facility buildings are some pipes (totaling about 250 feet) that are too corroded to remain in place or will - after building demolition, will no longer be covered by three feet of concrete (what is required of embedded piping). In these areas - including parts of the Hot Lab Building - workers from piping cleanup contractor BSI are excavating the pipe for packaging and disposal as low-level radioactive waste.

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In some Reactor Facility Buildings, is piping. Two MOTA workers operate a floor saw to cut concrete in the Warm Work Area of the Hot Lab.	Worker watches as the Brokk, excavates a pipe trench.	An excavating machine removes soil covering piping to be removed.

FSS in Reactor Office and Laboratory Building

Final Status Survey Work

In September 2007, employees from subcontractor SAIC began Final Status Survey ( FSS ) field work, following the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) review of NASA's FSS Plan. The FSS Plan guides the process by which NASA will show that it has reached project cleanup levels - known as Derived Concentration Guideline Levels - required for termination of NASA's reactor license with the NRC. All the surfaces in Reactor Facility buildings and structures must be decontaminated before FSS field work can begin. The Reactor Office and Laboratory Building was the first to undergo FSS field work, which was completed in December 2007. FSS work is well underway in the several other Reactor Facility buildings and structures, including the Cold Pipe Tunnel, Services Equipment Building and Sub-pile Room and will continue in other buildings over the next three years.

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Signs limiting worker access to a corridor in the Reactor Office and Lab Building (ROLB) as it undergoes Final Status Survey ( FSS ) work.	Worker is shown taking a depth measurement from a shaved wall in the ROLB. The wall has been divided into four test areas marked in red, with Areas A & C shown here.

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