Project Update

Recent Project Activity

During October, NASA safely shipped off site nearly a quarter million pounds of packaged low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) to a licensed disposal facility in Utah . The shipments contained mostly building debris. NASA has shipped nine million pounds of LLRW since decommissioning began.

NASA is continuing efforts to remove and assay (survey for radiation content) millions of pounds of soil from areas in and around the Reactor Facility. To date, some 90 million pounds have been excavated and more than 80 million assayed. Workers from contractor Clauss Construction are close to completing removal of the Emergency Retention Basin (ERB), an earthen berm structure, which once could hold five million gallons of water when the reactor was operational. Soil from the ERB is also being run through the assay system. To date, more than 95 percent of all assayed soil has been found clean enough to stay on site to be used as fill at the end of decommissioning. Workers also finished decontaminating a culvert that ran under Pentolite Ditch, thus completing all decontamination work in the ditch. This year, workers excavated some 50 million pounds of soil from Pentolite Ditch, which was the permitted pathway for the discharge of water into Plum Brook when the reactor operated.

A project NOT associated with or the Decommissioning Project - or NASA - is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) continuing work on the cleanup of the former Plum Brook Ordnance Works site. This work includes soil cleanup on Plum Brook Station land. Information on this USACE project is available by calling 1-800-822-8413.

Take a Look at Our Recent accomplishments

NASA has made substantial progress in several areas of the Decommissioning Project this year. This summer has seen NASA focus on the excavation and assaying (surveying) of more than 100 million pounds of soil inside and around the Reactor Facility fence line, and adjacent areas including Pentolite Ditch. Below are some photos of this work.

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A look at the extensive soil laydown area where excavated soil is being assayed.	A backhoe excavates soil from Pentolite Ditch.	Excavated soil is placed in dump trucks, which bring it to the soil laydown area.	The soil assay system uses large conveyor belts to separate the soil into different piles; one for soil to be kept on site and other soil to be shipped off-site.

Soil Excavation and Assaying

One of the major, remaining tasks in the Decommissioning Project is the excavation and assaying (surveying for radiation content) of some 100 million pounds of soil from areas throughout the Reactor Facility (PBRF). The work also involves soil from Plum Brook Station areas that are outside the PBRF fence-line, including Pentolite Ditch. When the PBRF was operational, Pentolite Ditch was the permitted pathway for the discharge of water into Plum Brook. NASA estimates that 90% of the excavated soil will be clean enough to be used as fill at the end of decommissioning. The other 10% will be sent to off-site processing and disposal facilities.

During the winter and spring, NASA contractor Clauss Construction began development of what is termed a “soil lay-down area, where the excavated soil will be placed and assayed. The area is located just southwest of the Reactor Facility fence-line. Also, as part of the soil work preparations, workers have de-watered Pentolite Ditch and several former water retention areas at Plum Brook Station, adjacent to PBRF. This spring, workers installed a by-pass pipeline near Pentolite Ditch so that soil work could take place there. The soil work is expected to be complete by the end of this year.

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A bulldozer (foreground) and a backhoe helped clear land for the soil lay-down area.	The lay-down area is located southwest of the Reactor Facility. This photo shows equipment being staged at the lay-down area.	The lay-down area is shown near the Reactor Facility and the Decommissioning Project trailers while a bulldozer operates in the upper right hand corner of the photo.

To view larger images click on the thumbnail images.

This photo shows an area near Pentolite Ditch where replacement piping was installed to allow for the dewatering and excavation of the ditch.	A piece of construction equipment lowers a piece of new pipe into place.	Workers and machinery in place near Pentolite Ditch

Shipping Low-Level Radioactive Waste

The start of the year saw NASA and its contractor, Clauss Construction, in the midst of an ongoing effort to ship more than 107,000 pounds of Low Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) to the Energy Solutions licensed disposal facility in Utah . Clauss was able to consolidate 14,000 cubic feet of previously collected and packaged LLRW (much of it shavings from concrete decontamination work) and re-package it in fewer containers taking up just 4,100 cubit feet, resulting in savings on disposal costs. Since 2001, NASA has safely shipped more than 10 million pounds of LLRW.

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Workers consolidate LLRW in barrels before shipment this past January.	A forklift moves a Sealand container onto a truck for shipping.	Workers conduct a final check on a truck loaded with Sealand containers before it moves out of Plum Brook Station.

Materials Removal and Recycling

NASA also continued its efforts to recycle metals and in January, Clauss workers removed, intact, the door to the Hot Dry Storage Vault in the Hot Lab building. Known as the D-10, it was (dimensions) and weighed 80,000 pounds, with its metal exterior filled with molten lead. When the Reactor Facility was operational, this door had provided protection for the storage of highly irradiated materials.

The sequence which starts with the photo below, and continues to the video [click here for instructions] and additional photos, shows the door being removed intact. It was then placed on forklifts and transferred to a flatbed truck, where it was taken away by a scrap vendor for recycling. This effort proved safer than cutting the door into pieces and also saved on disposal costs made unnecessary by recycling. Since decommissioning began, NASA has made available for recycling more than 1.5 million pounds of clean metal.

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The D-10 door is shown in front of the Hot Lab vault just prior to its removal. To the left of the door is a rope which will help the door to fall forward. The small triangular structure in front of the door was used for bracing.	Click on the image above to view the D-10 door drop video. Will open with Windows Media Player.

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Two forklifts carry the D-10 door to a flatbed truck.	The forklifts move the door on to the truck.	Workers secure the door on the truck before shipment from Plum Brook Station to the scrap vendor.

Decontamination and Final Status Survey Preparation

During the winter and spring, NASA contractor Clauss construction worked to complete decontamination activity in nearly every Reactor Facility buildings and structures. NASA conducted Post Remediation Surveys in areas that had previously been cleaned to make sure the areas met project cleanup standards before Final Status Survey field work begins.

In some areas, such as the Hot Pipe Tunnel, Hot Dry Storage Vault, Waste Handling Building and Primary Pump House, there were floor cracks containing minor amounts of contamination. Clauss workers excavated the concrete in these areas, packaging it for later disposal as low-level radioactive waste. The underlying soil was then surveyed to ensure it was clean and was later covered with grout, a cement-like substance.

In other areas of the Reactor Facility, there was very little contamination, especially on the domed roof of the Containment Vessel (in the Reactor Building ) and the overhead “polar” crane just under the dome. The crane had just some dust that was cleaned. Scaffolding was erected on the crane so that workers could reach the dome. Later, the crane will be removed and recycled as scrap metal.

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Before photo shows workers and the Brokk in the Hot Pipe Tunnel, excavting parts of the concrete floor.	After photo shows the soil under the excavated concrete.

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Clauss workers operate a floor saw in the Hot Dry Storage Vault	The Brokk removes concrete from the Waste Handling Building floor.

To view larger images click on the thumbnail images.

A worker on the Polar crane awaits scaffolding that is being lifted up to him.	Scaffolding is erected atop the crane for cleaning the Containment Vessel done.	A view of the Containment Vessel below from the crane

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Last update: November 2009