The Department of Energy is preparing a Manhattan Project-era facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex for demolition while recovering equipment that can be reused across dozens of National Nuclear Security Administration facilities.
The department’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and NNSA are working with their respective contractors, United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) and Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), to deactivate Beta-4, a 313,000-square-foot former uranium enrichment and weapons production facility.
NNSA earlier this year transferred Beta-4’s operational footprint to OREM for characterization, deactivation and eventual demolition. Once demolition is complete, the cleared area will be returned to NNSA for future national security activities.
During preparations for the teardown, crews have recovered more than 550 reusable items from the facility. The equipment will be repurposed as spare parts and supplies for 76 NNSA facilities at Y-12.
Recovered material includes steam heaters, tools, power systems, environmental controls, personal protective equipment and other infrastructure components.
The contractors are also working to bring Beta-4 to “cold and dark” status, a safety milestone involving the isolation and shutdown of facility utilities and removal of asbestos from aging infrastructure.
The facility’s operational footprint covers an area equivalent to nearly seven football fields, according to DOE.
The collaboration is intended to reduce environmental and safety risks while allowing NNSA to reclaim the site for future missions.
“The operational turnover of Beta-4 from CNS to UCOR marks an important milestone in preparing the facility for demolition,” CNS Production and Operations Vice President Gene Sievers said in a DOE newsletter this week.
Sievers said the transfer allows UCOR to conduct the remaining work more efficiently while relieving Y-12 of a facility no longer used for production.
UCOR End State Delivery Senior Vice President Clint Wolfley said the cooperation between the contractors has helped make cleanup and active missions safer and more efficient.
The effort illustrates how DOE’s environmental cleanup activities at Oak Ridge are being coordinated with NNSA’s ongoing national security mission, including through reuse of equipment and eventual redevelopment of legacy facility footprints.