The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has received a $10.5 million grant from the Department of Energy for a host of cleanup operations for the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) near West Fork, Ark.
SEFOR was an experimental fast breeder reactor used in the late 1960s for testing the suggested inherent safety features of the oxide fuel/sodium cooling configuration, notably the effect on the core of thermal expansion including in an accident situation. The reactor went inactive in 1972, and the University of Arkansas took possession of the facility three years later. The 2005 Energy Policy Act made DOE responsible for the site cleanup, specifically the department’s Office of Environmental Management.
The project overall is intended to decommission and disassemble the facility site, according to a DOE press release. Work funded by the 1.5-year grant includes planning and documentation, evaluations of existing data, refreshing the site’s decommissioning plan in light of the present state of SEFOR, conducting engineering studies, waste disposal, selection of a remediation contractor, and ultimately the D&D work.
