The Y-12 National Security Complex’s Alpha-5 building has been characterized as the “worst of the worst” of the excess facilities awaiting cleanup at Department of Energy sites around the country, and decommissioning and deactivation of the highly contaminated, highly deteriorated site is still years from happening.
However, Consolidated Nuclear Security – the government’s managing contractor at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn. – is evaluating some possible near-term actions to drain the polluted water that has collected in the big building’s basement because of roof failures.
The pool of water, which is comingling with groundwater in the area, reportedly contains uranium, beryllium, mercury, and other hazardous materials. The flooded basement is also enabling the growth of mold in the 613,000-square-foot building, which has been shut down for more than a decade.
Ken Harrawood of CNS said contractor officials believe that the existing Central Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 could be used to treat the Alpha 5 water, a possibility that is being studied. “We’re going to do some work this year to get some pumps and agitate water to get a representative sample,” he said.
If the water meets the acceptance criteria for the CMTF, the Y-12 contractor may proceed with the project, Harrawood said. According to the CNS official, the treatment facility has enough capacity to do the job but there is a possible concern that the Alpha 5 water could be too briny for the CMTF systems.