Y-12 completes work to remove nuclear materials from historic production facility
Y-12 completes work to remove nuclear materials from historic production facility
Mon, 4 May 2009
The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed the removal of special nuclear materials from a World War II era nuclear weapons production facility.
The approximately 400,000 square foot Beta 4 Building now is no longer designated as a nuclear facility, thus resulting in significant cost savings for operations at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee facility. It is a major step toward the eventual cleanup, decontamination and decommissioning of the facility.
“Elimination of the nuclear facility designation to Beta 4 means millions of dollars annually in savings by reducing the need for special security and facility surveillance and maintenance activities. This action brings Y-12’s plan to create a smaller, more efficient site closer to fruition,” said Ted Sherry, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 Site Office.
Originally built in 1945 to house the calutrons that enriched uranium for the Manhattan Project, Beta 4 continually has played a central role in nuclear component production through the Cold War. Efforts to remove the material and to reduce the facility’s nuclear categorization began in 2004.
The collaborative work of B&W Y-12, the contractor operating the Y-12 National Security Complex for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and NNSAy’s Y-12 Site Office to remove hazardous materials from the facility resulted in Beta 4’s safety basis documents being lifted. That means the building is no longer an operational nuclear facility.
Shedding the nuclear facility status means a savings of $1 million annually in just surveillance and maintenance expenditures (the costs associated with keeping the building intact and secure) alone.
“By officially cancelling the safety basis for Beta 4, we have eliminated numerous budget burdens that help us optimize our operating costs,” said Darrel Kohlhorst, B&W Y‑12 president and general manager. “But most important, we are one step closer to eradicating a big item on our facility disposition list.”
Removing more than 3,000 items weighing more than 234 metric tons and shipping the material off-site resulted in the declassification of the nuclear facility. During the project, which began in 2005, the radiological material and 350 drums of legacy material were safely shipped off-site for permanent disposal, successfully completing a major NNSA milestone and preparing the way for additional environmental management initiatives.
“In a time of constrained budgets, this huge effort sets a precedent for money saved and gives us a blueprint for similar risk elimination in other World War II-era facilities at Y-12,” said Kohlhorst.
Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Visit the NNSA website for more information.