The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will meet with industry representatives on Feb. 8 near Washington, D.C., to discuss its next nuclear decommissioning project: the SM-1 reactor on the grounds of Fort Belvoir.
The SM-1 operated from 1957 to 1973. It was the first nuclear power plant ever linked to a public utility grid, helping to power the Army base and used for training nuclear technicians. It was partly decommissioned after closure.
The Army Corps is preparing planning documents for completion of decommissioning and dismantlement of the site, Brenda Barber, program manager for the Environmental and Munitions Design Center at the USACE Baltimore District, wrote in an update to stakeholders last week.
A draft request for proposals should be released before July of this year, followed by the final RFP ahead of the close of 2019 and a contract award in mid-2020, she said.
The industry day meeting will be held at Room 221 of the South County Government Center of Fairfax County, Va. It is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with a two-hour presentation on decommissioning of the facility. That will be followed by individual meetings with potential contractors.
Interested contractors have until 2 p.m. EST on Jan. 25 to RSVP to contract specialist James Greer, at [email protected]. The subject line for the email must state SM-1 Industry Date RSVP from (company name). The message must include the name of the company and those who will attend. A maximum of four participants from each company is allowed, including subcontractors.
The Army Corps said during a March 2018 industry event that decommissioning was expected to last five years. Costs and other details were not known at the time, and there was no immediate update Friday.
An Army Corps contractor in September completed decommissioning of the MH-1A reactor on the STURGIS barge in Galveston, Texas. The barge was then towed to the city of Brownsville for shipbreaking.
Planning continues for decommissioning of the SM-1A reactor at Fort Greely, Alaska.
