The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has canceled an upcoming public meeting on decommissioning of the SM-1A reactor at Fort Greely, Alaska, and is eyeing other possible impacts to the project from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The team made this decision based on the interest of public health and in accordance with recent Department of Defense, Federal, and State guidance and travel restrictions to minimize the spread of COVID-19,” Brenda Barber, project manager for the Environmental and Munitions Design Center in the Army Corps’ Baltimore District, said in a March 31 message to stakeholders. “Safety is always the project team’s top priority. Our team hopes all of you remain safe during this unprecedented situation.”
The annual update on the status of the project was scheduled for the week of April 20 in the City Council chambers in Delta Junction.
Next up is a planned technical project planning meeting expected in June or July with stakeholders including staff at Fort Greely, state regulators, and the Army Reactor Office. That could also be upended by COVID-19, though the Army Corps at minimum hopes to schedule a virtual meeting.
“Additionally, we have additional field efforts at the site planned which will be dependent upon the COVID-19 status,” Barber wrote.
In the interim, planning continues for the eventual decommissioning.
The SM-1A reactor operated from 1962 to 1972, mostly generating power and heating steam for utilities at the installation about 6 miles south of Delta Junction and 225 miles northeast of Anchorage.
Last summer, the Army Corps hired APTIM Federal Services to engineer the reactor facility’s utility segregation from the attached Central Heating and Power Plant on base. That work continues and is scheduled to be finished in September, according to Barber.
Initial preparation of an environmental assessment and decommissioning plan are underway. Planning is expected to continue through fiscal 2022, which ends on Sept. 30, 2022. Actual decommissioning could begin in that federal budget year, pending approval anticipated in 2021 of a permit from the Army Reactor Office.
