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.”
The annual update on the status of the project was scheduled for the week of April 20 in the City Council chambers in nearby Delta Junction. A specific date had not been set, but officials hope to reschedule once it is safe to travel, Barber told RadWaste Monitor.
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.
The schedule of upcoming field work at Fort Greely also depends on the state of travel authorizations during the pandemic, according to Barber.
“The team has tentative plans to perform additional field work this year, hopefully in the late summer,” she said by email Tuesday. “The additional field work would be follow on characterization work, to include soil samples, investigation of utilities systems associated with the prior operation of the plant and interviews with former workers. The full scope of the effort is still being planned. At this time, we are closely monitoring all COVID guidance and will adjust our plans as necessary.”
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. Some preliminary deactivation work was performed before portions of the reactor and other infrastructure were entombed by 1973.
Last summer, the Army Corps hired APTIM Federal Services to engineer the reactor facility’s utility segregation from the attached and operational Central Heating and Power Plant on base. The design program is scheduled to be finished in September, according to Barber. A contract for the segregation itself would follow in December, to relocate critical infrastructure to the south side of the building and isolate the decommissioning work area.
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. Decommissioning is scheduled for fiscal years 2022 to 2028.
Meanwhile, the Army Corps remains on track to by September award the decommissioning contract for the SM-1 reactor at Fort Belvoir, Va., Barber said. “COVID-19 has not had an impact on SM-1 at this time.”
“A majority of the work for SM-1 right now is completing our planning, permitting, and contract processes,” she stated. “Since this is mostly office related work, the team is working remotely and utilizing virtual tools to maintain schedule. We are not currently anticipating any delays to the award or the start of the field effort at SM-1.”
The SM-1 reactor operated from 1957 to 1973 on the Army base about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. It was the service’s first nuclear power plant and the first pressurized-water reactor to be connected to a U.S. electrical grid, though the facility was primarily used for training. The plant was deactivated in 1973-1974, after which it was placed into “safe storage,” or SAFSTOR, mode.
The Army Corps took bids for decommissioning last fall, but has not yet awarded the contract. Details of the procurement are not being made public, Barber said. On-site cleanup is scheduled to begin in 2021 and to wrap up in 2025.
“Cost for the decommissioning efforts have been established but due to active procurement for the projects, we are not releasing the information at this time,” Barber stated. “At this time, the funding required to complete the decommissioning has been programmed and is consistent with our estimated costs for both projects.”
