Lance Moore
WC Monitor
7/31/2015
The Department of Energy on Thursday said it had reached agreement with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) on a plan for demolition of the process buildings and other structures at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site (PORTS). The buildings will be destroyed as part of the decontamination and decommissioning of the site once used for enriching uranium for nuclear-weapon and civilian purposes.
The Record of Decision (ROD) made public this week said two alternatives were evaluated in analyzing whether to proceed with the decontamination and decommission (D&D) of more than 200 buildings and structures at PORTS. This includes the plant’s three large process buildings, encompassing over 30 acres under each roof, as well as other facilities and auxiliary systems, according to a DOE press release issued Thursday. The expectation is that all 200 buildings will be demolished, though some exceptions could be made for buildings perceived to have possible future uses.
The first alternative was simply “no action,” the press release states. This “provided a basis for comparison, but the risk to human health and the environment made Alternative 1 unacceptable,” DOE said. The department ultimately chose the second alternative, which stipulated the “controlled removal of stored waste, materials, hazards, process gas equipment and process piping.” The plan also encompasses demolition of buildings, structures, and “underground man-made features,” along with packaging, relocation, and disposal of waste from the project.
Any estimated cost for the decontamination and decommissioning project, which is now under the management of Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, was not immediately available. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said earlier this year that his department could not meet the goal of completing D&D at the site by 2024, and instead had 50 percent confidence it would be finished by 2044 and 80 percent confidence for a 2052 end date.
The selection of Alternative 2 in the ROD was predicated on the idea of ensuring public health and welfare of not only the environment surrounding PORTS, but of personnel at the site. The hazardous substances causing the contamination and cost inefficiency were the catalyst behind the selected remedy. “The selected remedy is protective of human health and the environment, complies with applicable or relevant and appropriate federal and state requirements, is cost-effective, and uses permanent solutions and alternative treatment (or resource recovery) technologies to the maximum extent practicable,” the ROD says.
The D&D of a complex site such as PORTS dictates the need for calculated and smaller methods of cleanup in order to meet regulatory requirements and ensure maximum efficiency, cost efficiency, and safety. “These are some of the largest buildings ever constructed. Their size and function during production years make D&D of this plant a complicated endeavor,” said William Murphie, manager of DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, in a press release. Among the steps of the process are infrastructure modifications, draining of liquids, hazard abatement, asbestos removal, removal of recyclable equipment, and utility configurations that comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
The plan also emphasizes reuse of certain PORTS structures and equipment, including “site infrastructure … deemed valuable to the community for post-cleanup industrialization,” according to the press release, and “recycling of building materials as an option for disposal when it can be done safely, compliantly, and in a cost-effective manner.”
