Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
1/24/2014
The University of Arkansas is hoping cleanup funds will soon be provided for its Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) after Congress last week directed the Department of Energy to develop a plan for finishing cleanup of the facility. In the spending bill approved last week, lawmakers directed DOE to use up to $1 million to complete a plan and cost estimate by May 1 for a phased approach to finish SEFOR cleanup. “After 40 years of the University sitting on this and trying to maintain it, the deterioration continues and at some point the risk is going to go up. So it’s probably not a bad time to go ahead and get it off the agenda,” Mike Johnson, University of Arkansas Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities, told WC Monitor this week.
SEFOR, located near Fayetteville, Ark., was used as an experimental fast breeder reactor in the late 1960s to test the suggested inherent safety features of the oxide fuel/sodium cooling configuration, in particular the effect on the core of thermal expansion including in an accident situation. The reactor has been inactive since 1972 and ownership was transferred to the University of Arkansas in 1975. DOE was made responsible for the reactor’s cleanup through the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which put the project under the purview of the DOE Office of Environmental Management and authorized $16 million to be spent on the work. But there was no funding for the project until Fiscal Year 2009, when Congress provided about $2 million to begin site characterization work.
In late 2009, EnergySolutions undertook the characterization work as part of a unique agreement, in which DOE provided funding and the university managed the contract under the primary regulatory authority of the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. That effort resulted in a $26 million cost estimate in 2010 for D&D work to return the site to greenfield, Johnson said. However, due to a lack of funds not much cleanup has been done since the characterization work wrapped up in 2010. “We had some money left and we were authorized to work on the site, and what we did was try to clean up some peripheral things so that it would reduce any overall risk exposure from further deterioration of some buildings that were falling in on each other and get us back to the main building and then secure that building better from both the weather and the elements or from any potential intrusion,” Johnson said. “We did a final report and that’s kind of where we stand. We continue to monitor the site, check on the buildings.”
Congress Asking For Phased Approach
While the 2010 cost estimate called for D&D to cost $26 million over a time frame of about 18-months, Congress is asking for a new plan that includes a “phased approach.” However, that would ultimate be more costly, Johnson said. “Unfortunately, I think we are to the point where if you open up the building to start work, you would escalate the overall cost significantly by closing it down, reopening it and then closing it down, just to mobilize and demobilization for radiological type cleanup,” he said. He added that the best option for a phased approach could be spread out over two or three fiscal years with only one demobilization. “The only challenge there is that once you open it up there needs to be some kind of a commitment that the rest of the resources would flow or you’re left kind of holding the bag with an open package, and you know that Congresses don’t like to obligate future Congresses,” he said.
SEFOR Could Be Near-Term Win
The SEFOR cleanup could be a chance for DOE to score a near-term win by completing all of its environmental cleanup obligations in Arkansas, Johnson said. “DOE has a significantly large budget, $26 million is rounding error. They work on priorities, and we are not in the medium and high priority area,” he said. “But we are a small site, and I believe that we are the only site requiring cleanup by DOE in the state of Arkansas. So there’s also an opportunity, if you can convince DOE, to say that here’s one state we can cross off the list as having an active site that needs to be cleaned up.”
When asked for comment this week on SEFOR, DOE summarized recent activities there. “The characterization of the SEFOR facility performed in 2009 reported that radioactive materials and radiological contamination were minimal and when present were well-contained,” a DOE spokesperson said in a statement. “Utilizing the FY2009 appropriation of $1.9M, certain hazards were mitigated at the SEFOR facility in preparation for demolition. These activities entailed demolition, removal and disposal of certain components, systems and structures such as the maintenance building, tool shed, underground storage tank for diesel fuel, vent stack, and piping of the secondary sodium system. This work was complete by December, 2011. The June 2010 Decommissioning Plan developed by EnergySolutions estimated decommissioning costs at $26.12M.”
Sen. Boozman Hopes For Timely Cleanup
Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) said this week he supports timely cleanup of SEFOR. “Senator Boozman is glad to support this important non-defense environmental cleanup project, and he looks forward to seeing the forthcoming plan and cost estimate. He will work with the Arkansas Delegation to ensure that the Department of Energy and other stakeholders complete this plan in a timely manner, which we hope will lay the groundwork for the completion of the cleanup as soon as possible,” Boozman spokeswoman Sara Lasure said in a written response.
