PORTSMOUTH STEAM PLANT COMING DOWN

Work has begun to tear down the massive X-600 coal-fired steam plant at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The project is being performed by crews from MCM Industrial Services under a subcontract with Fluor-B&W Portsmouth, LLC, the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth site, with the work scheduled to be completed by Sept. 30. The X-600 steam plant began operation in the early 1950s and was shut down last fall. The plant has been replaced by what FBP describes as a “right size” gas-fired steam plant that has lower operating and maintenance costs, and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. “The X-600 served the Portsmouth GDP very well throughout its operational life,” Vince Adams, the Department of Energy’s site director for the Portsmouth site, said in a release issued late last week. “The D&D of this facility is another important milestone in our preparation of the former GDP site for use in the future. We commend the generations of workers who kept the old plant running for six decades.”