The Southwest Experimental Fast-Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) in Arkansas moved closer to final remediation this week when contractor EnergySolutions removed the reactor from the containment building and placed it into a shipping container.
Moving the roughly 90,000-pound reactor with a large crane took less than 30 minutes Monday, EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker said by telephone Wednesday. The unit was placed into a carbon steel containment vessel.
After the unit is filled with grout and welded shut, which should take days, it is expected to be shipped by truck to a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at the Nevada National Security Site, Walker said.
EnergySolutions worked with subcontractors Barnhart Crane and Rigging and Brandenburg in removing the reactor, the last remaining facility on-site. Some components that held the reactor in place below ground still remain, Walker added.
The Utah-based nuclear services company in May signed a contract with the Department of Energy, valued at $9.45 million, to finish dismantling and decommissioning the 3-acre research reactor site. The fixed-priced contract, for Phase 3B of the overall SEFOR cleanup, is a follow-on to prior awards between DOE and EnergySolutions.
Decommissioning started in 2016 after planning dating to 2009, but funding has been a challenge over time, according to University of Arkansas spokesman Steve Voorhies. The university approved a contractor readiness review for the final leg of the work in June.
Most of the contaminated dirt and support structures at the site near Fayetteville, Ark., were hauled away under earlier phases of work by EnergySolutions. Final cleanup is expected in early 2019.
The 20-megawatt sodium-cooled test reactor was built in 1968 and was retired in the early 1970s by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor to the Energy Department. The University of Arkansas used the facility for research for 11 years, beginning in 1975, and subsequently became caretaker for SEFOR. The 2005 Energy Policy Act placed DOE in charge of the reactor’s cleanup.
