Deactivation & Decommissioning News

EM crews were recently at work upgrading the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory when they encountered an unexpected challenge: they couldn’t obtain critical vendor services and parts needed for the project.

Once home to a massive power plant and oil tanks, the former Powerhouse Area at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) is now a clean, grassy field primed for future recreational use.

Successful collaborations have fueled EM’s progress over the past 18 months, enabling a series of achievements while emphasizing health and safety protections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With EM’s mission completed in major sections of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site’s largest building, workers have emptied those areas to prepare them for closure under federal and state regulations.

A new chapter of cleanup is underway at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a massive endeavor requiring EM to maintain its existing workforce while preparing new skilled workers for the challenges ahead.

EM and its cleanup contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) recently removed a septic system and well associated with a former one-room schoolhouse demolished in 2007.

EM crews have completed demolition on Building 9207, the largest and final building in the former Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

EM’s Paducah Site recently transferred approximately 210,000 gallons of electrical insulating oil to support economic development in the region.

EM Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Company (CPCCo) recently resumed final cleanup activities within the former Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) footprint at the Hanford Site following the historic demolition of PFP’s.

Workers at EM’s Paducah Site recently relocated personnel and operations from 129,800 square feet of space in the C-720 Maintenance and Storage Building to prepare for future deactivation of the large structure.