Idaho Eyes Submarine Reactor Prototype Demolition After Removing Components

Cleanup crews have successfully removed the defueled reactor vessel from the Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse naval nuclear propulsion prototype reactor plant, moving the plant closer to demolition.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Idaho Cleanup Project crews have achieved a significant milestone in the deactivation and demolition (D&D) of the defueled Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse (S1W) naval nuclear propulsion prototype reactor plant, which had once served as a training ground for about 14,000 U.S. Navy submariners and plant operators.

Crews successfully removed, transported and disposed of the prototype’s reactor vessel, one of the last heavy components from the S1W, in an onsite landfill, the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility (ICDF). CERCLA stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, a law enacted by Congress in 1980. As a result of the CERCLA regulatory process, the ICDF has stringent waste acceptance criteria.

Once used to support the first nuclear-powered submarine, the prototype now moves closer to demolition, a major step toward advancing environmental cleanup at the Idaho National Laboratory Site.

Removing such components, including the reactor vessel, has been ongoing since the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management assumed responsibility for demolishing the S1W in 2022. That work was preceded by extensive efforts to isolate the prototype’s electrical and mechanical components and remove hazardous materials, such as asbestos and lead shielding. Demolition and ICDF project teams with cleanup contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) coordinated to ensure proper disposal in the landfill.

“I am incredibly proud of our team and our partners at ICDF,” said Mike Swartz, IEC director for D&D and capital projects. “This achievement is the culmination of an extraordinary team effort and has moved us one step closer to completing this historic mission.”

The project also worked closely with a local subcontractor, which provided much needed support by staging and operating a crane used for disposal.

Built inside a section of a submarine hull at the Naval Reactors Facility on the Arco Desert west of Idaho Falls, the land-based S1W was the nation’s first nuclear submarine prototype and became an important training facility for U.S. Navy nuclear operators.

Demolition of the S1W prototype reactor plant is expected to be complete by the end of 2025 and is being conducted in compliance with CERCLA.

-Contributor: Carter Harrison