Portsmouth Disposal Cell Milestone Supports Demolition of 33-Acre Facility

Before-and-after views of construction of a new cell at the Portsmouth Site's On-Site Waste Disposal Facility. The first photo shows when construction was underway, and the second photo shows the completed cell.

Cleanup progress at former Portsmouth Site uranium enrichment plant is helping enable new opportunities for local community

PIKETON, Ohio — Workers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) Portsmouth Site have reached another milestone by completing construction of the fourth cell at the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility (OSWDF).

“Completion of the fourth OSWDF cell is essential to completing the next phase of the cleanup mission at the Portsmouth Site,” Federal Project Director Jud Lilly said. “The fourth cell is needed for disposal of debris from the demolition of the next process building.”

Teardown of the X-333 Process Building — the second of three former uranium enrichment process buildings to be demolished at the site — helps enable new opportunities for the local community to continue advancing U.S. energy and security goals, contributing to the goal of ushering in a new golden era of American energy dominance.

Two more cells of the disposal facility are scheduled for completion later this year. When complete, OSWDF will be comprised of 10 cells with the potential for two additional contingency cells to accept demolition debris and impacted soils from the deactivation and demolition project that meet the waste acceptance criteria.

OSWDF is a specially engineered disposal site. Each cell has a multi-layer liner and cap system to consolidate demolition debris into one centralized, confined space that protects public health and the environment.

In April last year, EM crews finished excavating an approximately seven-acre space for the fourth cell. Next, they placed select fill, a clay liner and geosynthetic material to finish the cell.

“We are proud of the quality construction of the cell while maintaining a safe work environment,” said Paul Larsen, director of OSWDF at Fluor-BWXT-Portsmouth, EM's decontamination and decommissioning contractor for the site.

Placement of debris from X-333 into the new cell is slated to begin this spring. The two-story, 33-acre facility is one of the largest facilities in the DOE complex.

The Portsmouth Paducah Project Office conducts cleanup at the Portsmouth Site in accordance with a consent decree with the State of Ohio and director’s final findings and orders with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

-Contributor: Shawn Jordan