When it comes to safely demolishing a 33-acre facility, Portsmouth Site team members think pink: They painted nearly 300 valves inside a former uranium enrichment plant bright pink to make their presence easily visible during the building demolition. February 25, 2026
Office of Environmental Management
February 25, 2026
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A close-up of an open section of the X-333 Process Building shows three of the brightly painted valves awaiting demolition, at center.
PIKETON, Ohio — When it comes to safely demolishing a 33-acre facility, Portsmouth Site team members think pink: They painted nearly 300 valves inside a former uranium enrichment plant bright pink to make their presence easily visible during the building demolition.
The valves controlled the flow of uranium hexafluoride during legacy uranium enrichment activities. They still contain residual uranium deposits and must be segregated during deactivation and demolition (D&D) of the X-333 Process Building, the second of Portsmouth’s three former uranium process buildings to undergo demolition.
Using lessons learned from the site’s successful X-326 Process Building demolition, the team determined the valves in X-333 couldn’t be removed during deactivation of the facility due to their large size, and will be taken out as the building is dismantled during demolition.
“The valves weigh up to 10,000 pounds, which makes extracting them from the building more complex,” said Federal Project Director Christy Brown. “A plan for safely identifying, removing and characterizing the valves during demolition was developed."
As transite panels come down from the outside of the X-333 Process Building, bright pink valves are revealed, making them easy to spot for removal during the demolition process.
Engineering drawings are used to prepare the demolition team daily before beginning work. They show where the valves are located in the portion of the building planned for demolition at the time.
“The 289 valves were painted bright pink for high visibility, and all of them were numbered for tracking purposes,” Southern Ohio Cleanup Company (SOCCo) Deputy Deactivation Director Carla Salisbury said. “Part of the building has to be demolished to create staging areas for the valves.”
SOCCo is the D&D contractor for the Portsmouth Site.
As demolition methodically progresses, heavy equipment operators will be able to spot the bright pink valves for easy removal and segregation. Crews will use equipment to measure the quantities of uranium deposits in the valves that remain from enrichment operations.
Team members will repaint the valves bright yellow to show they meet established criteria, and are ready to be downsized and taken to the On-Site Waste Disposal Facility. Valves that do not meet the established criteria will remain pink and, if necessary, be sent offsite for disposal.
The Portsmouth Paducah Project Office conducts cleanup activities 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: Michelle Teeters
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