Site Book - Fluor

The U.S. Department of Energy
Welcomes You to the Portsmouth Site
2
The Site’s
Changing
Mission
The DOE Portsmouth
site (PORTS) is located in
Pike County, Ohio, in south
central Ohio approximately
20 miles north of the city of
Portsmouth, Ohio. PORTS was
one of three large gaseous
diffusion plants initially
constructed in the 1950s to
produce enriched uranium to
support the nation’s nuclear
weapons program and later
enriched uranium used by
commercial nuclear reactors.
Decades of uranium
enrichment included the
use of special industrial
chemicals and materials.
Plant operations generated
hazardous, radioactive,
mixed (both hazardous and
radioactive), and nonchemical
(sanitary) wastes. Past
operations also resulted
in soil, groundwater, and
contamination at several
sites located within plant
boundaries.
Today, several missions
are under way at the site
including decontamination
and decommissioning (D&D)
of inactive and unneeded
facilities, environmental
remediation, depleted
uranium hexafluoride
conversion (DUF6), as well as
uranium enrichment activities
through Centrus Energy
Corp’s American Centrifuge
Plant (ACP).
SITE OVERVIEW
Current Site Operations
DOE OFFICE OF EM
The extensive environmental
cleanup program began in 1989
as a result of a Consent Decree
signed between DOE and the state
of Ohio and an Administrative
Consent Order with DOE and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Multiple missions are carried out at
the site including decontamination
and decommissioning (D&D) of
inactive and unneeded facilities,
environmental remediation and
depleted uranium hexafluoride
conversion (DUF6), as well as
uranium enrichment activities
3
MISSION
through the American Centrifuge
Technology Demonstration and
Operations project, operated by
Centrus Energy Corp. for UT-Battelle
LLC, operator of DOE’s Oak Ridge
National Laboratory (ORNL).
More than five decades of
uranium enrichment operations at
the former Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant generated millions of
cubic yards of waste and resulted in
some soil, groundwater, and surface
water contamination within the
plant’s boundary.
DOE and its D&D contractor,
Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC, are
performing environmental cleanup of
the plant to remove contamination
so the land can be used for new
purposes by DOE or the community.
Nearly 1,900 workers are part of this
massive undertaking that will take
decades to complete.
Three major projects encompass
the majority of the site’s cleanup
mission: decontamination
and decommissioning, waste
management and environmental
remediation.
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) established the Portsmouth/
Paducah Project Office (PPPO) on
October 1, 2003, to provide focused
leadership to the Environmental
Management missions at the
Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah,
Kentucky Gaseous Diffusion Plants
as well as the Depleted Uranium
Hexafluoride (DUF6) conversion
project.
The Lexington, Kentucky Office
opened in January 2004, and is
located mid-way between the
Kentucky and Ohio facilities. This
centralized location allows the DOE
Lexington Office Manager frequent
and routine site interactions with
both the Portsmouth and Paducah
sites’ operations. Additionally, DOE
maintains a strong presence at the
sites on a daily basis through the
Portsmouth and Paducah Operations
Oversight Groups. The PPPO goal is
to accelerate the site cleanup at the
Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plants, eliminating potential
environmental threats, reducing the
DOE footprint at each of the sites,
and reducing life-cycle cost.
DOE OFFICE OF EM
4
Focus Areas
Environmental Remediation
DOE is performing cleanup of
groundwater plumes contaminated
primarily with the degreasing solvent
trichloroethene (TCE), which was
used during production years to clean
process equipment used to enrich
uranium. More than 680 million
gallons of groundwater from four onsite plumes have been treated and are
managed by pump and treat and slurry
wall technology. A fifth plume is being
treated by phytoremediation using
planted hybrid poplar trees.
Decontamination and
Decommissioning
DOE is responsible for the
decontamination and decommissioning
(D&D) of 415 facilities and structures
that supported uranium enrichment
operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant for more than 50
years. More than 700,000 square
feet of buildings, including 36 inactive
facilities, have been demolished,
eliminating contamination sources,
improving worker safety, and reducing
surveillance and maintenance costs.
The gaseous diffusion plant at
Portsmouth includes three massive
process buildings that house the
gaseous diffusion process equipment
and span an area the size of 158
football fields. The plant also includes
various support structures that provide
feed and transfer operations and site
services such as maintenance, steam
generation, cleaning, process heat
removal, electrical power distribution,
and water supply, storage and
distribution.
Waste
Management
DOE manages
the safe disposition
of waste generated
during the plant’s uranium
enrichment operations as well as
building debris, contaminated soil,
and other materials generated during
the D&D and environmental cleanup.
Approximately 581 million pounds
of total waste have been shipped/
disposed offsite to date.
The plant’s waste streams
include solid and liquid radioactive
materials; hazardous wastes such as
toxic, corrosive, reactive or ignitable
materials; mixed waste, which
contains both
hazardous
and radioactive
components; and
sanitary waste.
More than
1.3 million cubic yards
of waste is expected to be
generated from future D&D at the
Portsmouth Site. Some of this waste
may be disposed of in a proposed
engineered, lined and monitored onsite
disposal facility. As part of the D&D
effort to date, about three-fourths
of process gas equipment has been
removed from one of the large process
buildings that together cover nearly
100 acres. This waste is being shipped
offsite to approved facilities.
Table of Contents
Page
2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Overview
3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DOE Office of EM
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DOE Office of EM
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Overview
6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Interfaces
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timeline
8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timeline
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timeline
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timeline
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Informational Ad
12 . . . . . . . . Environmental Cleanup
13 . . . . . . . . Environmental Cleanup
14 . . . . . . . . Environmental Cleanup
15 . . . . . . . . Environmental Cleanup
16 . . . . . . . . Environmental Cleanup
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARRA Work
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARRA Work
19 . . . . . . . . Regulatory Agreement
20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D&D Operations
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D&D Operations
22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D&D Operations
23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D&D Operations
24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D&D Operations
25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asset Recovery
26 . . . . . . . . DUF6 Conversion Plant
27 . . . . . . . . . . Centrus Energy Corp.
28 . . . . . . . . . . . Public Involvement
29 . . . . . . . Community Involvement
30 . . . . . . . . . . . Education Outreach
31 . . . . . . . . . . . Education Outreach
32 . . . . . . . . PORTS Virtual Museum
This informational booklet has been
produced for the U.S. Department of
Energy by the Fluor-B&W Public Affairs
department (2015).
SITE 0VERVIEW
5
SITE LOCATION
& SURROUNDING
COUNTIES
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) former
corporation named Centrus Energy Corp. Centrus is
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP) was built near headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
Piketon, Ohio between 1952-56 as the last of three plants
constructed to enrich uranium for the nation’s nuclear
The plant operated to produce low-enriched uranium
defense program and later for commercial nuclear
(about 3 to 5 percent enriched Uranium-235) for use in
reactors. It is located on a 3,777-acre federal reservation
commercial nuclear power plants until May 11, 2001
in south central Ohio, about 75 miles
when Centrus ceased enrichment
The DOE facility in Piketon
directly south of Columbus, and
operations at the Portsmouth facility.
employs approximately 2,600 workers.
That year, the plant was placed in
is the largest employer in
interim Cold Standby for potential
Pike County, which has a
Highly enriched uranium production
restart within 24 months, if needed. At
population
of
approximately
was suspended in 1991 following the
the end of FY 2005, DOE determined
27,000 residents.
end of the Cold War. In July 1993, the
the plant would not be restarted
production facilities were leased by
and facilities were placed into cold
DOE to the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), shutdown. DOE awarded a contract in August 2010 to
which was created by Congress under the Energy Policy
Fluor-B&W Portsmouth LLC for the Decontamination and
Act of 1992. In July 1998, USEC was privatized through an Decommissioning (D&D) of the GDP facilities.
Initial Public Offering and is now operating as a private
SITE INTERFACES
6
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C.
DOE
DOE Environmental Management
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
RSI
Oak Ridge
Office
Environmental
Technical Services
Wastren-EnergX
Mission Support
Fluor-B&W
Portsmouth
Facility Support
Services
170 employees
D&D and Remediation
1,900 employees
and subcontractors
B&W
Conversion
Services
DUF6
180 employees
Site Responsibilities
DOE Environmental Management Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office
•D&D of gaseous diffusion plant
• Depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6)
•Environmental remediation cylinder management
•Waste management
• Surveillance and Maintenance (S&M) activities
•D&D waste disposition
• Landfill management
•Surplus uranium storage in Uranium Management Center
Restoration Services Inc. (RSI)
Centrus Energy
Corp.
Private Enterprise
Working To Demonstrate
American Centrifuge
Technology in Leased
DOE Facilities at PORTS
- 280 employees
•Provides support to DOE for the environmental remediation and D&D project
DOE Oak Ridge Operations
•United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) lease administration
Fluor-B&W Portsmouth
•D&D or cleanup of buildings and
• Disposition of waste
facilities associated with the former • Remediation of soils and groundwater
uranium enrichment process
• Uranium barter program
Wastren-EnergX Mission Support or WEMS (Facility Support Services)
•Security
• Janitorial, maintenance services
•Computer, telecommunication services • Training services
•Grounds, roads, fleet maintenance • Records management
B&W Conversion Services
•Operate DUF6 conversion plant
Centrus Energy Corp.
• Surveillance and maintenance of DUF6 inventory
•Private enterprise working to demonstrate the American Centrifuge Plant in leased DOE facilities at PORTS
TIMELINE
The Beginning...
s August 1952 : U.S. government selects
Pike County as site for the new
Portsmouth uranium enrichment
plant.
s September 1952 : U.S. officials
select Goodyear Tire & Rubber Corp.
as plant operator. Goodyear creates
Atomic Corp. to operate plant.
s September 1954 : First production cells
go on stream.
s March 1956 : Contractors complete
entire Portsmouth plant six months
ahead of schedule and full production
begins.
s Mid-1960s : Plant shifts from military
mission to commercial focus, supplying
enriched uranium to electric utilities
operating nuclear power plants.
s January 1975 : U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) and the Energy
Research and Development Agency (ERDA)
assume AEC functions. NRC takes over
regulatory oversight of nuclear power
plants and ERDA assumes responsibility
for uranium enrichment.
s October 1977 : Government transfers
ERDA functions to newly-created
Department of Energy (DOE).
s November 1986 : Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. takes over
Goodyear’s operating contract at plant.
s October 1992 : Energy Policy Act creates United States
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) to manage government’s
uranium enrichment enterprise.
s July 1993 : USEC assumes responsibility for Paducah, Ky.,
and Piketon, Ohio, uranium enrichment plants. DOE
retains responsibility for environmental restoration and
waste management activities resulting from its operations
at the site.
7
8
Decisions and Operations...
s November 1996 : NRC grants certificates of compliance for
USEC’s two enrichment plants.
s March 1997 : Regulatory oversight of enrichment plants officially
transfers from DOE to NRC.
s July 1998 : USEC is privatized, becomes USEC Inc., an
investor-owned corporation.
s June 2000 : USEC announces plans to consolidate all enrichment
activities at Paducah by June 2001.
s May 2001 : USEC ceases enrichment activities at Piketon plant.
The plant is placed into Cold Standby with the potential to
restart, if needed.
s December 2002 : USEC announces that it will site its American
Centrifuge Demonstration Facility (Lead Cascade) in Piketon.
s January 2004 : USEC announces the selection of Piketon as the
site for its future American Centrifuge Plant.
s July 28, 2004 : Groundbreaking is held to begin construction on
the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Plant.
s September 2005 : Cold Standby with USEC ends, work shifts
to Cold Shutdown transition in preparation for future
decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the Piketon
plant.
s April 13, 2007 : NRC issues construction and operating
license for USEC Inc.’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon.
s August 17, 2007 : U.S. Department of Energy approves
Critical Decision-1 Alternative Selection and Cost Range for
the D&D of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
s May 20, 2008 : Construction was completed on the DUF6
Conversion Plant at the Piketon site.
s August 14, 2008 : Twenty members of the newly-formed
Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board are
formally introduced during a DOE public meeting. The board is
comprised of local community members and is established to
make recommendations on DOE’s environmental management
program at the site.
TIMELINE
TIMELINE
A Changing Landscape...
9
DUF6 Plant Construction
s May 2009 : The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 provides more than $118 million to the Piketon plant
site for the creation of jobs and environmental cleanup of
five “shovel-ready” projects.
s July 2010 : Hot functional testing operations begin at the
DUF6 Conversion Plant.
s August 16, 2010 : DOE awards the D&D
contract for the Piketon plant to
Fluor-B&W Portsmouth. The five-year
contract with an additional five-year option is valued at
approximately $2 billion.
Projects receive ARRA funding
s January 2011 : DOE introduces uranium barter program by
which Fluor-B&W is paid for D&D work by selling inventory of
naturally occurring uranium on open market. Barter accounts
for about 70 percent of D&D funding with the remainder
provided by Congress.
s March 29, 2011 : Fluor-B&W assumes D&D operations.
s December 2011 : Facility deactivation of the X-326 process building
begins. Highly trained workers in anti contamination clothing and respirators
begin disassembling process gas
equipment in an operation known as Cut
& Cap. Approximately 7,000 large pieces
of process gas equipment must be
removed from 200 cells on the second
floor of this 30-acre building that once
produced uranium with up to 97
percent enrichment. Cut & Cap and full
deactivation is expected to be complete
in late 2017.
Site public tours
s April 7, 2012 : Members of the general public are permitted
to enter the plant site and take a guided bus tour for the first time with security escorts.
s May 30, 2012 : The uranium enrichment cascade shuts down after more than 57 years
of operation. The X-326, X-330 and X-333 process buildings housed the cascade which
covered nearly 100 acres.
s September 2012 : The X-100 Administration Building is demolished and removed from the site’s
footprint. Since its construction in the 1950s, the iconic structure served as the home to several departments
including Human Resources, Engineering, Project Management, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs, and Security.
TIMELINE
10
X-100 Demolition
Moving Forward...
s Summer/Fall 2013 : X-600 steam plant, X-102
cafeteria, and the X-106 tactical response
buildings are demolished. A new gas-powered
steam plant goes on-line providing the site with
more reliable and efficient steam heat.
s Fall 2013 : PORTS D&D Project recognized as largest
shipper in the DOE complex to the Nevada Nuclear
Security Site (formerly the
Nevada Test Site.
s February 2014 : Fluor-B&W
employees achieve DOE
Integrated Safety Management
System (ISMS) Phase 2
Verification. ISMS Verification is
critical for moving forward with
field D&D work.
s November 17, 2014 : DOE hosts
public meeting at Waverly High
School to collect public
Officials from Fluor-B&W and the U.S. Department of Energy addressed
comments on Proposed Plans for
questions and concerns at the public meeting in November 2014. From left
the Process Buildings and
are Marc Jewett and Dennis Carr, Fluor B&W; and Dr. Vincent Adams and Joel
Complex Facilities D&D and the
Bradburne, Department of Energy.
Site-Wide Waste Disposition
Evaluation. The public comment
period extends from November 12, 2014 to March 11, 2015.
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP
12
The EM Program at the Piketon plant began in 1989. The
same year, the U.S. Department of Energy signed a
Consent Decree with the State of Ohio and an
Administrative Consent Order with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address the
environmental legacy from plant operations.
Major cleanup actions are being performed under
requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
provides day-to-day
oversight of the
cleanup at the site.
What is Trichloroethylene (TCE)?
TCE was used for many years at the
plant, as well as other industrial sites
across the country, as an industrial
cleaning solvent to degrease heavy
metal equipment.
GROUNDWATER PLUMES
More than
1,000
groundwater monitoring wells have been
installed around the 3,777-acre federal plant site to sample
and identify five separate groundwater areas, called plumes,
primarily contaminated with TCE. About 325 monitoring wells
are sampled regularly.
745 Million gallons of groundwater have been treated through four
on-site groundwater treatment facilities since the early 1990s.
of TCE have been removed from the groundwater.
36,481 Pounds
3,000 hybrid poplar trees were planted as part of an Ohio EPA-approved
groundwater cleanup remedy (phytoremediation) on the
southern portion of the plant.
All five groundwater plumes have ongoing groundwater treatment to
contain and reduce contamination - either by pump and treatment through
extraction wells and groundwater treatment facilities, oxidant treatment,
bioremediation or phytoremediation.
Why do we need to clean up the
TCE?
The use of TCE was discontinued in
the 1980s due to EPA concerns over
the carcinogenic potential of TCE. TCE
contamination in groundwater has
become an important environmental
issue at industrial sites.
Is TCE safe in drinking water?
The Maximum Contaminant Level for
TCE in drinking water has been set at
5 parts per billion (ppb) because EPA
believes, given present technology
and resources, this is the lowest
level to which water systems can
reasonably be required to remove
this contaminant should it occur in
drinking water. The regulation became
effective in 1989. Neither of the two
aquifers beneath the plant is being
used for drinking water at the site.
PLUME LOCATIONS
AT THE PORTS SITE
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP
14
X-749 Low-Level Waste Landfill
Closed & Capped - 1992
X-749A Classified Waste Landfill
Closed & Capped - 1994
Under the Environmental Management Program, the U.S. Department
of Energy has closed all five landfills on-site in accordance with
regulatory requirements. These landfills cover approximately 100
acres and long-term surveillance and maintenance monitoring of the
landfills continues today. The landfills were used for the disposal of a
variety of wastes such as construction debris, low-level contaminated
scrap materials, hazardous materials, classified materials, and sanitary
wastes. Under the scope of the D&D project, an additional on-site
disposal area is being evaluated as part of the overall waste disposition
strategy.
LAGOONS
Besides the landfills, a number of sludge lagoons, impoundments and
oil biodegradation plots have been remediated in accordance with
Decision Documents issued under the Consent Decree with the State
of Ohio.
X-611A Lime Sludge
Lagoon
Before
X-735 Sanitary Landfill
Closed & Capped - 1998
After
X-616 Sludge Lagoon
X-749B (Peter Kiewit) Landfill
Closed & Capped - 1998
Before
X-734 Construction Spoils Landfill
Closed & Capped - 2000
After
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP
15
A transportation staging area is located on the northwest
portion of the plant site to receive waste from site cleanup
efforts and prepare for shipment for final disposition.
Transportation to final treatment, storage and disposal facilities
occurs from this area. Shipments are made via truck and rail
transportation modes.
Lube Oil/Pyranol Disposition
Under Cold Shutdown:
5.7 million pounds of lubricating oils
and transformer oils
(totaling 576,000 gallons)
were removed from the gaseous diffusion plant.
Oils were shipped via 22 rail cars and 74 tanker
trucks to an off-site commercial treatment facility.
ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP
16
Waste
Disposition
By July 2013, more than 4.9 million cubic
feet of waste had been removed by Fluor-B&W
since March 29, 2011. If stacked on a regulationsize high school football field, this would be
enough to generate a pile covering the entire
field more than 58 feet high.
Waste removed from PORTS
Other
3%
Low-Level
40%
RCRA
2%
Sanitary /
Universal
30%
Recycle
27%
It would take 783 super gondolas (similar to the
ones pictured above) or 1,503 standard gondolas
to transport the 4.9 million cubic feet of waste.
These gondolas would measure 105,210
feet in length or approximately
19.9 miles.
The total weight of the waste removed
through the end of April 2015 is
equivalent to more than 22,250
automobiles with an average weight
of two tons apiece.
ARRA PROJECTS
American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act
Between 2006 and 2011, 25 inactive facilities
were removed to eliminate surveillance and
maintenance costs.
In mid-2009, the Piketon plant’s cleanup program
was allocated $118.2 million in funding under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
to help jump-start the local economy and provide
needed jobs in southern Ohio.
Five “shovel-ready” projects were identified for
accelerated cleanup and more than 400 workers
were hired to complete the projects.
2
Structure:
X-533 Electrical Switchyard
covering ~18 acres
Purpose:
During plant operations from
1954 until being de-energized in
November 2008, the Switchyard
received power from the Ohio
Valley Electric Corporation
system and then distributed that
power to the X-333 Process
Building and area auxiliaries.
Fast Fact:
Enough power made its way
through the X-533 Switchyard on
a daily basis to fulfill 12.5% of
the electrical needs for the
entire state of Ohio.
Completed: December 2010
Cost:~$24 million
17
1
Structure:
Purpose:
Fast Fact:
Completed:
Cost:
X-760 Chemical Engineering Building
Built in 1954, the building was formerly used
for pilot and bench scale studies on uraniumbearing materials and chemicals. The facility
also contained a lab to prepare environmental
samples for analysis.
The facility was demolished on schedule in
June 2010 resulting in an 8,000-square-foot
footprint reduction at the site.
June 2010
~$12.1 million
3
Structure:
X-633 Recirculating Cooling Water Tower
Complex covering ~20 acres
The Complex: Consisted of four separate cooling towers two built in 1954 and two in the late 1970s and one Pump House
Purpose:
The complex was designed to remove heat
generated during the uranium enrichment
operations that took place between 1954 and
2001. Approximately 689 million gallons of
water recirculated through the four cooling
towers on a daily basis during plant
operations.
Fast Fact:
Demolition of the complex resulted in
disposition of more than 738,000 cubic feet of
waste debris, with another 525 tons of materials being evaluated for potential reuse/
recycling.
Completed: July 2010
Cost:~$9.9 million
18
4
Project:
Repackaging and disposition of
excess uranium materials
Purpose:
The aim was to remove 2,900
metric tons of excess uranium
materials from the Piketon plant.
The material designated for
removal comprised about 78%
of the total excess materials
inventory stored in the Uranium
Management Center.
Fast Fact:
The uranium was received
between 1999 and 2002 from
the Department of Energy’s
Fernald and Hanford sites and
various universities to support
site closure activities and
consolidation of the surplus
material.
Cost: ~$23.3 million
Project:
X-701B groundwater plume source
removal
Purpose:
The project’s aim was to significantly
reduce the contaminant levels at the
site of a former holding pond at the
plant site. The plume source area had
been used for neutralizing and settling
waste waters from cleaning facilities.
Fast Fact:
Treatment of a 70,000-square-foot
area consisted of mixing sodium
persulfate oxidant into the soils that
were excavated to approximately 30
feet beneath the surface. The soils
were contaminated with
trichloroethylene (TCE). For more
details on TCE, see page 10.
Cost:
~ $40.5 million
ARRA PROJECTS
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) Project Locations
2
3
4 5
1
5
REGULATORY AGREEMENT
An agreement was signed in April 2010 between the
Department of Energy and the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency (OEPA) establishing a regulatory
framework for Decontamination and Decommissioning
(D&D) at the Piketon plant.
CERCLA Decision
Process
The CERCLA Site-Wide
Waste Disposition
Evaluation Project
includes the evaluation
of an alternative to
implement actions
for size reduction and
treatment of metals,
including thermal
treatment (melting),
to remove or reduce
contamination associated
with the metal that will
be generated from the
Portsmouth D&D Project.
19
Under the agreement, the D&D project will address
the buildings under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and
will address the soils and groundwater under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) law.
D&D OPERATIONS
20
DECONTAMINATION & DECOMMISSIONING
(D&D) BEGINS
September 27, 2011 (At right)
Less than six months after
assuming the D&D contract, FluorB&W achieves a major milestone by
removing the first of 206 arc chute
breakers from the
X-333 process building. The removal
marked the beginning of bulk
asbestos
abatement and demolition. A local
subcontractor was utilized in
performance of the work.
January 19, 2012 (At right, top, and below)
The inaugural lift of the first converter under the
deactivation project in the X-326 process building
occurred when Stage 1 converter was removed from the
second floor. The X-326 is one of three large buildings
housing the former uranium enrichment cascade.
A converter sits on the transport wagon
ready to be moved to the plating area.
A converter hovers in transport from the
cell housing during the lift. The component
was lifted out of the cell and set onto a
transport cart, where it was wrapped in
plastic to move to an area to plate (or
cover) the nozzles (openings on the
converter).
A converter is
visually inspected.
D&D OPERATIONS
21
April 2012 (At left)
A Trackmobile moved the locomotive and flat car on
the east side of the former X-533 Electrical Switchyard
to allow for refurbishing and strengthening of the tracks
inside the perimeter fence in advance of D&D efforts.
Outside the fence, Fluor-B&W replaced
approximately three miles of deteriorated railroad
track on the D&D project’s railway system in July 2012
(pictured middle left). Although the steel rail was in
good condition, many of the ties required replacement
before the tracks could safely be used.
The original railroad ties were considered low-level
waste and were transported to a nearby waste disposal
facility. The 22 miles of track installed in 1952 once carried
more than 100,000 freight cars to transport all of the
building materials needed for Site construction.
Track inside the fence is scheduled to be repaired in the
future.
Steam Plant Transition (Below)
A smaller, more efficient steam plant designated as
X-690 appeared on site in 2012 and paved the way for D&D
plans to be finalized for the X-600 steam plant (below left),
a fixture at the site since the mid-1950s.
The X-690 was built as a right-sized, efficient steam
plant with the capacity to provide 80,000 to 90,000 pounds
of steam per hour, compared to the X-600’s production
of 330,000 pounds of steam per hour with three coalfired boilers (manufactured in 1953). Due to the plant’s
age, related maintenance, reliability issues and pending
enactment of more stringent environmental regulations,
the X-600 would not be able to continue to efficiently meet
site demands.
D&D OPERATIONS
22
X-101 Medical Facility Demolition
August 2012
For many years, it was a place
for medical attention. On August
10, 2012, it officially became a
memory as demolition crews
removed the final pieces of the
X-101 Medical Facility as part of
the early stages of D&D.
Being a wooden structure
and containing no radiological
components, the building yielded
debris that could be quickly
picked up by the local waste
disposal company, Pike Sanitation,
and taken just a short distance to
the Pike County landfill.
X-101 BEFORE
X-101 AFTER
X-100 BEFORE
X-100 AFTER
X-100 Administration
Administration
X-100
Building Demolition
Demolition
Building
September 2012
The X-100 building was
initially constructed in the
1950’s to serve as the
temporary headquarters for
construction personnel to
build the rest of the plant.
Over the years however it
became an iconic symbol for
the site, serving as home to
plant managers,
administrative personnel, Human
Resources, Engineering, Project
Management, Nuclear Regulatory
Affairs, and Security.
Demolition took just over one
week.
D&D OPERATIONS
X-600 Steam
Steam Plant:
Plant: AA Site
Site Icon
Icon Goes
Goes Away
Away
X-600
In addition to demolition, asbestos abatement was conducted
inside the X-600 for a span of three weeks. When the asbestos
work was completed, the last of electrostatic precipitators was
removed so demolition could finally begin.
Before being shut down in October 2012, the X-600 facility
burned three truckloads of coal every day. In its prime years, the
X-600 handled up to 18 loads of coal, providing 92,000 pounds
of steam an hour from each of the three boilers. Its replacement,
the X-690 Steam Plant, reduces greenhouse emissions and
provides ongoing steam for the site.
23
August 2013
Since 1953, the coal-fired
steam plant stood as a testament
to on-going operations at the
plantsite, providing enough
heat to operate three massive
process buildings and numerous
maintenance and support
buildings.
When demolition activity
ended in September however,
the iconic structure as well as the
Steam Plant Shop Building and
the Ash Wash Treatment Building
were no more. Much of the
debris was sorted and surveyed
for potential contamination
while sanitary waste was
placed into roll-off
containers and transported
off-site for disposal on a
daily basis.
D&D OPERATIONS
24
X-624-1 Decontamination Pad Demolition
Demolition
August 2013
A 3,500 square foot staging
facility along Fog Road fell in
the fall of 2013. The X-6241 was built in 1991 to stage
soils generated during the
installation of the trench for
interim remediation measures
at the X-701B holding pond for
Little Beaver Creek. It was also
used temporarily as a 90-day
accumulation area for soils.
Most of the construction
debris consisted of steel and
concrete and, once verified to
be free of contamination, was
taken to a recycling facility. Any
other waste was shipped to an
appropriately permitted and/
or licensed off-site facility for
disposal.
The nearby X-624-1 Little
Beaver Groundwater Treatment
Facility was left intact.
X-106 Tactical Response
Building Demolition
X-744S Warehouse
Demolition
September 2013
Following sampling and characterization
activities, the X-744S warehouse was brought
to the ground eight days before its milestone
deadline in 2013. The structure once known
as the lithium warehouse because it once
stored lithium hydroxide was built in 1957 to
support plant operations.
It was moved in the mid-1970s to
make room for the former Gas Centrifuge
Enrichment Plant but finally met its demise
and removed from the site footprint.
The 50,000 square foot warehouse was
one of the non-Cold War Mission facilities
to be identified for demolition. Any waste
generated from the demolition that could not
be recycled was shipped to an appropriately
permitted and/or licensed off-site facility for
disposal.
September 2013
In less than two hours, workers pulled steel beams and block
walls of this former tactical response building to the ground.
Demolition was completed three days ahead of schedule with no
first-aid or recordable injuries.
The 6,200 square foot single-story structure was built in 1955 to
serve as a fire station for the Portsmouth site. Later, it was used by
Protective Force personnel for office space and storage. The facility
also contained a drying tower for hoses, locker rooms, a weapons
vault, and a main equipment room with five garage bays.
Thirty-seven loads of debris were taken off-site to an approved
landfill for disposal.
ASSET RECOVERY
Recovery and Reuse of Valuable Materials
s Approximately 2.2 million cubic yards of waste is to be
generated by D&D of the DOE facility in Piketon
s A large portion of material assets may be recovered.
s Through Asset Recovery, excess material including metals
can potentially be recovered and reused instead of being
lost to traditional disposal methods. This approach:
- Preserves the material value;
- Develops opportunities for beneficial reuse;
- Potentially provides many technical, socioeconomic,
and environmental benefits.
Partnership For Southern Ohio:
Asset Transition Agreement
s Agreement signed in February 2009, amended
in June 2010, between DOE and the Southern
Ohio Diversification Initiative, a
DOE-recognized Community Reuse Organization.
s Under agreement, non-radioactive scrap metals from
the cleanup are being transitioned to SODI for recycling with a portion of the
proceeds returned to the local communities to support economic development
initiatives in Pike, Scioto, Jackson and Ross counties.
s Program has generated more than $4.4 million and 300+ anticipated
regional jobs
 $600,000 in grants to four surrounding counties (as of April 2013),
including:
- $150,000 to a Scioto County industrial park upgrade project;
- $150,000 to Pike County for a $2.7M sewer expansion project;
- $150,000 to Jackson County for an airport upgrade project;
- $150,000 to Ross County for an industrial park upgrade project.
 Other recycling/reindustrialization accomplishments
- Well site to Village of Piketon;
- Transferred 1.8M pounds of excess personal
property, 100 vehicles;
- Pike County tie-in to site sewage project.
Protecting The Environment
s Saves energy;
s Preserves land and other natural resources;
s Avoids mining impacts associated with producing new metal
from ore;
s Supports Presidential Order to reduce wastes and greenhouse
gas emissions, and save energy.
25
26
Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) has been
generated in the United States since the 1940s as part
of the uranium enrichment process for both civilian and
military applications.
The DOE operated three gaseous diffusion plants
in three separate locations: Oak Ridge, Tennessee;
Paducah, Kentucky; and Piketon, Ohio.
 Production generated 700,000 metric tons of
DUF6, which is stored under DOE control at the
Paducah and Piketon sites.
 Piketon has 250,000 metric tons of DUF6 stored
in 24,000 cylinders; the remainder is at Paducah.
Depleted uranium has potential commercial
applications such as use in batteries, radiation shielding,
armor penetrating ammunition, counter weights,
semiconductors, catalytic converters, and in a class of
nuclear reactors known as fast reactors. However, none
of these applications are commercially viable, nor would
they use enough material to significantly reduce the
stored inventory.
DUF6 CONVERSION PLANT
DUF6 to:
 Uranium oxide, which has reuse potential or can
be disposed, and
 Hydrofluoric acid, which is sold, with sales
proceeds applied to offset production costs.
The life cycle to convert and disposition the entire
inventory of cylinders is approximately 20 years. This
project is an important component of DOE’s use of
cutting-edge technology to reduce the risk of waste
generated from the uranium enrichment process.
B&W Conversion Services is the operating contractor for
both DUF6 conversion plants located in Piketon, Ohio
and Paducah, Kentucky.
To allow for disposition of the stored conversion
products, Public Law 105-204 (July 1998) and Public Law
107-206 (July 2002) established the requirement for
DOE to construct facilities to convert the DUF6 to a safer
form.
Subsequently, DOE awarded a contract in 2002 to
design, build, and operate two plants (one each in
Piketon, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky) to convert the
Operations are monitored in a facility control room.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
28
The Public’s Role in the Project
The Portsmouth site
will undergo environmental
cleanup over the next
decade to permanently
close the former uranium
enrichment facility located
in Pike County, Ohio.
The U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) will provide
opportunities for the
community to become
informed and involved in
key decisions that will affect
the final cleanup of the site.
DOE’s goal is to reflect
the community’s vision
and priorities for the
Portsmouth site in final
cleanup plans. Members
of the public will have a variety of
options to learn more about the
site and provide input during the
decision-making process.
The environmental laws that
govern cleanup of the Portsmouth
site require public input in DOE’s
decision-making process. The Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency
(OEPA) oversees DOE’s work at the
site and must approve final cleanup
plans. Documents that reflect key
decisions must go through public
review, and public comments must
be satisfactorily addressed before
Stay Informed
Informed and
and Get
Get Involved
Involved
Stay
● Attend DOE public meetings to stay informed on progress and
upcoming decisions.
● Sign up for our mailing list to receive our topical fact sheets and
newsletters.
● Participate in the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board
meetings. Visit their website at www.ports-ssab.energy.gov.
● Read cleanup documents at the U.S. DOE Environmental
Information Center located at 1862 Shyville Road, Room 207, Piketon,
Ohio 45661.
● Share questions or concerns with your Envoy. Employee Envoys
engage public groups and organizations throughout the four-county
region.
● Comment on cleanup documents during official public comment
periods. Notifications of such comment periods are issued periodically.
To be notified, ensure that you are on our mailing list.
● Email us at [email protected] or call us at 888.603.7722
anytime with questions or concerns.
DOE and Ohio EPA issue final cleanup
plans. These final decisions will also
afffect how the Portsmouth site can
be used in the future.
Timely public input will help DOE
balance stakeholders’ vision and
priorities with its commitment to
clean up the site.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
29
Supporting
Our Communities
Site raises over $130,000 for United Way in 2014
$2,600 goes
goes to
to
$2,600
fight ALS
ALS disease
disease
fight
Employees ‘Pump Up The Pantry’
to the tune of almost $23,000
Nearly $5,000 raised
for breast cancer research
EDUCATION OUTREACH
30
Students get ‘hands-on’ with science
Each year since 2010, the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project
Office has sponsored a major
educational outreach event
welcoming 11th grade students
from throughout southern
Ohio to this former uranium
enrichment facility which
has played such an
important role in
America’s history. In
each of its first four
years, “Science
Alliance” has
welcomed an average
of 1,000 high school
juniors, teachers and
chaperones to
experience a unique
view of science,
technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM)
while also providing a firsthand look at the site D&D
mission. Through a series of
interactive learning stations,
information is presented to students
by professional engineers, scientists and
others who volunteer their time to make the experience an unforgettable
one for every student.
The DOE is committed to supporting local schools in the four counties
surrounding the site (Pike, Ross, Scioto and Jackson) and encouraging
students to pursue STEM careers. This event reinforces DOE’s focus on
supporting educational initiatives and teaming with local schools.
From the educators...
“After listening to our students and their feedback I can assure you they felt
the day was very interesting, fun and even beneficial to what they are or
will be studying in their science, math and tech classes.”
EDUCATION OUTREACH
31
DOE providing area students a
chance to shine on national stage
Competition was tense throughout the day as 32
teams battled for one regional title and the allexpense paid ticket to the national competition.
The third annual South Central Ohio Regional
Science Bowl was held March 13, 2015, on the
campus of Shawnee State University in Portsmouth,
Ohio. Team 2 from Chillicothe High School won
the event and earned the all-expense paid trip
from DOE to compete in the National Science Bowl
in April. The team is pictured with DOE’s Greg
Simonton (far left) and their coach Joshua Queen
immediately after the win.
For the second year in a row,
there were more schools and more
teams in the scholastic battle to see
who would come away with the 2015
title of Science Bowl’s South Central
Ohio Regional champion when the
Department of Energy’s third annual
competition was held at Shawnee State
University on March 13, 2015. The
educational outreach effort by DOE in
the local four-county area brought in
18 schools and 32 teams for the all-day
event, a substantial increase in both
areas from the inaugural event.
The event challenges teams
comprised of four students and
one alternate with questions from
the fields of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics. An
all-expense paid trip to the National
Science Bowl in Washington D.C. is
awarded to the regional champion,
bringing with it the opportunity to
compete against other champions from
around the United States.
This year’s winner was Team 2
from Chillicothe High School, coached
by Joshua Queen and represented by
Keegan Francis, Noah Wright-Piekarski,
Matthew Wagner, Dylan Crisp, and
Claire Schmitt.
DOE created the National Science
Bowl in 1991 to encourage students to
excel in mathematics and science and
to pursue careers in these fields.