Major reactor vessel from Oak Ridge National Lab shipped to Utah

Carol Hendrycks
Updated ·2 min read

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) crews have completed cleanup associated with the demolition of a major reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Workers finished the teardown of the Low Intensity Test Reactor and disposition of rubble and debris from the facility last fall, achieving an EM priority that year. However, the reactor vessel remained on the building’s footprint until it could be shipped for final disposition offsite.

In April, employees loaded the 30-foot-long, 37,600-pound vessel onto a truck and shipped it to a facility in Clive, Utah, for final disposition.

Known as Building 3005, the reactor was built in 1949 as a criticality testing facility that used highly enriched fuel with water as a coolant. It operated until 1968. Researchers used the reactor in numerous experiments through the years, and the core was often reconfigured to perform those experiments.

UCOR employees use a crane to load the 30-foot, 37,600-pound Low Intensity Test Reactor vessel for transport to its final disposition location in Clive, Utah. The shipment was successfully completed in April.
UCOR employees use a crane to load the 30-foot, 37,600-pound Low Intensity Test Reactor vessel for transport to its final disposition location in Clive, Utah. The shipment was successfully completed in April.

EM cleanup contractor UCOR characterized and sampled the reactor, employing multiple modeling software programs to develop the final characterization. That enabled employees to identify how to safely transport and dispose of the reactor.

“Completion of decontamination and transporting the reactor vessel for disposition is a big accomplishment that presented technical difficulties and a unique safety focus to finalize the cleanup at the Building 3005 site,” UCOR Project Manager Greg McGinnis said.

Workers backfilled the pit where the vessel was removed and completed repairs needed on the footprint.

Workers fill the pit where the Low Intensity Test Reactor vessel once stood. It was one of the final tasks associated with the cleanup project, clearing space to support two upcoming U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management demolition projects.
Workers fill the pit where the Low Intensity Test Reactor vessel once stood. It was one of the final tasks associated with the cleanup project, clearing space to support two upcoming U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management demolition projects.

“Completing these final tasks are crucial to our ongoing efforts at ORNL,” said Acting ORNL Portfolio Federal Project Director Jim Daffron. “Clearing and backfilling this area gives our employees a staging area to support safe and efficient demolition for our next two major projects.”

Workers are deactivating the Graphite Reactor support facilities and the Oak Ridge Research Reactor, which are adjacent to the footprints of the Low Intensity Test Reactor and Bulk Shielding Reactor.

These projects are continuing EM’s mission to eliminate risks and transform the heart of ORNL to enable future research missions and growth at the site.

Carolyn Hendrycks is a member of the UCOR communications staff.

An aerial view of the footprint of the Low Intensity Test Reactor after U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews demolished it. Crews have since shipped the reactor vessel and backfilled the pit where the facility had stood.
An aerial view of the footprint of the Low Intensity Test Reactor after U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews demolished it. Crews have since shipped the reactor vessel and backfilled the pit where the facility had stood.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Major reactor vessel from Oak Ridge National Lab shipped to Utah