The decommissioning of the graphite moderated production reactors at the U.S. Department of Energy`s Hanford Site

Conference · Fri Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:106250

Spence, S T ^[1]

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1. Kaiser Engineers Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)

The approximately 1,450 km{sup 2} Hanford Site in Southeastern Washington State was commissioned for the production of special nuclear materials by the Manhattan District of the Army Corps of Engineering in 1943. Eight graphite-moderated, water-cooled reactors were constructed in five self-supporting complexes between 1943 and 1955. These reactors and their ancillary structures have been declared surplus and are in the process of being decommissioned by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors. The eight retired Hanford reactors will form the largest reactor decommissioning project undertaken anywhere in the world. However, numerous smaller facilities have been, or are currently being, decommissioned in the US and throughout the world. Additionally, through technology exchange, the DOE is building its base of decommissioning knowledge from projects currently underway in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and others, while sharing the DOE`s experience with these same foreign governments. This paper describes the eight reactors to be decommissioned, the alternatives, cost and schedules, estimated radiation exposure, and the experience leading up to this project.

• OSTI ID: 106250
• Report Number(s): CONF-930906--; ISBN 0-7918-0691-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
BIOLOGICAL SHIELDS
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
FUEL STORAGE POOLS
GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTORS
HANFORD PRODUCTION REACTORS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING
REACTOR DISMANTLING
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SURPLUS NUCLEAR FACILITIES
THERMAL SHIELDS