DECOMMISSIONING OF HOT CELL FACILITIES AT THE BATTELLE COLUMBUS LABORATORIES

Conference · Thu Feb 27 04:00:00 EST 2003

OSTI ID:826079

Weaver, Patrick; Henderson, Glenn; Erickson, Peter; Garber, David

Battelle Columbus Laboratories (BCL), located in Columbus, Ohio, must complete decontamination and decommissioning activities for nuclear research buildings and grounds at its West Jefferson Facilities by 2006, as mandated by Congress. This effort includes decommissioning several hot cells located in the Hot Cell Laboratory (Building JN-1). JN-1 was originally constructed in 1955, and a hot cell/high bay addition was built in the mid 1970s. For over 30 years, BCL used these hot cell facilities to conduct research for the nuclear power industry and several government agencies, including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Department of Energy. As a result of this research, the JN-1 hot cells became highly contaminated with mixed fission and activation products, as well as fuel residues. In 1998, the Battelle Columbus Laboratories Decommissioning Project (BCLDP) began efforts to decommission JN-1 with the goal of remediating the site to levels of residual contamination allowing future use without radiological restrictions. This goal requires that each hot cell be decommissioned to a state where it can be safely demolished and transported to an off-site disposal facility. To achieve this, the BCLDP uses a four-step process for decommissioning each hot cell: (1) Source Term Removal; (2) Initial (i.e., remote) Decontamination; (3) Utility Removal; and (4) Final (i.e., manual) Decontamination/Stabilization. To date, this process has been successfully utilized on 13 hot cells within JN-1, with one hot cell remaining to be decommissioned. This paper will provide a case study of the hot cell decommissioning being conducted by the BCLDP. Discussed will be the methods used to achieve the goals of each of the hot cell decommissioning stages and the lessons learned that could be applied at other sites where hot cells need to be decommissioned.

• Research Organization: Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• OSTI ID: 826079
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
AIR
CONTAMINATION
DECOMMISSIONING
DECONTAMINATION
FISSION
HOT CELLS
NUCLEAR POWER
OHIO
REMOVAL
RESIDUES
SOURCE TERMS
WASTE MANAGEMENT