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Title: OPEN AIR DEMOLITION OF FACILITIES HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH PLUTONIUM

Abstract

The demolition of highly contaminated plutonium buildings usually is a long and expensive process that involves decontaminating the building to near free- release standards and then using conventional methods to remove the structure. It doesn't, however, have to be that way. Fluor has torn down buildings highly contaminated with plutonium without excessive decontamination. By removing the select source term and fixing the remaining contamination on the walls, ceilings, floors, and equipment surfaces; open-air demolition is not only feasible, but it can be done cheaper, better (safer), and faster. Open-air demolition techniques were used to demolish two highly contaminated buildings to slab-on-grade. These facilities on the Department of Energy's Hanford Site were located in, or very near, compounds of operating nuclear facilities that housed hundreds of people working on a daily basis. To keep the facilities operating and the personnel safe, the projects had to be creative in demolishing the structures. Several key techniques were used to control contamination and keep it within the confines of the demolition area: spraying fixatives before demolition; applying fixative and misting with a fine spray of water as the buildings were being taken down; and demolishing the buildings in a controlled and methodical manner. Inmore » addition, detailed air-dispersion modeling was done to establish necessary building and meteorological conditions and to confirm the adequacy of the proposed methods. Both demolition projects were accomplished without any spread of contamination outside the modest buffer areas established for contamination control. Furthermore, personnel exposure to radiological and physical hazards was significantly reduced by using heavy equipment rather than ''hands on'' techniques.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE - Office of Environmental Management (EM)
OSTI Identifier:
908296
Report Number(s):
HNF-32414-FP Rev 0
TRN: US0703659
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC06-96RL13200
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: THE 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION & RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT (ICEM) ASME INSTITUTE OF ROYAL FLEMISH SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS BELGIAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY 09/2/2007 THRU 09/6/2007 BRUGES BELGIUM
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; AIR; BUFFERS; CONTAMINATION; DECONTAMINATION; DEMOLITION; FLOORS; NUCLEAR FACILITIES; PERSONNEL; PLUTONIUM; RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT; SOURCE TERMS; WATER

Citation Formats

LLOYD, E R. OPEN AIR DEMOLITION OF FACILITIES HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH PLUTONIUM. United States: N. p., 2007. Web.
LLOYD, E R. OPEN AIR DEMOLITION OF FACILITIES HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH PLUTONIUM. United States.
LLOYD, E R. 2007. "OPEN AIR DEMOLITION OF FACILITIES HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH PLUTONIUM". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/908296.
@article{osti_908296,
title = {OPEN AIR DEMOLITION OF FACILITIES HIGHLY CONTAMINATED WITH PLUTONIUM},
author = {LLOYD, E R},
abstractNote = {The demolition of highly contaminated plutonium buildings usually is a long and expensive process that involves decontaminating the building to near free- release standards and then using conventional methods to remove the structure. It doesn't, however, have to be that way. Fluor has torn down buildings highly contaminated with plutonium without excessive decontamination. By removing the select source term and fixing the remaining contamination on the walls, ceilings, floors, and equipment surfaces; open-air demolition is not only feasible, but it can be done cheaper, better (safer), and faster. Open-air demolition techniques were used to demolish two highly contaminated buildings to slab-on-grade. These facilities on the Department of Energy's Hanford Site were located in, or very near, compounds of operating nuclear facilities that housed hundreds of people working on a daily basis. To keep the facilities operating and the personnel safe, the projects had to be creative in demolishing the structures. Several key techniques were used to control contamination and keep it within the confines of the demolition area: spraying fixatives before demolition; applying fixative and misting with a fine spray of water as the buildings were being taken down; and demolishing the buildings in a controlled and methodical manner. In addition, detailed air-dispersion modeling was done to establish necessary building and meteorological conditions and to confirm the adequacy of the proposed methods. Both demolition projects were accomplished without any spread of contamination outside the modest buffer areas established for contamination control. Furthermore, personnel exposure to radiological and physical hazards was significantly reduced by using heavy equipment rather than ''hands on'' techniques.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/908296}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Thu May 31 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}

Conference:
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