Idaho Site Kicks Off First Phase of Demolition Work at Naval Reactors Facility

NEW VIDEO ALERT: Watch this time-lapse video of EM's Idaho National Laboratory Site crews removing buildings B608 and 625 at the Naval Reactors Facility. Below-grade work continues. Decontamination and demolition crews are pictured using heavy equipment to take the first "bites" out of buildings B608 and 625.

D&D Manager Mike Swartz, with EM contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition, and his team have commenced the takedown of buildings B608 and 625, two minor support structures at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF).

The 10,000-square-foot, single-story buildings were used for training and maintenance activities to support the Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse (S1W) reactormission. The S1W reactor was the prototype power system for the USS NAUTILUS, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. It was shut down in 1989.

In June, Swartz's team of operators cordoned off a 2-acre area near NRF to practice using heavy equipment, such as universal processors, front-end loaders and huge excavators that would be used to dismantle support structures, tear out a concrete slab, remove mercury contamination and complete asbestos abatement at buildings B608 and 625. The team affectionately called the area the "play pen."

"The training at the play pen, with all of the same heavy equipment, made the transition to actual demolition effortless and inherently safer," Swartz said.

Swartz's crew is clearing the area around the S1W reactor building. The work includes removing the two, joined support buildings to prepare for the larger task of D&D of the major S1W reactor building.

Non-contaminated debris generated during D&D activities will be transported to the site's Central Facilities Area Landfill for disposal, while contaminated items will be disposed at the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility, EM's 510,000-cubic-yard, onsite lined landfill. CERCLA stands for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

"This D&D project is being conducted in a safe, compliant and cost-effective manner," said Nicole Badrov, supervisor of the DOE-Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP) CERCLA and D&D programs. "It demonstrates an effective partnership between DOE-ICP, Naval Reactors and IEC."

Next week, EM, the state of Idaho, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to issue an engineering evaluation and cost analysis for public comment that will evaluate a range of alternatives for the major prototype facilities - the S1W and A1W reactor buildings, the reactor vessels and the submarine prototypes.

Supervisor Duston Lords said he's enthusiastic about the D&D work.

"I look forward to continuing the legacy of safe risk reduction at the site," Lords said.