EM workers recently completed a big task involving a small item by safely removing a highly radiated segment of wire roughly the size of a straightened-out paper clip from a cleanup project at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The wire — only 3 to 4 inches in length — presented major challenges as crews cleaned out the East Cell Bank to get it ready for demolition next year. The hot cell structure is the last remaining component of the former Radioisotope Development Laboratory, also known as Building 3026.
Crews with the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) previously demolished the outer structure of the East Cell Bank and five other hot cells in the former laboratory over the past 13 years.
The cells were heavily shielded concrete rooms that provided researchers protection from radioactive material as they conducted research. The laboratory was built in 1945 to support isotope separation and packaging and was later used to examine irradiated reactor fuel experiments and components.
In the recent project at the East Cell Bank, the first challenge entailed locating and identifying the exact source of the elevated radioactive readings. Workers were operating through an opening atop the hot cell structure, approximately 25 feet from the floor where debris was located.
With other debris scattered in the room, searching for the segment of wire was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Once the wire was located, the next challenge was retrieving it.
The project team considered multiple options for safely packaging the radiological source to protect personnel during waste packaging, transportation and disposal. OREM cleanup contractor UCOR safely removed the component using a long-reach tool and placed it in a concrete-shielded 85-gallon drum. The drum was filled with cement and placed in a specialized container to be shipped for disposal.
Those tasks were performed in the concrete-shielded East Cell Bank, which is under a six-story protective cover that provides added safety measures.
“UCOR’s top priorities are the health and safety of its workers and ensuring that we are reducing risks at our worksites,” said Dan Macias, UCOR site integration and cleanup manager. “We are continually working to find safe, effective methods to reduce environmental risks to our workers and the community. The safe removal of this component underscores our commitment.”
The tiny packaged component is slated for shipment to an offsite disposal facility in coming weeks.
UCOR crews will continue removing additional waste from the East Cell Bank as they prepare it for demolition, which is scheduled for 2024.
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