As UCOR continues phasing in Type 2 hard hats across the Oak Ridge Reservation, your feedback is how we will continue to phase them in safely and efficiently without disruption to day-to-day operations. Over the past several weeks, we’ve shared why we’re making this transition, highlighted the extensive field evaluations conducted by our Nuclear Operations…
In this episode, project team members discuss conducting a two-year groundwater elevation study for the future Environmental Management Disposal Facility. The data collected from this study is crucial to finishing the facility’s design and enables the continued cleanup and transformation of the Y-12 National Security Complex and ORNL. Also featured is an innovative approach by…
The Transuranic Waste Processing Center (TWPC) received a shipment of shielded container assemblies (SCAs), allowing the facility to ship offsite the remote-handled waste that had been in storage. Without these containers, no disposal path existed for the remote-handled waste. To learn more, watch the video.
UCOR crews are characterizing and deactivating ORNL’s Building 3544, a former process waste treatment facility. Its eventual demolition will provide additional space for ORNL’s mission. To learn more, watch the video.
The ORNL Nuclear Operations team has made several accomplishments for the first half of this calendar year. The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment team successfully completed all phases of startup review requirements and will soon begin transitioning to the new Continuous Purge System, allowing for a better and more sustainable program. Buildings 2600 and 7961 storage…
UCOR has officially wrapped up a four-year risk reduction effort after removing 447 legacy containers from Y-12’s Alpha-4 building, bringing full-scale deactivation one step closer. The 447 containers had been stored at the former uranium enrichment and lithium separation facility since the 1990s, originating from multiple facilities across the Y-12 National Security Complex. They contained…
The June episode of Energycast features a discussion with UCOR employees who designed a simple tool that is accelerating cleanup at one of the most contaminated structures at ORNL and saving half a million dollars. Viewers are taken into the field to see what’s involved in preparing former research labs and nuclear facilities for safe…
Waste Transportation Program crews successfully installed and commissioned a new water truck automatic fill station at the ETTP Heritage Center waste transportation hub. The new system significantly improves safety and efficiency of water-truck-filling operations. The filling process is simplified by eliminating the need for drivers to manually connect and disconnect the hydrant hose. Drivers just…
The Waste Management team at the Oak Ridge Reservation Landfill (ORRL) recently completed removing accumulated fine soil particles (sediment) and reconstructing the Pond 2 forebay. Every couple of years, clean out is required to maintain the necessary pond capacity and functionality. Crews removed 85 truckloads of sediment from the pond and placed in an area…
UCOR’s ORNL D&D crews have begun their next phase of deactivation efforts at the former Isotope Development Laboratory, Building 3038—characterizing a legacy carousel system. That system was previously used in the facility for storing, handling, and packaging of high-level radioisotopes prior to shipment. Characterizing the legacy system poses accessibility challenges as crews can only access…