Nuclear reactor to be discarded
For years NASA and subcontractors have worked to take apart, clean and dispose of the nuclear reactor that was built to test potential spacecraft parts by exposing them to radiation. Although the reactor has not operated since 1973, the site is considered contaminated for purposes of cleanup.
The decommissioning has passed several milestones in recent months, according to a report by Project Manager Keith Peecook.
On Aug. 20, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission published its intention to approve NASA's Final Status Survey Plan, which explains how the space agency will meet the project goals and terminate NASA's license to operate the reactor, Peecook said.
The NRC approval was ''the keystone in our efforts to complete a safe and successful decommissioning,'' Peecook said.
At the end of August, NASA also issued a draft request for proposals for the decontamination and waste disposal contract.
That request seeks a contractor to handle ''all the major, remaining project tasks,'' Peecook said. A contract will be awarded this winter and work will begin in the spring.
Part of the final cleanup is completing decontamination throughout the entire facility, shipping and disposing of all packaged low-level radioactive waste on the site and excavating, testing and disposing of soil around the facility.
That contract also will include cleanup of the Pentolite Ditch, the drainage ditch that empties into Plum Brook and that carried trace amounts of Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60. Those elements in 2005 were discovered in Plum Brook, the first instance of finding detectable levels of radiation outside Plum Brook Station's 6,400-acre site.
NASA officials have repeatedly reported that the elements are not harmful to humans and this winter the space agency also will publish a fact sheet on additional sampling to find the radioactive elements in Plum Brook. As of June, consultant Bob Haag recommended leaving in place the cesium that had drifted into the East Sandusky Bay because they are away from frequent human access.
More information is available at www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/pbrf.
©The Morning Journal 2007
The decommissioning has passed several milestones in recent months, according to a report by Project Manager Keith Peecook.
On Aug. 20, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission published its intention to approve NASA's Final Status Survey Plan, which explains how the space agency will meet the project goals and terminate NASA's license to operate the reactor, Peecook said.
The NRC approval was ''the keystone in our efforts to complete a safe and successful decommissioning,'' Peecook said.
At the end of August, NASA also issued a draft request for proposals for the decontamination and waste disposal contract.
That request seeks a contractor to handle ''all the major, remaining project tasks,'' Peecook said. A contract will be awarded this winter and work will begin in the spring.
Part of the final cleanup is completing decontamination throughout the entire facility, shipping and disposing of all packaged low-level radioactive waste on the site and excavating, testing and disposing of soil around the facility.
That contract also will include cleanup of the Pentolite Ditch, the drainage ditch that empties into Plum Brook and that carried trace amounts of Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60. Those elements in 2005 were discovered in Plum Brook, the first instance of finding detectable levels of radiation outside Plum Brook Station's 6,400-acre site.
NASA officials have repeatedly reported that the elements are not harmful to humans and this winter the space agency also will publish a fact sheet on additional sampling to find the radioactive elements in Plum Brook. As of June, consultant Bob Haag recommended leaving in place the cesium that had drifted into the East Sandusky Bay because they are away from frequent human access.
More information is available at www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/pbrf.
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