project name: id-tra-603 material test reactor-d&d
TRANSCRIPT
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Project Name: ID-TRA-603 Material Test Reactor-D&D
Project Name (Expanded) Idaho TRA-603 Material Test Reactor D&D [Deactivation and
entombment of a 45,000 SF test reactor building along with 90,000SF
of associated laboratory an support buildings, including deactivation,
component removal, pressure vessel demolition and removal,
demolition of above-ground steel-frame and portions of below-ground
concrete structures, and grouting of all below grade voids]
Project Type: Building / Facility D&D Project Type
FIMS Hazardous Category: 04 Radiological Facility (previous Building Type 2)
Project Type Detail: Reactor - Test/Small Experimental
Supplementary Reference
Documents
Removal Action Report for the
Materials Test Reactor Building and Disposition of the Reactor
Vessel, August 2012
Action Memorandum for the Materials Test Reactor Facility End State
and Vessel Disposal, August 2007
Site Context:
The Idaho National Energy and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) site is in a 890-square mile
reservation in southeast Idaho, with significant extremes of weather. The initial INEEL mission as the
development and testing of nuclear reactors, first for the US Navy and then for a variety of other
programs. Facilities also supported the reactor training for Navy personnel and the processing of
military reactors cores to recover the uranium (the naval training is not part of the DOE mission). It also
includes numerous laboratories and legacy waste in burial grounds and various other storage
configurations. The current mission is science research, mostly in advanced reactor development,
environmental cleanup, support operations, and waste management. Contaminants include fission
products in dispersed and concentrated forms, and transuranic constituents. In particular, significant
quantities of buried TRU waste required repacking prior to disposal at WIPP.
ECAS Level 4/Parent Project Context:
The Parent Project grouping developed for this ECAS Project is based on actual cost data for the Idaho
Cleanup Project over the period of 2005 to 2016. This period included numerous projects and
operations, including D&D projects, environmental restoration projects, waste management projects and
operations, and numerous other site operations, activities, and overhead functions. It also included shifts
in WBS structure. The five projects chosen as part of this effort were completed D&D projects that
would best address deficiencies in the ECAS database.
The selected ECAS Projects are all are part of independent D&D efforts (i.e., not comingled with
extensive operations or waste activities), but some falling within different Level 2 site WBS elements.
The projects are given below, with the Level 2 WBS elements given in parentheses:
• ID-TRA-642 Engineering Test Reactor-D&D (P.3.D2, TRA/PBF D&D)
• ID-PBF-620 Power Burst Reactor-D&D (P.3.D2, TRA/PBF D&D)
• ID-TAN-607 Hot Shop/Manufacturing & Assembly-D&D (P.3.D1, TRN D&D)
• ID-TRA-603 Material Test Reactor-D&D (P.3.D2, TRA/PBF D&D)
• ID-TRA-632 Hot Cell Building-D&D (T.7.03, TRA/PBF D&D)
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D&D Facility Data:
Facilities (FIMS data where possible): Building
(Prop. ID)
Title (Property Name) Area
(SF)
Year
Built
Contam.
Cat.
Hazard Category 1 # Floors
TRA-603 Material Test Reactor Bldg. 44,724 1952 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 4
TRA-604 MTR Building Wing A 41,723 1952 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 3
TRA-610 MTR Fan House 3,217 1952 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 1
TRA-626 Maintenance Storage Building 1,472 1952 Not Avail. 12 Not Applicable 1
TRA-635 Reactor Services Building 23,703 1952 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 2
TRA-654 ETR Critical Facility 2,055 1959 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 2
TRA-657
MTR Contaminated Storage and
Enclosure 3,042 1952 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 1
TRA-661 Reactor Wing South Extension 8,459 1962 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 1
TRA-665 Neutron Chopper 20 Meter House 867 1962 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 1
TRA-668 Reactor Wing North Extension 3,650 1956 Not Avail. 04 Radiological Facility 1
TRA-709 MTR Air Intake Each 1952 Not Avail. 12 Not Applicable
TRA-710 MTR Exhaust Stack D&D Not in FIMS
TRA-784 Liquid Nitrogen Tank D&D Not in FIMS
Building
(Prop. ID)
Title (Property Name) Asset Type RPV Description Usage Code Disp.
Date
TRA-603
Material Test Reactor
Bldg.
501
Buildings Labs-Hard Eng (80/20)
793 Multifunction
Research/Lab Building 2011
TRA-604 MTR Building Wing A
501
Buildings Labs-Chemistry (80/20)
712 Chemical Laboratory
(Nuclear) 2010
TRA-610 MTR Fan House
501
Buildings Process Bldg-Small
593 Nuclear Waste Processing
And/Or Handling Bldg 2011
TRA-626
Maintenance Storage
Building
501
Buildings
Warehouse/Storage
(pre-eng 400 General Storage 2009
TRA-635
Reactor Services
Building
501
Buildings High-Bay Facility
591 Materials Handling Or
Processing Facility 2008
TRA-654 ETR Critical Facility
501
Buildings High-Bay Facility
792 Laboratory, General
(Nuclear) 2008
TRA-657
MTR Contaminated
Storage and Enclosure
501
Buildings Laundry
411 Nuclear Contaminated
Storage 2007
TRA-661
Reactor Wing South
Extension
501
Buildings Labs-Hard Eng (80/20)
792 Laboratory, General
(Nuclear) 2009
TRA-665
Neutron Chopper 20
Meter House
501
Buildings Hardened Storage
411 Nuclear Contaminated
Storage 2008
TRA-668
Reactor Wing North
Extension
501
Buildings
Labs-Physics/Comp
(80/20) 721 Physics Laboratory 2009
TRA-709 MTR Air Intake
550 Other
Structures
5009 Structures, Industrial,
Other 2008
TRA-710
MTR Exhaust Stack
D&D
TRA-784
Liquid Nitrogen Tank
D&D
Construction Details:
The reactor building (TRA-603) was located at the ATR Complex, which is part of the INL Site.
Historically, the ATR Complex was titled the Reactor Technology Complex and originally was known
as the Test Reactor Area.
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Line drawing showing the location of TRA-603 at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex.
The MTR building (TRA-603) was a steel-framed facility with a main floor, a basement, and two
above-grade floors. The facility measured approximately 130 × 131 ft and extended 75 ft above grade
and 38 ft below grade. The outer above-grade shell of the building consisted of vertical beams
supporting precast insulated concrete slabs. The building roof was also constructed of concrete slabs.
TRA-603 housed the MTR reactor monolith, which contained the reactor along with a storage canal,
subpile room, and an experiment cubicle in the basement. In addition, an attached three-story wing
contained the control room, a room to house associated electrical equipment, and offices for Operations
personnel.
To TRA-758 Leaching Pond
TRA-712 Retention
Basin
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Materials Test Reactor building (TRA-603).
MTR Reactor Vessel
The MTR reactor vessel was integrated into a monolithic structure that was located near the middle of
the TRA-603 main floor. The monolith contained various thermal and radiation shielding layers, ducting
for cooling, and instrumentation and experiment access ports (i.e., beam holes). The MTR reactor vessel
was housed in the center of the monolith and was constructed of five tanks, designated by letters A
through E.
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Photograph of the Materials Test Reactor monolith (circa 1955).
Line drawing of the interior of the Materials Test Reactor monolith.
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Tank D, which immediately surrounded the reactor core, and Tank C, located just above it, were made
of aluminum. Tank E was the lowermost tank and, like Tanks A and B—which composed the top of the
reactor vessel—was made of stainless steel. Like the topmost tank (i.e., Tank A), Tank E was coated
with tar and cast integrally into the concrete. Tanks B, C, and D were made to be removable from above
through Tank A. A stainless-steel extension to Tank A was added after original construction to
physically accommodate the experiment nozzles required for experiment access directly into the core
from above.
Graphite balls and bricks formed a neutron reflector immediately surrounding the core tanks. The
graphite was cooled by room air drawn in through the vents on the four faces of the biological shield,
toward the top. Cooling air exited the TRA-603 through ducting to an external fan house (TRA-610)
and then was discharged through a concrete and steel stack (TRA-710).
The graphite was surrounded by a thermal shield composed of two 4-in.-thick sheets of carbon steel
plate arranged with an air-gap between them. These steel sheets surrounded all six sides of the D tank,
which contained the core of the reactor. The purpose of this box was to protect the outer concrete
biological shield, which would degrade if exposed to heat, gamma, and neutrons. The concrete bioshield
on the exterior of the monolith allowed workers to work around and on top of the reactor without being
exposed to radiation. Additionally, lead brick was used to provide additional shielding in such areas as
the shielding facility located on the east side of the monolith.
Basement Level of the Reactor Building
The area of the TRA-603 basement was approximately the same as the main floor of the reactor
building above (i.e., 19,000 ft2). The basement contained the base of the MTR reactor monolith, a rabbit
canal and a storage canal, reactor drain tank and pump, various sumps, a pipe tunnel, offices, and work
spaces.
Rabbit and Storage Canal
The MTR storage canal was located directly below the reactor’s bottom plug and received fuel and other
reactor components. The canal was 185 ft long, 18 ft deep, and lined with stainless steel.
Basement Tanks, Vaults, and Sumps
Between 1952 and 1971, warm (i.e., radiologically) liquid waste generated in TRA-603 was collected in
the reactor building sump, the canal sump, and the pipe tunnel sump. The warm wastewater collected in
these units was discharged to the retention basin (TRA-712) and, subsequently, to the TRA-758 leaching
pond.
Reactor Building
The reactor building was designed to enclose the reactor structure and canal and to furnish space for
experimental facilities. An attached west wing provided balconies to overlook the main floor as well as
office space and the control room for operation of the reactor. The main floor of TRA-603 was enclosed
by the 75-ft-high reactor building. The framework of the building was structural steel, with the spaces
between the vertical beams fitted with precast insulated concrete slabs. The flat roof of the building was
also made of concrete slabs. A bridge crane resided in the overhead portion of the reactor building.
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Diagram of the TRA-603 basement.
Facility Use:
MTR was the second reactor built at the INL Site (formerly the National Reactor Testing Station), and it
was used to test the performance of materials in intense radiation environments. Every reactor designed
in the United States has been influenced by knowledge gained from the MTR. The U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission hired Fluor Company of Los Angeles, California, to build the MTR facility. Construction
on MTR began in May 1950. The reactor achieved its first criticality on March 31, 1952, and reached
full power on May 22, 1952.
MTR operated as a high-flux, 40-MW-thermal, pressurized light water, heterogeneous enriched fuel,
nuclear test reactor until operations ceased in April 1970. The reactor could achieve a neutron flux
greater than 4 u 1014 neutrons/cm2/second. As the name implies, the reactor was designed to allow
testing of materials in high-intensity radiation fields. More than 15,000 different irradiation experiments
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were performed in MTR, providing data that were critical in the development of safe reactor operations
and for testing components of future reactors.
The fuel was removed from the reactor in August 1970 and stored underwater in the MTR canal until it
was removed in October 2002 and sent to the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center
(INTEC) for storage. MTR fuel is currently stored in dry storage at the INTEC Irradiated Fuel Storage
Facility, located in building CPP-603. Final D&D of MTR began in 2006 and was completed in 2011
under the Idaho Cleanup Project, performed by CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC.
Processes causing contamination: See above
Contaminants of concern (including extent of contamination by major contaminant): Building Chemical Hazard Location/Extent Radiological Hazard Location/Extent
General
buildings
Asbestos, and
incidental RCRA
constituents; lead,
cadmium,
mercury; acids
and corrosives;
ACM Category I, and
Category II materials,
transite, and various
materials in operating,
laboratory and
mechanical areas.
Various
radionuclides,
including
transuranics and
fission products up to
High Rad and High
Contamination areas
Radiological survey results ranged from
background in administrative areas to
contamination areas, high contamination
areas, radiation areas, and high radiation
areas. Locations with elevated
contamination were associated with
mechanical areas, laboratory spaces, and
glove boxes
D&D Project Execution
Site WBS Organization within the ECAS Project Scope:
Final End State and PBF Vessel Disposal. The first-phase for the removal of the Power Burst Facility
(PER-620) consisted of disposing of low-level radioactive liquids that originated from PER-620. Much
of the asbestos, lead, cadmium, and polychlorinated-biphenyl-containing fluorescent light ballasts were
also removed and disposed of. In the second phase of decommissioning, the Power Burst Facility reactor
vessel was removed and the reactor building was demolished to below ground level. The removal action
also consisted of removing and disposing of remaining asbestos, lead, cadmium, and low-level
radioactive liquids and ensuring that materials left in place met the remedial action objectives. The
basements and excavated areas were then backfilled with soil, gravel, and demolition debris, and the
area was graded and revegetated.
The project chronology is shown below:
Date Activity
December 2005 Approval to proceed with preparation of MTR EE/CA (Provencher 2005)
June 2006 Began deactivation of TRA-603 and removal of hazardous materials
July 2007 Finalized MTR EE/CA (DOE-ID 2007b)
August 2007 Approval of MTR Action Memorandum (DOE-ID 2007a)
November 2008 Initial MTR reactor monolith demolition
December 2008 Removed MTR reactor vessel A and B tanks
January 2009 Began asbestos abatement of the MTR reactor vessel
November 2010 Removed MTR reactor vessel (C, D and E tanks) from MTR
January 2011 Transported MTR reactor (C, D and E tanks) to ICDF for disposal
April 2011 Began above-grade building demolition of TRA-603
August 2011 Completed TRA-603 (MTR reactor building) demolition
EE/CA engineering evaluation/cost analyses
ICDF Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility
MTR Materials Test Reactor
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In order to remove the reactor vessel, the MTR monolith surrounding the vessel had to be demolished.
This was not a simple task because much of the monolith was radioactively contaminated, and these
materials had to be removed without spreading contamination to other parts of the MTR building. The
monolith also contained lead and asbestos materials that needed to be removed. D&D of the monolith
was preformed much as one would peel an onion, starting with the outside and working toward the
reactor vessel located in the center.
Initial D&D of the monolith involved removing obstructions and attachments. Prior to removing the
monolith shielding, portions of the MTR vessel Tanks C, D and E were filled with grout to reduce the
radioactive dose from activated components located inside these tanks. Accessible lead and graphite
brick were then removed from various areas that penetrated the monolith because many of the
experimental access hold plugs contained lead shielding. Lead was also removed from the shielding
facility that was located on the east side of the monolith. The removed lead was disposed of as RCRA-
hazardous waste. The graphite bricks were disposed of at ICDF.
Deactivation and decommissioning of the MTR monolith began by removing the attached platforms.
The concrete biological shield forming the outer layers of the monolith was pulverized using a processor
equipped with a hydraulic hammer head. Barite concrete rubble removed from the monolith was used to
fill the MTR canal. Coolant lines, access-hole tubes, and other radiologically contaminated debris were
disposed of at ICDF. Most of the neutron-absorbing graphite balls were removed from the monolith
using the drain chutes and a vacuum system that was located in the basement of MTR, containerized,
and disposed of at ICDF. The void space where the graphite balls had been located was filled with grout
to provide additional radiological shielding.
D&D heavy equipment operators continued to demolish the monolith until the upper two reactor tanks
(i.e., Tanks A and B) were freed from the monolith. The lead plug was removed from Tank A and
disposed of as RCRA-hazardous waste. Tanks A and B were removed and transported to ICDF, where
they were disposed of as low-level radioactive waste.
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Processors with hydraulic hammers pulverizing concrete biological shield of the Materials Test Reactor.
Materials Test Reactor vessel Tanks A and B being removed from the monolith debris.
Once Tanks A and B were removed, all materials remaining outside of the thermal shield were removed
and disposed of. The inert concrete rubble generated from outside the thermal shield was used to fill the
MTR storage canal, and radiologically contaminated debris (e.g., coolant lines and access-hole tubes)
were disposed of at ICDF. The thermal shield consisted of a double-walled, six-sided steel box. Each
plate of the box was of 4-in.-thick carbon steel. The thermal shield was disassembled using cutting
torches and the processor. Inside the thermal shield were additional layers of neutron-absorbing graphite
blocks and residual graphite balls.
Tank E sat immediately below the reactor core contained in Tank D and was mostly embedded in
concrete below the main floor level. To remove the remaining portions of the reactor vessel, cutting
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torches and the processor were used to remove the bottom thermal shield and the concrete floor
surrounding Tank E. Once free, the reactor vessel (Tanks C, D, and E) was lifted to the main floor and
staged to allow lead removal from the bottom plug of the vessel.
Materials Test Reactor vessel Tanks C and D after the monolith and thermal shield were removed.
The Materials Test Reactor vessel staged on the main floor of the reactor building.
Disposal of the Reactor Vessel
After analysis to ensure that the reactor vessel was not TRU waste, the MTR vessel was transported
approximately 2.5 miles to ICDF, where it was lifted from the transport trailer and placed in the disposal
cell.
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The Materials Test Reactor vessel on a transport trailer bound for disposal at ICDF.
Rabbit and Storage Canal
The storage canal inside TRA-603 and the rabbit canal were backfilled with clean fill from borrow
sources on the INL Site and inert debris from areas within TRA-603. The storage canal extending
outside TRA-603 was demolished to 3 ft below ground surface (bgs) and backfilled with clean fill.
Basement Tanks, Vaults, and Sumps
The reactor drain tank, canal sump, and ancillary equipment located in the basement of the MTR reactor
building were characterized as RCRA-hazardous and were subject to RCRA closure. The sump below
the elevator and the hot effluent drain tank below the southeast stairway to the basement were filled with
grout; all other basement tanks, vaults, and sumps were filled with inert debris and/or backfill.
VH3 and HB-5 Cubicles and Other Basement Work Spaces
Hazardous materials (e.g., lead) were removed from the VH3 and HB-5 cubicles and other basement
spaces. The concrete floors were also cut and removed to gain access to lead shielding that shielded
buried drain lines. Asbestos throughout the basement was also removed. Radiologically contaminated
asbestos was disposed of at ICDF, and non-radiologically contaminated asbestos was disposed of at the
CFA landfill.
Basement End State
The west wall adjoining the TRA-604 basement was reinforced and sealed to support the weight load of
the inert debris and/or backfill that was placed into the TRA-603 basement. The other three basement
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walls were demolished to 3 ft bgs and backfilled with clean fill from borrow sources on the INL Site and
inert debris from areas within TRA-603.
Reactor Building
Demolition of the building began after the reactor removal by removing the concrete panels between the
structural beams. Explosive charges were used to drop the roof and bridge crane to the main floor of the
building. Processors then disassembled the steel framework of the reactor building and the office
attached to the west side of the building.
Aboveground portions of TRA-603 were demolished to a minimum of 3 ft bgs, and the resultant
demolition material was used as backfill or was disposed at ICDF. Materials left in place included inert,
non-putrescible material located below ground surface (e.g., piping, equipment, electrical conduit, utility
systems, and structural steel) and other residual clean and radioactively contaminated materials. Clean
soil was emplaced to cover locations where the reactor building had stood. The area over top of the
TRA-603 remains was graded to smooth the surface, then gravel was emplaced and rolled to stabilize
the surface.
Removing concrete panels from TRA-603.
In order to satisfy regulatory agreements, the MTR building had to be demolished to below ground
surface. The roof of the MTR building was over 75 ft above ground level and over 130 ft square,
making reaching that high and far with conventional demolition equipment difficult, if not impossible.
A professional explosive demolition company was contracted to bring the MTR roof, along with the
bridge crane, down to floor level, where sizing and waste handling could be performed in a safe and
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Processors demolish the steel framework of TRA-603.
West wall of TRA-603, including offices, ready for demolition, as seen through processor jaws.
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Processors working to demolition the TRA-603 reactor building floor.
Processors demolishing TRA-603 foundations to below ground surface.
efficient manner. The demolition company placed explosive charges so that the roof would be surgically
separated from the vertical structural skeleton of the reactor building walls. Charges were also placed to
sever the bridge crane supports to allow the crane to fall to the reactor building floor along with the roof.
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Methods of execution:
Management: The scope was planned, managed, and executed as a single element. Management
included technical and project oversight, planning, project controls, and quality assurance.
Regulatory: An EECA was prepared to determine the appropriate disposition alternatives.
Physical Approach:
• Initial characterization, and planning using detailed work packages
• Removal of process equipment - manually removed process equipment using various contamination
containment approaches and using hand-held power-tools.
• In place demolition of the reactor monolith, and intact removal of the lower portion of the reactor
vessel to the ICDF
• Abatement of asbestos from all friable sources (principally insulation and interior transite.
• Explosive removal of bridge crane and reactor building, and collection and disposal of the debris.
• Conventional demolition and loadout of remaining structures.
• Backfilling and grouting of basement areas and release of the area.
Technologies: Other than explosive demolition, the technologies were normal D&D activities.
Activities self-performed:
• All management and key technical positions along with a portion of the technical staff
• All of the Site hourly labor doing the physical removal of process equipment
• Decontamination of structural surfaces
• Waste management and disposal
• Used significant professional services contracted (i.e., seconded) labor inter-mixed with prime
contractor staff
Activities subcontracted:
• Removal of non-process equipment
• Characterization of surfaces prior to demolition, and sample analysis
• Waste treatment of mixed wastes (on-site and off-site)
• Demolition of structures
Issues that impacted the project:
• None; no “anomalies” were identified.
Scope Growth:
None identified.
Notes Regarding Use of Data
• Complete below-grade demolition not included in final scope.
• Use of concrete and debris as backfill for below grade spaces, and leaving decontaminated concrete
in place would reduce the generation of what would otherwise be LLW.