Too big to believe: K-25 demolition approaching the end

OAK RIDGE One of the biggest nuclear cleanup projects in history is heading into the home stretch.

Most of the K-25 building, a mile-long, U-shaped structure that was the worlds largest building at the time of its construction during World War II, has already been demolished. All that remains is one section of what was the buildings east wing, and workers last week started removing the transite panels from its exterior.

URS-CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR), the U.S. Department of Energys cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, said more than 2,800 of the transite panels, which contain asbestos, must be removed before demolition can begin on the final section sometime this fall. Each of those panels measures 8 feet by 4 feet.

Safe completion of the transite removal will bring us one step closer to wrapping up the largest-ever demolition project in the Department of Energy complex, UCORs project manager Steve Dahlgren said in a statement.

Bechtel Jacobs Co., UCORs predecessor as cleanup manager, began the demolition of K-25 in December 2008. But the plans and preparations for the project began many years before that. All told, more than $1 billion has been spent on the cleanup project that generated massive volumes of radioactive and hazardous waste most of which was trucked to a landfill on a $20 million haul road constructed specially for this project.

UCOR took over the project Aug. 1, 2011, and since then more than 15,000 truckloads of rubble, gnarled equipment and debris have been hauled from the demolition site.

The part of the building thats still standing is contaminated with technetium-99, a radioactive material that decays slowly and poses some particular hazards if it reaches the environment. It was segregated from other parts of the building during the earlier demolition work to prevent the spread of contamination. Additional precautions will be required during its demolition and cleanup and waste disposal.

The transite removal is supposed to be completed in August, allowing demolition of the remaining section of the building to proceed sometime this fall.

The K-25 demolition is scheduled for completion in 2014.

The project has faced many issues over the past decade, ranging from large storms to ongoing criticism about the pace and cost of the work.

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Too big to believe: K-25 demolition approaching the end