EM update

[Marlin]

EM update

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOEOEM/bulletins/42409b9

[Core Content]

Major Deactivation Progress Moves Oak Ridge Reactor Closer to Teardown; Savannah River National Laboratory Wins Award for Nuclear Waste Management Innovation; and much more!

Crews at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are advancing the deactivation of the Oak Ridge Research Reactor by removing contaminated piping and lead shielding. This work follows the successful extraction of the reactor vessel, preparing the facility for eventual demolition and the modernization of the site's central campus infrastructure.

These efforts reflect the broader industry challenge of managing legacy nuclear sites through systematic decontamination and waste reduction. Simultaneously, Savannah River National Laboratory received an award for developing ceramic-metal composites for waste disposal, while Hanford personnel utilized evaporation techniques to create additional storage capacity for liquid radioactive waste.

Teams use a 20-ton overhead crane to lift a portion of a reactor vessel to pull it from the Oak Ridge Research Reactor facility. Its removal opened the door for major deactivation work to begin inside the facility.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has made significant headway deactivating the Oak Ridge Research Reactor since crews successfully removed its reactor vessel two years ago.

With the extracted vessel loaded into a 32,000-pound protective shipping cask for offsite disposal, crews shifted focus to address hazards in the basement of the large facility in the central campus of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), bringing the structure a step closer to demolition.

Read the full article at DOE Office of Environmental Management:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOEOEM/bulletins/42409b9