Demolition of Fort Greely’s old nuclear plant to begin this year

Many of nan nuclear-power components of nan aged SM-1A are encased successful actual successful nan building that still stands astatine Fort Greely. (U.S. Army photo)

The Army Corps of Engineers has decided to statesman demolition of Fort Greely’s long-mothballed atomic powerfulness works this summer, a twelvemonth earlier than planned. That intends trucks will statesman hauling building debris off-site this fall.

The SM-1A atomic powerfulness works was taken off-line backmost successful 1972, and nan astir radioactive reactor components were removed. More than 50 years later, nan building that housed nan reactor is scheduled for demolition.

On Tuesday, nan caput of a Corps of Engineers squad successful complaint of nan dismantling and decommissioning task gave a circuit of nan aged powerfulness works for a group of authorities and national elected officials’ staff.

Program Manager Brenda Barber provided a task update, including Corps of Engineers determination to hold enclosing nan buildingin a large shelter to facilitate year-round work.

“We’ve had immoderate challenges pinch respect to getting that up and running,” she told unit from U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s agency and from authorities Rep. Ashley Carrick and authorities Sen. Robert Myers. Rep. Mike Cronk besides participated successful nan tour.

Barber said nan original scheme was to erect a ample weatherproof enclosure connected apical of shipping containers, but that raised concerns astir imaginable earthquake, snowfall and upwind damage, “and whether aliases not that upwind enclosure would enactment unchangeable connected apical of those conexes during immoderate of nan terrible upwind that occurs here.”

That led nan Corps’ squad to reconsider really to screen nan works pinch nan enclosure, and nan vapor containment aliases VC building that towers complete facility.

“That intends we person to destruct immoderate of nan tallness concerns, peculiarly pinch nan vapor containment structure,” she said, “so that nan shelter tin wholly encompass nan site, nan measurement we intended it to do.”

Barber says nan Corps’ squad now proposes to partially dismantle nan VC building and region an aged quonset hut adjacent to nan works this summertime and group up nan enclosure complete nan tract adjacent year. Demolition activity would past proceed done nan winter. Barber says nan “re-sequencing” of nan activity includes moving up asbestos removal to this year.

“So this intends that nan organization connected guidelines will spot immoderate demolition activity that we primitively hadn’t planned to do this year,” she said successful an question and reply aft nan tour.

The activity requires nan Corps to show nan demolition discarded for asbestos and low-level radiation sooner than initially planned.

“That will see each of our biology monitoring and each of our radiological monitoring connected very early, successful August,” she said.

The materials being removed and taken off-site are classified arsenic low-level radioactive waste. But initially, immoderate of nan discarded will beryllium inert, she added.

“All nan debris that’ll beryllium leaving now will beryllium conscionable metallic from nan demolition, immoderate wood debris – fundamentally building debris.”

Barber says nan Corps needs support from nan Army Reactor Office earlier activity nether nan caller schedule tin begin. If they get nan go-ahead, demolition will commencement this summertime pinch trucks hauling distant debris starting successful nan fall.

“So it’ll beryllium a motortruck carrying what we telephone an intermodal container,” she said. “It’s very akin successful size and look to a SeaLand instrumentality that you’d typically spot connected a barge.”

An mean of 2 trucks per week will carrier containers to Fairbanks, wherever they’ll beryllium transferred to Alaska Railroad cars for transportation to Anchorage aliases Whittier. From there, they’ll beryllium barged to Seattle, past railroaded to a hazardous discarded installation successful Texas.

Barber says nan re-sequencing of activity should alteration nan Corps to complete nan dismantling and decommissioning of nan powerfulness works by nan extremity of 2029, nan antecedently group goal.

She says nan agency will clasp nationalist meetings connected nan caller schedule successful July aliases August to fto nan nationalist cognize astir nan caller scheme for dismantling nan aged SM-1A.