RICHLAND, Wash. - Hanford Site crews expect to finish tearing down the Plutonium Reclamation Facility, a major building of the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP), in June.
Meanwhile, workers are scheduled to begin knocking down the plant’s main processing facility and that facility’s ventilation building and stack in May. Demolition of the entire plant complex is expected to be complete by September 2017.
Empty space between two large buildings marks the former location of the Americium Recovery Facility (ARF), also known as the “McCluskey Room." EM Richland Operations Office (RL) and contractor CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company recently finished demolishing the first of four primary buildings making up the PFP to be demolished.
Watch this time lapse video of the ARF demolition.
“Safely demolishing this building was just the final phase of a lot of hard work by many employees," said Tom Bratvold, CH2M Vice President for the Plutonium Finishing Plant Closure Project. “That teamwork will continue as demolition progresses through the rest of the complex, ultimately reducing risk on the Hanford site."
The ARF was used for separating radioactive americium and other operations during the plant’s Cold War plutonium production. It became known as the McCluskey Room following a 1976 chemical reaction and explosion that severely hurt Harold McCluskey, who was working inside at the time. He received a high dose of radioactive americium. McCluskey died 11 years later of unrelated causes. The facility never operated again following that 1976 incident.
“Completing demolition of this building was years in the making and is both historic and a significant risk reduction," said Tom Teynor, RL project director for PFP demolition. “It closes the chapter on one important piece of Hanford history."
Preparing the room for demolition required years of work. Employees decontaminated the facility and cut up and removed glove boxes and other pieces of processing equipment. Workers researched, trained and deployed protective gear and breathing equipment never before used onsite in order to finish demolition preparations. Watch this video of crews preparing to enter the facility to begin final cleanout.
Additional demolition photos are here.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
