DEMOLISHING A COLD WARE ERA FULE STORAGE BASIN SUPERSTRUCTURE LADEN WITH ASBESTOS

The K East (KE) Basin facilities are located near the north end of the Hanford Site's 100 K area. The facilities were built in 1950 as part of the KE Reactor complex and constructed within 400 meters of the Columbia River, which is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and by volume the fourth largest river in the United States. The basin, located adjacent to the reactor, was used for the underwater storage of irradiated nuclear fuel discharged from the reactor. The basin was covered by a superstructure comprising steel columns and beams, concrete, and cement asbestos board (CAB) siding. The project's mission was to complete demolition of the structure over the KE Basin within six months of turnover from facility deactivation activities. The demolition project team applied open-air demolition techniques to bring the facility to slab-on-grade. Several innovative techniques were used to control contamination and maintain contamination control within the confines of the demolition exclusion zone. The techniques, which focused on a defense-in-depth approach, included spraying fixatives on interior and exterior surfaces before demolition began; applying fixatives during the demolition; misting using a fine spray of water during demolition; and demolishing the facility systematically. Another innovative approach that made demolition easier was to demolish the building with the non-friable CAB remaining in place. The CAB siding covered the exterior of the building and portions of the interior walls, and was an integral part of the multiple-layered roof. The project evaluated the risks involved in removing the CAB material in a radiologically contaminated environment and determined that radiological dose rates and exposure to radiological contamination and industrial hazards would be significantly reduced by using heavy equipment to remove the CAB during demolition. The ability to perform this demolition safely and without spreading contamination (radiological or asbestos) demonstrates that contaminated structures can be torn down successfully using similar open-air demolition techniques

DEMOLISHING A COLD-WAR-ERA FUEL STORAGE BASIN SUPERSTRUCTURE LADEN WITH ASBESTOS

The K East (KE) Basin facilities are located near the north end of the Hanford Site's 100 K area. The facilities were built in 1950 as part of the KE Reactor complex and constructed within 400 meters of the Columbia River, which is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and by volume the fourth largest river in the United States. The basin, located adjacent to the reactor, was used for the underwater storage of irradiated nuclear fuel discharged from the reactor. The basin was covered by a superstructure comprising steel columns and beams, concrete, and cement asbestos board (CAB) siding. The project's mission was to complete demolition of the structure over the K East basin within six months of tumover from facility deactivation activities. The demolition project team implemented open-air demolition techniques to demolish the facility to slab-on-grade. Several innovative techniques were used to control contamination and maintain contamination control within the confines of the demolition exclusion zone. The techniques, which focused on a defense-in-depth approach, included spraying fixatives on interior and exterior surfaces before demolition began; applying fixatives; misting using a fine spray of water during demolition; and demolishing the facility systematically. Another innovation that aided demolition was to demolish the building with the non-friable CAB remaining in place. The CAB siding covered the exterior of the building, portions of the interior walls, and was an integral part of the multiple layered roof. The project evaluated the risks involved in removing the CAB material in a radiologically contaminated environment and determined that radiological dose rates and exposure to radiological contamination and industrial hazards would be significantly reduced by removing the CAB during demolition using heavy equipment. The ability to perform this demolition safely and without spreading contamination (radiological or asbestos) demonstrates that similar open-air demolition ofcontaminated structures can be performed successfully