Crews with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleanup contractor UCOR took the first step toward preparing a former waste treatment facility for demolition at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Office of Environmental Management
June 4, 2024
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Crews rerouted utilities as part of this project. In some cases, that involved excavating areas, pouring foundations and installing structural steel.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Crews with Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) cleanup contractor UCOR took the first step toward preparing a former waste treatment facility for demolition at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Workers at the Process Waste Treatment Plant, known as Building 3544, are isolating all potential energy sources to the building so deactivation crews can safely enter and perform work inside the facility.
“This was a notable achievement due to the complexities involved with this project,” said Greg McGinnis, ORNL area project manager. “The Building 3544 Complex is a key hub for three utilities that support ongoing operational Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations (LGWO) treatment systems.”
Workers cut and installed more than 500 feet of potable water and rerouted steam lines as part of the Building 3544 project.
Through coordination with UT-Battelle, ORNL’s management and operations contractor, workers completed all utility deactivations, including steam, electrical, and potable water. Electricians removed permanent power and installed temporary power to the complex for future deactivation work.
Crews excavated areas and installed foundations to support utility reroutes. They placed concrete forms and rebar, installed structural steel, and wrapped and insulated 500 feet of potable water piping. Workers also rerouted steam lines and installed a new steam station.
A view of Building 3544, which was constructed in 1976. It has been shut down since 2021 when the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management finished installing upgrades that moved operations to Building 3608.
Constructed in 1976, Building 3544 had exceeded its design life and posed one of the biggest risks to operations at LGWO.
The LGWO system is critical to ORNL’s ongoing missions, and any outage would result in immediate impacts at the site. It contains three waste treatment systems that collect, treat and reduce the volume of liquid and gaseous waste across the laboratory. It encompasses more than 60 facilities and 27 miles of piping that process waste generated from cleanup operations, research and development laboratories, and active and deactivated nuclear reactors.
LGWO previously had two Process Waste Treatment Complexes. Building 3608 treated non-radiological wastewater, while Building 3544 treated radiological wastewater. However, recent installations and upgrades consolidated all treatment into a single facility at Building 3608.
Those investments have paved the way for OREM to eliminate the old, contaminated infrastructure at Building 3544, enhance efficiency and costs savings associated with waste treatment and enable modernization at the site.
-Contributor: Carol Hendrycks
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