Crews Are Midway Through Brookhaven Reactor Stack Demolition

UPTON, N.Y. – Demolition of the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s High Flux Beam Reactor (HFBR) exhaust stack is underway. EM crews are performing the work using a patented concrete chimney demolition system, which is pictured in operation at the top of the stack. This safe and effective system allows for demolition from the top of the stack down to the base. The system requires a crane for installation and removal of the equipment, and is supported by the stack itself during demolition operations. Debris is controlled by using the system to direct the center of gravity of the debris to the inside of the stack, away from the personnel access platform. The distinctive 320-foot-tall, red-and-white stack was used for a small research reactor that DOE shut down more than 20 years ago. The HFBR provided a source of neutrons for multidisciplinary scientific research in materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics. Removal of the HFBR stack will mark the completion of the EM cleanup scope at Brookhaven required by a 2009 Record of Decision.