Historic Facility

["Estabrooks, Bates (IHK) " <IHK@Y12.doe.gov>]

Thought that Radsafers might find the following article interesting.  It

mentions one "our own."



I'll bet you thought that only Saddam had these.

  

Bates Estabrooks

P.O. Box 2009

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

865-574-7376

865-241-5780 (Facsimile)

ihk@y12.doe.gov <mailto:ihk@y12.doe.gov> 

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Story last updated at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, August 9, 2002



Fate unclear for signature Manhattan Beta-3 facility 

by R. Cathey Daniels 

Oak Ridger staff 

There are two-of-a-kind in the world, and one may be on its way out of

operation. 

Unfortunately for the so-called Beta-3 calutron building in Oak Ridge, it's

slated to be the odd operation out. 

The production-level electromagnetic isotope enrichment facility, operated

by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been in cold stand-by at the Y-12

National Security Complex since 1999. 

The other facility is located in Sverdlovsk, Russia, and should the Oak

Ridge production capability be destroyed, the Russian facility would possess

the sole capacity of producing approximately 110 stable isotopes that can't

be produced by any other enrichment technique, according to documents

provided by the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee. 

"Certainly this is an issue with national interest if not national

security," said Susan Gawarecki, executive director. 

The isotopes include those used in many cancer and medical studies,

including prostrate, bone and soft tumor cancers as well as cardiac imaging,

coronary restinosis and Hodgkin's disease. Other stable isotopes produced

include those used for electronics and explosive detection and atomic clocks

for geo-positioning and cellular phone systems. 

ORNL continues to sell isotopes out of inventory, but the supply is being

diminished. From 1995 to 1998 the facility operated at a profit, according

to the documents. 

However, the DOE is poised to drain cooling fluid from the calutrons which

would "permanently disable" the machines, according to a June 27 letter

Gawareck sent to U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican. 

"This facility is not very costly to maintain and operate, compared to the

cost of restoring its function," wrote Gawarecki. "A reasonable solution to

this problem would be to allow the National Nuclear Security Administration

to take over ownership of the building and facility and continue to allow

ORNL to operate it. This would preserve the technical capabilities of the

process without damaging the facility's historical integrity." 

Officials at Y-12 are already renting space in Building 9204-3 for

unclassified, non-hazardous materials storage, and have considered it for

office and other uses. 

Frank Juan, ORO spokesman, said this morning that draining of the calutrons

should occur sometime in the next two to three weeks. 

"The draining is going to happen, and once the machines are drained they'll

go into a storage situation," said Juan, who noted it is unclear who will

wind up owning the facility. 

"It's not in the Environmental Management portfolio right now, and it's

unclear whether it will go that way or to NNSA or to the Office of Science. 

"Discussions on that will begin in earnest once the draining is completed,"

he said. 

The building is owned by DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, and in 1999 that

office declared the facility a surplus and requested transfer to the Office

of Environmental Management. 

According to the documents, Environmental Management reviewed the facility

in 1999 and specified 10 criteria to be met prior to transfer. 

Criteria included draining all mineral cooling oil from the magnets;

draining all the transformer oil and removing the capacitors from all the

power supplies; removing all chemicals, precious metals and nuclear

materials; and removing all unattached items in the facility. 

"There's no reason to drain this oil and cause the internal components to

rust, which would permanently disable these calutrons," said Gawarecki.

"They are still usable, so why not keep the oil in them and keep them

moth-balled? There's no difference in maintenance costs." 

Expense of meeting the decommissioning criteria has been a hurdle for

transfer, according to the documents, as well as compliance with the

National Historic Preservation Act, since the calutrons have been identified

as one of the eight "signature facilities" of the Manhattan Project. 

Gawarecki recently nominated the Beta-3 building for the American Nuclear

Society's "Nuclear Historic Landmark Award." That award was established in

1985 to memorialize sites where outstanding physical accomplishments took

place, and that were instrumental in advancing and implementing nuclear

technology, as well as peaceful uses of nuclear technology. 

For about 20 years the calutrons have operated intermittently as funding

permitted, generally in two- to three-year cycles, according to the

documents. During that time the commercial market was traded back and forth

with Russia, which, according to the documents, had the edge in pricing

while Oak Ridge had the edge in "quality, reliability and the availability

of related chemical and materials special processing." 



R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or

danielsrcd@oakridger.com <mailto:danielsrcd@oakridger.com> .



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