Incorporation of pollution prevention and waste minimization practices during the decommissioning of Building 310 at Argonne National Laboratory-East Page: 3 of 5
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process flow for evaluating a project and corresponding P2/Wmin
opportunities. The detailed information to support P2/WMin
evaluations is contained in the appendix and provides the user with
case studies, specific objectives, and examples of P2/WMin initiatives.
Worksheets assist project personnel in evaluating their D&D project
and P2/WMin opportunities.
FACILITY BACKGROUND
The Building 310 service floor retention tank facility was
originally installed over 30 years ago. The facility consists of three
rooms containing three tanks each and a larger room containing one
tank, for a total of ten tanks. Each tank has a 3300 gallon capacity and
weighs approximately 6700 pounds. The dimension of each tank is
roughly 13' in length by 7 1/2' in diameter. The primary purpose of
the tanks was to act as excess storage capacity for the Building 306
tanks, but they were infrequently used for this purpose. The major
isotopes of concern are Cs-137, Sr-90, Am-241, and Pu-239. The
"Characterization Report of the Building 310 Retention Tanks" also
found notable quantities of U-238, U-234, and U-235. The tanks were
reportedly isolated about 15 years ago when it was decided that the
excess capacity was no longer required. The tanks have remained
dormant since then.
Access to the tanks is by a metal grate walkway about one meter
above the floor in each room. An access tunnel and a pipe tunnel
connect the tanks to the Building 306 service floor "tank farm." The
pipe tunnel runs under the paved area south of Building 310 to a space
under the Building 306 north dock. This tunnel was sealed at the
Building 306 end; in Building 310 the access is blocked by a steel
grate.
SCOPE OF D&D WORK TO BE PERFORMED
The Building 310 project involves the D&D of tanks, piping
tunnels, and walls. The scope of work focuses on three categories of
waste materials that include non-structural steel, concrete, and soils.
The non-structural steel consists of piping and tanks. The concrete
walls and flooring and the adjacent soils are included in the concrete
and soil categories, respectively.
The pipe tunnel contains contaminated stainless steel piping,
non-stainless steel piping, associated hangers, drains, concrete, and
adjacent soil. Once everything is removed and the area surveyed for
residual contamination, this area will be back-filled with gravel and
paved over with blacktop.
The ten retention tanks are contaminated on both the inside and
the outside. Four of the ten tanks have water and sludge inside that
will be cleaned out by ANL-E Waste Management Operations
personnel prior to the start of other activities. Once these four tanks
are emptied, all ten tanks will be decontaminated on the outside.
Piping will be disconnected from the tanks and all pipe penetrations
leading to or from the tanks will be sealed with blind flanges or other
means as required. After the tanks have been disconnected from their
floor supports, they will be ready for removal from Building 310.
An excavation contractor will be mobilized at this time and a
trench will be dug along the entire length of the south wall of Building
310. The south wall has access to the retention tanks by way of four
separate "knock-down" walls which will be replaced at the end of theproject. Prior to removal of the knock-down walls, all contamination
will be removed from the walls and areas of work where disturbance
of the structure may result in spread of contamination. Although the
air in Building 310 will be continuously monitored for radioactivity
with continuous air monitors (CAMs), the intent during this project is
to eliminate any airborne radiation and thereby eliminating the
associated cost of secondary containment. After the knock-down
walls have been removed, the tanks will be removed from the building
by either the ANL personnel or the excavation contractor.
Once removed, the tanks (which are currently thought to be
glass-lined on the inside) will be loaded onto trucks. A recycling
vendor will either decontaminate them as "clean" scrap or smelt them
in order to reuse the material as shield blocks for other nuclear
facilities. In accordance with the requirements of 49 CFR DOT
transportation regulations, the tanks, which contain radioisotopes, will
be shipped as strong, tight containers, thereby eliminating the need for
additional shipping containers. The radioisotope inventories have
been quantified by Argonne National Laboratory health physicists as
part of a characterization performed in 1996.
After removal of the tanks, the tank supports, miscellaneous
piping, HVAC ductwork, catwalks, etc. will be removed. The method
of disposal will be based on economics, as determined by the Users
Guide. The south wall of the Building 310 service wall will then be
replaced and the area adjacent to the wall will be back-filled. The
paved area outside will be restored. At this point, the Building 310
service floor will have a Health Physics final survey performed, and
this portion of the building will be free released for unrestricted use.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE USERS GUIDE AND
PROJECTED COST SAVINGS
The Building 310 Retention Tanks Project was initially planned
using a strategy which involved cutting up the tanks into pieces within
a contamination control envelope. The tank segments could then be
easily handled by personnel, decontaminated and packed into boxes
for shipment to Hanford for disposal. When the "P2/WMin Users
Guide for Decommissioning Projects" became available, a different
strategy was applied after evaluating the need for size reduction of the
tanks, the purchase of waste disposal boxes, the purchase of void
filler, and the costs associated with disposal at Hanford. It was
determined that the south wall of Building 310 could be penetrated
and the tanks removed as single units. The tanks could then be
shipped as strong, tight containers in accordance with DOT
regulations, and the metal could be recycled by a recycling vendor.
Economic analysis of this project has shown that by
implementing P2/WMin initiatives, the project cost could potentially
be reduced from $2,988,300 to $1,930,100 by the use of a recycling
contractor, as opposed to size reducing, packaging, and shipping to
Hanford, Washington. This projected cost savings of over $1,000,000
(35% of the original cost estimate of the Building 310 D&D Project)
for DOE was derived by evaluating P2/WMin options for a D&D
project.
A primary benefit of using a P2/WMin approach is that the
project duration can potentially be shortened by five months from its
original baseline. A shortened project duration is economically
attractive because it saves project management and engineering costs
for five months. Other labor areas where significant savings could
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Mezaraups, J.; Krstich, M. A.; Yerace, P. J. & Gresalfi, M. J. Incorporation of pollution prevention and waste minimization practices during the decommissioning of Building 310 at Argonne National Laboratory-East, article, October 1, 1997; Illinois. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc702432/m1/3/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.